This weekend's column: Rise of the Reality-Based Community ...

— Count one for the reality-based community — George Pyle | The Salt Lake Tribune

"It's arithmetic." — President Bill Clinton, speech at Democratic National Convention, Sept. 5, 2012

Well, more precisely, Mr. President, it's algorithms, memcache clusters and real-time data-mining and information-sharing run by a brilliant collection of bearded, T-shirted nerds who make the guys on "The Big Bang Theory" look like the Flintstones.

It was the Obama re-election campaign's Project Narwhal. As outlined (pre-election) on the Slate website and (post-victory) on The Atlantic's, it was as good an example as any of the difference this year between the winning Democratic campaign and the losing Republican one. ...

... Which is why the recent election is being described, not as a victory for liberal ideology, but as the Triumph of the Reality-Based Community. ...

— Revenge of the Reality-Based Community — Bruce Bartlett | The American Conservative

... A couple of weeks before the 2004 election, [Ron] Suskind wrote a long article for the New York Times Magazine that quoted some of my comments to him that were highly critical of Bush and the drift of Republican policy. The article is best remembered for his quote from an anonymous White House official dismissing critics like me for being "the reality-based community." ...

(That's where the expression comes from.)

— A rehab kit for Republicans — By John Andrews | The Denver Post

Show me a sore loser, and I'll show you a loser. This has rung in my ears since the election, as I listened to some fellow Republicans and conservatives weeping, whining and caterwauling. Not to mention griping, blaming and sulking. Enough, already. ...

— GOP has need for broader appeal in 2014 — Kathie Obradovich | The Des Moines Register

The first thing Republicans need to do, as they consider how to win more elections, is stop telling themselves they really won in 2012. ...

— Mitt Romney, whiner in chief — Ruben Navarrette | via The San Jose Mercury News

... You know, Mitt, when you compete in the arena and you come up short, it's not the end of the world. You might still be viewed as a good and decent person who was just outmatched by an opponent. People might say it just wasn't your time. It isn't until you blame your defeat on others — and insult them in the process — that you earn the title of loser.

— Hostess is the Republican Party — Meghan Daum | The Los Angeles Times

... Sometimes the resemblance is downright physical. Spongy and plastic-wrapped, feeding off calories of what, despite all that chocolate, is the fundamental whiteness born of all that flour, sugar, cornstarch and salt, a few of these codgers look enough like Hostess snacks that they could take up residence in a vending machine without attracting much notice. ...

— Counseling for would-be secessionists — Steven Greenhut | The Orange County Register

— Today's Texas secessionists should look to Sam Houston for guidance — Bob Ray Sanders | The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

— Guest on Fox News to Discuss Benghazi Attack Is Given a Quick Exit — Media Decoder | The New York Times

— Former Florida GOP leaders say voter suppression was reason they pushed new election law — Palm Beach Post