Populists have more fun.

• Author: Ivins, Molly
• Position: Small Favors

It's the end of the year, time to look back with gratitude.

I want to start off with a great big thank you for conservative pundits and all the fun they've given us since Election Day.

First in line is National Review's Kate O'Beirne, who explained that this was a win for conservatism because a great many of the D'S elected are so conservative themselves. She says half of them are conservatives. If only twice as many Democrats had been elected, it would have proved that there are twice as many conservatives in the country, and this is clear to any thinking person. We might challenge Ms. O'Beirne to explain how the next Republican win is a victory for liberalism.

The reason that O'Beirne and others were able to accept such an absurdity is because they've been listening to George W. Bush for six years and are thus able to believe six impossible things before breakfast.

Another great moment for conservatives in the media this year was highlighted on the November 16 edition of Comedy Central's The Daily Show. Host Jon Stewart addressed a recent remark that CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck made to Representative-elect Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress.

Beck said, "I have been nervous about this interview with you because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.'" After airing Becks comment, Stewart declared, "Finally, a guy who says what people who aren't thinking are thinking."

Thanks for the late Johnny Apple and the now retired Adam Clymer (who predicted a twenty-eight-seat sweep and the possibility of taking the Senate) for reminding us that The New York Times used to know how to cover politics. So, for that matter, did The Washington Post, now graced only by E. J. Dionne.

While many members of the Washington press corps worried...