Jonathon Chait is a Tool

Which goes without saying, given his job at the New Republic rag... [ Update: Dave Johnson agrees with me over at Seeing the Forest - as ever, he expresses himself better than I ever will. ]

But Josh Marshall scores again:

The question at the heart of the Social Security battle is this, do we stay with a program that has proven for seventy years to be both efficient and effective or do we discard it and move to a completely different system?

Understand this point and you will understand why this is such a great battle. You will understand why the Democrats are digging in their collective heels and shouting NO! You will understand why we heap such scorn upon Bush: his transparently dishonest vaporings have no purpose but to whip the people into a state of fear, from which they can be guided onto a spectacularly foolish path.

I don't want this nation to wake up in a few years with a devastating collective hangover. People will not be content to mutter "God! That was a dumb idea." and get back to work; the bushistas will be there to whisper "Blame the Democrats, it's all their fault." I am still angry at the way my own brother, Republican merchant of death, told me to my face that John Kerry was to blame for the war in Iraq: he did not work tirelessly enough to prevent Bush from making a really stupid move, so it's really all his fault.

To close on a lighter note, check out the latest update to the US Treasury's Social Security Destruction page.