Barack Obama’s campaign took a surprising turn yesterday as the presidential hopeful used an Iowa campaign stop to smear the reputation of former president Theodore Roosevelt. The freshmen senator from Illinois accused the Bush administration of creating a “second gilded age” by favoring the wealthy over working families.

AMC’s Mad Men premiered last Thursday to rave reviews from critics and viewers alike. But this generous welcome was not without its detractors. Anyone who turned to the blogosphere could find stories gleefully pointing out the sexism/homophobia/anti-this and that running rampant through Sterling Cooper. Mad Men’s emphasis on “sins of the era,” as The New York Times put it, paints a picture that celebrates the New Left revolution that would come at the end of the decade. The show’s haughty script, obviously drafted by the New Left’s constituents, is more smug than the characters they attempt to satirize.

George Santayana penned the brilliant and oft quoted cliché, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." It is a quote that is beaten into the memory banks of every young child--unless you live in England.

Last week, my family welcomed our eighth cousin into this world, a beautiful eight pound baby girl. Anne Rose McMorris -- a beautiful name. Although, it was not the name that my uncle and aunt had in mind for the newest McMorris; they wanted to call her Stephanie. But life would be hard enough for a person born with Down syndrome without having to learn such a long and complicated name; my father’s younger brother decided to spare his third daughter such a daunting task.

While the coming ice age and melting polar caps seem like issues that "our grandchildren will face," genocide has apparently been classified as an immediate consequence of climate change. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon made that claim in a June 16 Washington Post editorial, asserting that the 200,000 person body count in Darfur "derives ... from man-made global warming."

The Left has always believed that advertising campaigns pose a threat to the survival of our nation. This is why liberals have led historic crusades against these diabolical marketing tools. History has shown us time and again that only the Democrats have the backbone to confront the evils of influential advertising. Their resolve has saved our country from some of its most menacing foes.