Karl Rove, et al tried to deflate Herman Cain, but Republicans really like him (they admire his contrariness). The GOP debates are excruciating but worth it, Romney reinvented himself as a champion of the middle class, and Bill Kristol's eyes wandered to Louisiana. A reader alerted us to a glaring pop culture gap, and Republicans would rather grasp at a narrative of Obama's inevitable doom than stand behind an actual candidate. 

We should trust nascent Tunisian democracy, a religiously dominated democracy doesn't mean terrorism, and we can't have both hegemony and democratic revolutions in the Middle East. Google stifled the Green Movement, the laws of war matter, and our policy of neo-imperialism has failed. A moral crisis loomed in China, American power hangs on the rise of developing countries, and Russia simply isn't a threat.

A larger population makes life better, cell phones improve healthcare, and anthropology degrees are for the rich. Scientists neutered mosquitoes in the fight against malaria, over-treatment drives Medicare spending, and electrostimulation is hot. 

Correction of the day here, cool ad watch here, app of the day here, FOTD here, MHB here, VFYW here, and another VFYW contest winner #73 here. 

— M.A.