How to determine your Political-Empathy quotient: On one axis find your political ideology somewhere between the two poles of Conservative and Liberal. On the other axis we have "Us"(inclusive) vs. "Them"(exclusive). Yes.

It's so awesome when the media take a regular old term you use every day like "empathy" and decides it's Important. All of a sudden one innocuous word launches a million articles, blogs,etc. Sort of like when the Obamas said "yay" with their hands closed and knuckles touching, and everyone dropped their jaw in amazement. Fast forward a year: National Fistbump Day! For those interested, I've got my fingers crossed hoping "canoodle" is next to receive the treatment. Canoodling has important socio-political ethnocultural implications and demands exploring! (Immigrants are canoodling, sources say.) Next week!

Anyword, we present the Political Empathy Matrix with a sprinkling of this week's stories. This "Us" vs "Them" axis is the true litmus of an empathetic worldview. "Us" is inclusive, an invitation to all: Yes, Sonia, from the Bronx, be a justice on the high court with us! In contrast, Keith Olbermann, for example, champions an exclusive kind of liberalism. Not fit for the likes of the people who toil here in the tubes of this very website.

So there you go. Please connect the rest of my dots in the comments.