RITA

Joe Gandelman is furnishing news to the blogosphere. But this surely is a story for which television is irreplaceable.

EMAIL OF THE DAY: “You honor A.O. Scott for connecting Barbara Bush’s ill-conceived remarks of a few weeks ago with the similar benevolence of authority figures (such as our beloved Mr. Bumble) in Oliver Twist. Ordinarily, I’d be inclined to give you the benefit (er, Begala) of a doubt — I’m often at loggerheads with Mr. Scott’s reviews, after all — but in this case, having just finished rereading Oliver Twist, I must confess that a similar thought flashed through my mind on several occasions, particularly here:

The members of this board were very sage, deep, philosophical men; and when they came to turn their attention to the workhouse, they found out at once, what ordinary folks would never have discovered — the poor people liked it! It was a regular place of public entertainment for the poorer classes; a tavern where there was nothing to pay; a public breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper all the year round; a brick-and-mortar elysium where it was all play and no work.

True, this…insight lead to “reform” (in the form of the New Poor Laws of 1834, if I’m not mistaken), but its perspective (if not its afflatus) seems eerily similar to that of many leading Republicans, such as Babs Bush and fat fleeser par excellence Tom Delay. If you’re going to give anyone a Begala award, better give it to Mr. Dickens himself.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This president believes government should be limited not in size, Jon, but in effectiveness. In terms of effectiveness, this is the most limited administration we’ve ever had.” – Rob Corddry, the Daily Show, concisely summarizing Bush “conservatism”. And, no, we have never been spotted in the same room.