Ramesh, I’ll leave it to John Derbyshire to explain how Al Bundy’s reactionary defeatism can, in its own way, be inspiring. As to that NYT piece, I thought it was pretty amusing. Yes, it was somewhat condescending and the refrigerator jibe was a cheap shot, but, Ramesh, we’re talking about the New York Times here. The New York Times without condescension and cheap shots would be like Al without Peg, better but somehow unimaginable.