From Mark Shields' column:

American voters may be philosophically conservative. They do regularly complain that they want the federal government off their backs, and out of both their pockets and their hair. But these same people are operationally liberal.

When told that just outside Pocatello, Idaho, a single can of tuna fish has been found with a trace of botulism, they have an identical response: "Where the hell was the federal government? I demand a full report on my desk the first thing Monday morning!"

The American people want "...a small, efficient federal government working on their side 24 hours a day ... cheap."

and of course...

Proof that shame is officially dead: Rush Limbaugh attacked Ohio Democratic congressional candidate Paul Hackett, a Marine who voluntarily spent seven months in Ramadi and Fallujah, of going "to Iraq to pad the resume."

Sigh.