Once upon time, during the bad old days of the George W. Bush presidency, media sophisticates took the administration to task for the supposedly “shifting rationales” that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld & Co. employed to justify the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

E.J. Dionne admiringly noted that President Obama has successfully “changed the narrative” in national politics in highlighting Republican inactivity and obstructionism.

Margaret Thatcher’s death on Monday, April 8th at the age of 87 brought a flood of reminiscences from many in the chattering classes who are old enough to remember her and her remarkable eleven-year tenure as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

This past week Dana Milbank, the Washington Post chief editorialist and unpaid advisor to the Republican Party, offered his critique of the GOP effort to cleanse itself by drumming the “intolerant” elements out of the Party.

Monday, February 25th, marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, allowing the US government the authority to assess and impose an income tax on the citizens, by-passing the states in the process. Many on the political Left can barely conceal their glee and they are busy needling Conservatives, talking about the suitability of a “party” celebrating the centenary of the Sixteenth Amendment.

Today the economy shows an 8% unemployment rate, which is higher than at any time during the Bush years, the President has dismissed Republican calls for compromise on budgetary issues, Second Amendment questions, and immigration policy, and it remains to be seen whether Obama will seek a third term through executive order, but no matter!

Last week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped down from her lofty position amidst a sycophantic outpouring of hot air as journalists and fellow politicians abandoned their roles and assumed positions as Hillary courtiers, duly attending to the bidding of their lord and mistress.

Last week the inside pages of the daily newspapers mentioned something that should alarm every American taxpayer. The little noted expiration of the two year old payroll tax break of 2011-12, and the consequent increase of the Social Security payroll tax from 4.2% of wages paid to 6.2% of wages paid became effective on New Years Day, 2013.

Many on the political Left were shocked by the fierce reaction of conservatives, traditionalists, and the non-political, but sensible Americans to the gradual expunging of Christmas from the public domain.

The Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media are now galloping along in full-throated triumphalist mode, which, of course, is their right given the results of the November 6th elections. Despite the efforts of some GOP operatives to accentuate the positives of this election, such as the victories of Republican gubernatorial candidates in various states, it certainly wasn’t a win for the Grand Old Party. Last week many mainstream media scribes took their turns at “interpreting’ the meaning of the election, most of them barely concealing their glee.

It is all the fashion today for left-leaning politicians, journalists, academics and vapid celebrities to describe themselves and their leftwing proclivities as “Progressive”. In fact, anything associated with modern liberalism is now characterized as “Progressive”.

The Romney campaign scored a sorely needed victory and a jolt of energy last Wednesday night, and many election watchers, including many Townhall readers earnestly hope that this will have some staying power.

Back in 1987 Professor Paul Kennedy penned an influential tract on the decline and failure of the great powers of the past. Dr. Kennedy’s book stirred up a great deal of interest in the literate classes and, while it did not merit comparison with Edward Gibbon when it came to discussing the decline and fall thesis, it certainly provided food for intellectual musing on the nature of national power and greatness. Kennedy argued that the USA was following the British example and could fall into what he called “imperial overstretch” if we weren’t careful.

Two weeks ago, before Matt Drudge roiled the waters by announcing that presumptive GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney would name former Bush Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as his Vice-Presidential running mate, quiet news reports began to circulate that Romney was actively seeking a female to run with him on the Republican ticket.

Last week the Associated Press reported, in breathless tones, the fact that the Pentagon has officially recognized June as Gay Pride month, and will host a “celebration” on June 26th, saluting gay service personnel, just as they sponsor events honoring specific racial or ethnic groups. The AP, naturally, considers this a “…remarkable sign of change”, which is to say a significant advance in military thinking, and the tone of the article is accordingly triumphant.

The turbulent waters of American politics grew more treacherous last week as former President Bill Clinton plunged, uninvited into the 2012 campaign unleashing a number of rhetorical zingers, defending Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s private sector career and expressing an opinion that the Bush-era tax cuts should be extended in order to ward off a recession that Clinton sees looming just over the horizon.

Buried in the back pages of the Friday newspapers (May 25th) lay a story of Obama Administration efforts to play up the elimination of Osama Bin Laden for political purposes and the suspected compromise of certain national security secrets by Administration officials, cavalierly attempting to gain partisan advantage in advance of the November election.

Fred Eckert is a prototypical unsung hero of the conservative movement. Eckert paid his political dues in upstate New York in 1968, organizing local Republican support for the presidential candidacy of Richard Nixon, standing in opposition to the native New York liberal GOP hero, Nelson Rockefeller.

Maureen Dowd is a woman of many talents. She is, of course, a New York Times featured columnist, a Pulitzer Prize winning commentator, and the liberals acknowledged Queen of Snark. Ms. Dowd has also completely blown a gasket, if her column of last week (April 5th) is any indication of her psychological-emotional state.

Many commentators and editorialists have examined President Barack Obama’s now-famous remark that “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon (Martin)”. The pundits have scrambled to find meaning in the president’s comment, and have advanced many possible theses as explanations.