by Barbara Miller

There is a fine line between optimism and eyeball-popping spin. New York Times columnist David Brooks has crossed the line.

Last week, Brooks blathered on about the sunny political landscape. "Look around at all the green shoots of political renewal," he wrote.

The calendar tells us it's May, but I would respectfully submit that it's actually harvest time. And guess what. Republicans are reaping what they have sowed.

What Brooks described in his breathless monologue as "a sense of flexibility and promise" is actually incumbents bending over backward trying to distance themselves from their own broken promises and their indicted colleagues. May their numbers increase, beginning at the top.