Conservatives, by and large, seem to be having all sorts of moments of clarity lately. You know—maybe we need to be a little more honest about things.

Likewise, it is probably time for liberals to do the same thing. Here is a short list to get them all started:

• Gun control isn’t going to work. It was never going to. And each time you propose something or try to pass something, it will go badly for you. Time to be honest: you know that gun control doesn’t work, and that you basically hate guns because of what they represent. Also, when you pretend otherwise, you do know you aren’t fooling anyone, right?
• Obamacare is a dismal failure. In fact, putting aside the horrific fact it was passed against the will of the public in a highly questionable manner and had to resort to quasi-legal tricks, the entire law fails on every single promise that was offered to its few supporters. If you want to reform or revitalize American healthcare, fine—you will find a majority of Americans agree with you. But Obamacare cannot be saved, and the sooner you admit it and repeal it, the faster we can work together on getting something realistic that works.
• Liberals have to admit they cost more than they bring in. No matter how high the taxes are raised, there literally is not enough money in the world right now—and perhaps not ever—to pay for everything you promised. Sorry, but you know it is true. And worse, nearly every American understands that no one can produce that kind of money. We need to cut back on everything. We have already cut back on defense spending; now it’s time to cut back on everything else.
• You might want to believe that the Republicans are responsible for the bad economy somehow, and that some ill-defined obstructionism is preventing the economy from bounding back. But you have to be honest now: the President has no clue how to create jobs and never did. He was sort of coasting along, hoping the economy would somehow get better on its own and that unemployment would go down. No, you can admit now: you hate the unemployment rate and think he could have maybe at least listened to the experts. It’s okay; the President knows this, too, and understands it. He just doesn’t care and he no longer needs to. Unlike you.

So there it is. Honesty time. Feels so much better, right?

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.