Thank you, Washington Independent:

Contest: caption this photograph...

Here's my entry: In a bid for Midwestern voters devastated by runaway manufacturing jobs, John McCain and Joe Lieberman pose with shipping containers in Third World country seeking free trade deal.

Here's the rest of my answer to my friend who asked me to explain why conservatives are in disarray. Nothing that will be new to longtime readers, who—newbies, too!—are invited to contribute their own reflection in the comments:

A friend recently asked me to summarize why conservatives seem to be in such disarray these days. I listed four reasons, in separate paragraphs; "BIlls come due," was how I began the fourth:

Do these guys look like Democrats to you?

Earlier this afternoon I wrote about how "tactically speaking the party of conservatism is more the heir to Watergate than it is to Goldwater." Here's a little tidbit from the archives dug up by Sean Wilentz in his new book

Here's a pop quiz to help me set up an argument I'd like to make. Please, everyone eyeballing this post, give me in the comments your guess (no cheating!) how much new money for the environment was added to federal spending when Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency.

Watergate-style dirty tricks have been by now baked into the cake of conservative politicking. I say this as a preface to a demonstration about how it might be happening in the here and now, the better so we can ward it off.

Thank you, Washington Independent:

Contest: caption this photograph...

Here's my entry: In a bid for Midwestern voters devastated by runaway manufacturing jobs, John McCain and Joe Lieberman pose with shipping containers in Third World country seeking free trade deal.

Here's the rest of my answer to my friend who asked me to explain why conservatives are in disarray. Nothing that will be new to longtime readers, who—newbies, too!—are invited to contribute their own reflection in the comments:

A friend recently asked me to summarize why conservatives seem to be in such disarray these days. I listed four reasons, in separate paragraphs; "BIlls come due," was how I began the fourth:

Do these guys look like Democrats to you?

Earlier this afternoon I wrote about how "tactically speaking the party of conservatism is more the heir to Watergate than it is to Goldwater." Here's a little tidbit from the archives dug up by Sean Wilentz in his new book

Here's a pop quiz to help me set up an argument I'd like to make. Please, everyone eyeballing this post, give me in the comments your guess (no cheating!) how much new money for the environment was added to federal spending when Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency.

Watergate-style dirty tricks have been by now baked into the cake of conservative politicking. I say this as a preface to a demonstration about how it might be happening in the here and now, the better so we can ward it off.