[@pwgavin]

We don’t recall when “wonk” entered polite discourse, but if we had to place a No-Google bar bet on it, we’d date it from 1992. Sax and Cookies may have captured the popular imagination, but we still remember the stories after Clinton chose Gore: two policy geeks infatuated with each other on the campaign bus, challenging each other with their mastery of mind-numbing detail. You still see it when Clinton makes a casual appearance on, say, the Daily Show: America’s Dude just can’t help himself.

Clinton’s so good at talking, he makes you forget the blowjob. And, thanks to the example of his successor, the blowjob is barely a, um, stain on his reputation. That’s now the good old days, when we had nothing worse to worry about.

Which is why Bill Clinton can give a prime-time address tonight and nobody will snicker. And why our DNC Open Thread/Open Wide won’t be nearly as fun as it could be in a better world.

“The First Lady’s speech Tuesday was written at a 12th grade level — the highest in history among the wives of presidential nominees and far above Ann Romney’s lowest mark of a 5th grade level.” [Smart Politics, via Political Wire]

Classless Dems use tribute video of deceased Ted Kennedy to attack Mitt Romney.

— Reince Priebus (@Reince) September 4, 2012

NBC political “tip sheet” First Read: “Even the video tribute to Ted Kennedy was an uppercut to Romney, which led to RNC Chair Reince Priebus to express his disgust for using Kennedy from the grave in an attack.”

Looks more like whining from here, but whatever.

While America was busy amusing itself (and misleading itself) over Clint Eastwood’s Empty Chair, our Former Overlords were making sport of His Royal Highness’s Arse, which had the bad luck of not staying in Vegas. Here, Britain’s Heroes offer Henry Charles Albert David a 21 Bum Salute.

Prince Harry’s Naked Army [Know Your Meme]

Let’s start this week’s festivities with a complete list of unionized hotels in Charlotte, North Carolina:

Oh. Right. NC’s a “right-to-work” state. Whoops! Well, just remember, Democrats are looking out for you, as long as it’s convenient. And our DNC Open Thread/Open Shop is looking out for you as well. But please, no tipping. It only spoils the help.

“What is this?” asks the Washington Post at the bottom of a web page. Well, it’s crap, that’s what it is. It’s not new — we’ve covered the idiocy before — but it has the effect of making you feel dumber than before you saw it. It doesn’t even have the fleeting value of a “horse-race poll” when Preznidents are still chosen by the Electoral College. It’s WaPo’s version of an empty chair.