I try to keep in touch with my home town of Brownwood, TX, by browsing the web site of the local newspaper, the Brownwood Bulletin. While the news items helps me get a feel for some of what's going on "back home," I find I enjoy the Op-Ed columns the most. And of all the Op-Ed columnists, Chris Crews is my favorite. Today's column, Reaping rewards of the politics of dependency, so closely mirrors my own thoughts that I could very well have written it myself.

Well, except for the fact that Chris is a much better writer than I am. But still.

While Chris's column is my "Favorite of the Day," I also enjoyed a guest column written by Jim Mullen, author of It Takes a Village Idiot. While Jim apparently hails from New York, he precisely captures the reaction of many folks to the forecast of snow. I've been gone from Brownwood for too many years to know if people have that sort of reaction back there, but around these parts, he hit the nail on the head. Upon hearing the forecast of snow two days hence, our local Village Idiots rush to the Washington Beltway to abandon their cars now, in order to beat the rush. You can read Jim's column, Falling snow and screaming of a white Christmas, here.