They say that only the good die young. In the short time he lived, it was given to Aaron Swartz to define the principal problem facing public life in the United States of America:

“If it was conventional wisdom that a bunch of unelected bankers looking out for rich people were the reason everyone was out of work, politicians would be forced to explain to angry voters why we had this crazy system and might actually consider doing something about it.” – The late Aaron Swartz

Is Speaker Boehner in trouble?

The usual right-wingers have gotten to the “bottom of the slide” again.

In case you’re wondering, the Drudge-initiated wingnut circle-jerk over Obama’s “combative outburst” [sic] with a reporter is all about race.

Given an understanding that politics is not much more than war without weapons (usually), it shouldn’t be surprising that there’s a lot of ill will involved.

Emerson said, “…wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things.” It’s in his essay, “Nature,” and he was talking about the sacrifice of sacred truth to profane ambitions: