Markos Moulitsas

By the time you read this, New York’s 23rd congressional district will have selected a new representative — but the results of that special election are far less interesting than the civil war it has provoked inside the GOP.

Want to be rich and famous, but you’re not very talented? Sure, you could become a rock star — but political pundits are 50 percent less likely to die choking on their own vomit, and they’re seemingly just as immune to accountability. Observe:

I would pity the GOP moderate, if it weren’t a mythical beast.

As House Republicans ramp up criticism of Nancy Pelosi in an attempt to tie her to Democrats representing competitive districts, one could be forgiven for thinking it was 2006.

Who would’ve thought that rooting for America to host the Olympic Games could ever be controversial? Not only is hosting the Olympics a source of national pride, allowing the nation to showcase the best of America (as we’ve done recently with Salt Lake City and Atlanta), but it’s also a powerful economic driver and catalyst for redevelopment.

Interlopers. 

Beltway conventional wisdom (CW) is a powerful force, and one of its most enduring tenets is the notion that Democrats in conservative districts must agitate against a Democratic agenda to get reelected. You see, CW says, voters in conservative districts couldn’t possibly support progressive legislation — even though they weren’t conservative enough to elect a Republican representative in the first place.

Last week, the political world got a demonstration on the power of netroots Democrats to fundamentally change the dynamics of a political campaign.

A barrage of trial balloons and leaks over the past week has made it impossible to gauge exactly what President Barack Obama will say during his speech Wednesday before a joint session of Congress. Yet despite the heated debate over the merits of a government-administered public option that would compete against private health insurers, its inclusion in health reform legislation really should be an easy call for the president and congressional Democrats.

With 50 votes and Vice President Dick Cheney’s tiebreaker , Republicans strutted around the Senate as if they had a national mandate. Democrats, given a 60-vote supermajority by voters, do little more than make excuses for failure.