Don’t look now, but I’m becoming the poster child for envious liberal class warfare. Yeah, I know, a badge of honor.

Here are some less parboiled midday news/views treats:

* Mike Pence’s popularity in IN has dropped like a rock since “religious liberty” fiasco. Go tell the others, Mike.

* Nasty MO op Jeff Roe admits ad attacking Tom Schweich shortly before his suicide was run on his dime, w/o knowledge of the pol he was working for.

* Linc Chafee briefly thrills political world by saying he’s running for president, but then staffer says formal announcement still to come.

* Good analysis from Greg Sargent on why the WH is accepting the Corker-Menendez bill: temporary lifting of sactions could become permanent if Obama vetoes disapproval.

* At the Atlantic, Russell Berman lists top policy demands being made of Hillary Clinton by Democratic critics: expanding Social Security, making college debt-free, and killing new trade agreement.

And in non-political news:

* A business professor looks at Spirit Airlines and its problems.

As we break for lunch, here’s Midnight Oil performing perhaps its best known song, about reconciliation with indigenous peoples: “Beds Are Burning.”

YouTube video

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.