What is liberalism about, in the most basic sense? Matthew Yglesias explains liberalism by way of an argument about a specific case regarding special needs children. I’d grab a juicy pull quote but you should read the whole thing.

Salon provides a list of the biggest blunders of the pundit class in 2008. I’m proud to say that I didn’t go for any of them. In fact, the day McCain selected Palin I told people it would go down as the worst political decision he ever made. Wish I’d blogged it.

Rogers Cadenhead on an Obama rally he attended in Orlando:

Throughout the event, black families, some with aging grandparents and young children, gently moved through attendees to get closer. Although the crowd was racially and generationally diverse, you couldn’t miss the emotion of blacks who had come to see Obama’s first event in the city. As an adopted Floridian who has learned the tragic history of race relations in the Sunshine State during my decade here, I had to marvel at the progress that brought some of the older Americans in attendance past central Florida’s Rosewood massacre, Klan lynchings, poll taxes and the civil rights struggle to this amazing moment in time.

Kind of made me think I should take a personal day and go out and see Obama if he comes back to North Carolina before the election.

Trying to recover from her disastrous appearance on Hardball Friday, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has written an op-ed for Politico denying that she said what she did. Politico helpfully embeds video of her comments so that readers can compare her denials with her statements.

She also calls out all of the outraged people who donated to her opponent:

In a matter of 48 hours after I participated in an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” more than $640,000 from donors across the country flooded into my opponent’s campaign. Almost to a one, these are people who never would have considered voting for me if they lived in Minnesota. In fact, most of them have probably never voted for a Republican. These are strong supporters of Barack Obama who want to see more liberal policies enacted in Washington.

These are not people who know anything about my policy views. They don’t know anything about my record of reaching across the aisle on issues ranging from support for small business to foster care improvements, an issue near and dear to my heart as a former foster mother to 23 troubled teens. Or about my record of standing up to my own party when the occasion calls for it — such as opposing the $700 billion Wall Street bailout — and standing up to members of the other party when they try to push through tax hikes or limit personal liberty.

For the record, I knew she was the stupidest person in Congress long before her unfortunate bout of oversharing on Friday afternoon. After all, she’s the person who claimed to have been kidnapped by lesbians after a campaign event.

Michele Bachmann, a first term Congresswoman from Minnesota, is perhaps the stupidest person in the United States House of Representatives (and that’s saying a lot). I already knew she was an idiot, but the performance she turned in on Hardball today confirms that she really has no business serving in government. (Hilzoy has the details.)

I donated $25 to her opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, and I’d recommend others do so as well.

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