The Gang of 500

One topic I find coming up a lot these days, both in my classwork and in my readings of interest, is the Gang of 500. That is the name given by Mark Halperin to the political insiders in Washington, D.C. -- journalists, upper-level politicians, people with various kinds of influence -- who collectively embody the "conventional wisdom" and whose influence, it seems to me, is out of proportion to both their numbers and their worthiness. (Atrios calls them the "Villagers". I may use both terms interchangeably.)

I'll have more to say about them later. Just wanted to introduce them.