Other terrific items from The New Republic....

A young woman, as an intern at the right-wing Heritage Foundation, expresses interest in work that "will be useful in her intended career as a pharmaceutical lobbyist." TNR writer Ben Adler comments,

Many contemporary conservatives see no distinction between the interests of big business and conservative ideology. This crony capitalist conservatism, the sort of conservatism practiced by the Bush administration, isn't true economic conservatism. A true economic conservative believes that government should not favor one company over another, or one industry over another, so as not to distort the free market. The pharmaceutical lobbyist, on the other hand, believes the government should favor her company or her industry regardless of whether it creates inefficiency in the economy as a whole.

True words indeed.

And this sterling item from Ryan Lizza:

For a president who began his second term famously promising to spend political capital, George W. Bush is looking increasingly bankrupt. Everyone knows the scorecard.
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Bush’s job approval ratings have dropped into the mid-40s, a sudden loss of confidence that no second-term president has experienced since Richard Nixon. Bill Clinton’s approval rating never dropped below 53 percent during his troubled second term—impeachment notwithstanding.

Yes, you read that correctly. GW's approval rating is more than 10 points lower than Clinton's worst rating during his impeachment debacle. That truly puts into perspective just how badly the wheels have fallen off this administration. Ouch.