Here's a weird little story in the world of the Fact-checking Industry that doubles as a 2012 election year coda. Former Romney campaign strategist St...

Karl Rove has millions of dollars to indulge his political id. So while we may be in a weird period of focus-group recommended restraint these days, don't expect the restraint to continue. There are reasons for this. It's an article of faith among a large portion of the GOP base that Sen. John McCain lost in 2008 because he wasn't willing to throw heat at Barack Obama and turn the month of October into an all-Jeremiah-Wright-all-the-time sick-a-doo fiesta. Last week's revelation of a proposed ad campaign to do just that served as a reminder that there are plenty of people with money to burn who've a yen to fight the 2012 battle from the gutter. And if Republicans are reminded too much of McCain's perceived failures as they watch Romney prosecute the Obama administration in a too-gentle fashion, they could end up discouraged.