… on the Risibility Scale. Imagine the cast of mind it takes to write these words about the political relevance of the death of John Hughes:

We are, indeed, watching Obama posthumously channel his fellow Chicagoan, Hughes. As if ordering the band to substitute “Don’t You Forget About Me” for “Hail to the Chief,” the president implores us, as “The Breakfast Club” said, to understand that “each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, and a princess, and a criminal” — that is, each one of us, however flawed, is of value.
The only question now is whether we will run with that Hughes ethos, or simply walk on by.

Oh, this should be stunning.

Actually, the health-care debate makes me think of this from The Breakfast Club:

Richard Vernon: You think about this: when you get old, these kids — when I get old — they’re going to be running the country.
Carl: Yeah.
Richard Vernon: Now this is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night. That when I get older, these kids are going to take care of me.
Carl: I wouldn’t count on it.