Noted without comment

The conservatives protesting on the Capitol lawn Saturday see things differently. Health care reform isn't about contributing money for the sake of their own security; it's about having their money taken for the sake of somebody else's security. When they hear stories of people left bankrupt or sick because of uninsurance, they are more likely to see a lack of personal responsibility and virtue than a lack of good fortune. As my colleague Jonathan Chait has observed, theirs is an extreme version of a view common (although surely not universal) on the right: That individuals can fend for themselves, as long as they are responsible and as long as the government gets out of the way.

—Jonathan Cohn

(no subject)

Not that I'm not thrilled that America's been dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century, but I'm not exactly scuttling those plans to move to Vancouver, BC yet. It's a start though! Slowly and surely we press onward. Hopefully.