In the US, the party that represents the conservative interest, the Republicans, is in a state of historic collapse that makes the fall of the Roman Empire look like a narrow by-election defeat for the emperor in Parthia Northwest. ~Gerard Baker

The psychology of a blogger:

First response: the Republicans represent the conservative interest?  Since when?  Second response: If only this were true!  Third response: the Parthians were already long-gone by the time of the fall of the western empire, which in any case had no real effect on the eastern frontier and would probably have remained unknown to most people in the Sasanian Persian empire.  Fourth response: what is wrong with Gerard Baker?