Here's three things that caught my eye this morning:
"We give up our rights one piece at a time."
CHARLIE HOUCK, a banker who attended a discussion held by Senator Joe Manchin III about gun laws in West Virginia.
Well, Charlie, nobody is even dreaming of depriving you of that old flintlock, not to mention your personal handgun or your trusty hunting rifle. But if you think that losing the right to own an assault rifle (planning to assault anybody, Charlie?) is a lost right, perhaps you can drown your sorrows in the list of new rights. Healthcare, education, unions, a roof over your head, enough to eat. Those rights weren't in the constitution, but I argue that we need them more than we need assault rifles.
In a speech to the Ripon Society on Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that Mr. Obama's aim was to "annihilate" the Republican Party.
No, Mr. Boehner. From where I sit, the Republican Party is the one shooting itself in the head. Maybe you should rethink that stance on gun safety. Actually, Mr. Boehner, I could also argue that Mr. Obama would be very happy to see a Republican Party well and healthy, sane and responsible, ready to say, "Yes, Mr. President, that's a very good idea, but maybe doing it this way would accomplish the same good in a better way." Assuming, of course, that anyone in your present RP knows a better way.
Obama campaign veteran Hari Sevugan argues in a Politico op-ed that Mr. Obama's inaugural address was mainstream, not liberal.
AAAAAARGH! Not again! Hari Sevugan. Thank you so much for your hard work, but let's say it loud and proud. We are liberal folks! Even worse, we are progressive liberal folks. That inaugural address was both of those things and something else. Visionary. Yup. Progressive liberal visionaries. That's us. The country my President described was the country I want to live in. Indeed, it's the world I want to live in. Baby steps. Baby steps.
Into the day ...........