Just like Iraq, all the "serious" people know single payer is "politically impossible." Hendryk Hertzberg:

George Packer plays 11 dimensional chess:

Obama’s signature projects defy grouping under a single heading, and, as a result, he has been criticized for inconsistency. To take one example, he forced the chief executive of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, into early retirement, and yet he has not called for the removal of any of the failed leaders of America’s financial institutions, like Bank of America’s Kenneth Lewis.

No, Obama's not being criticized for "inconsistency."

The mildew continues to spread.

I've been been reading the New Yorker almost since I could read. I'm sure my parents weren't the only parents who framed New Yorker covers for art, when they were coming up and poor. I still think of a table of contents, let alone a letters section, as innovations that pander to weak-minded readers, and I loved the five-part series on geology.* And the one on soybeans, too! The Mighty Corrente Building has Departments in homage to New Yorker; I admire--honor--revere the New Yorker, and not least because they publish Seymour Hersh.