THE CONSERVATIVE MIND....Conservative blogger Jim Miller weighs in on the question of women on the op-ed page:

On the average, moderate and conservative women, such as Anne Applebaum, are the best columnists. The worst, on the average, are leftist women — and you can probably think of your own examples.

[Explanation for this theory omitted. Click the link if you can't stand the suspense.]

This idea would also predict that male moderate and conservative columnists would be better, on the average, than their leftist counterparts. And I think that's true, too.

So: Lefty women are lousy columnists. And lefty men are lousy columnists too. In other words, all lefties are lousy columnists! QED, you liberal bastards, QED.

Still, even this isn't quite as absurd as last week's observation from Hugh Hewitt, a man whose conservatism is so hackishly slavish that even the gang at NRO have their occasional doubts about him:

After two days of conversations in DC with leading conservatives and officials, it is clear to me that the GOP is the party of expertise and achievement abroad and innovation and new ideas at home, always the superior position in politics.

Gee, Hugh, were you unsure about this before your trip to DC? I guess it's a good thing you were open minded enough to hear out all your fellow conservatives before drawing any hasty conclusions.

That's your fun and games for the evening. We now return you to your regular programming.