Kinda wish Dave Weigel had saved his classic “it’s been a long and stupid week” line for this one. Here are some mid-day starchy treats:
* At the New Yorker, Jane Meyer notes Ted Cruz has another similar habit to Joe McCarthy’s aside from bullying witnesses: commie-counting.
* Ann Coulter and John Stossel have their own personal insult-laden struggle for the soul of the conservative movement (between libertarian and non-libertarian extremists, of course).
* TPM’s Kahil Shapur provides good quick history of Voting Rights Act.
* New data shows significant slowdown in inflation on individual health insurance policy premiums, beginning when Obamacare enacted.
* York suggests Navy just messing with conservatives’ heads by threatening to delay deployment of carrier to Persian Gulf if sequester goes through.
And in non-political news:
* Nate Silver makes his Oscar predictions, with a new and better methodology!
Back after dealing with some domestic business.