You can second- and third-guess the success of Paul Blart: Mall Cop all you want — just don't let Bob Dole's press secretary hear you bad-mouthing it. He really doesn't like that.

Former Dole aide and Washington insider Douglas MacKinnon yesterday paid one of his irregular visits to The Huffington Post, where his appreciation for the Kevin James hit quickly gave way to a screed indirectly calling for the firing of its haters in the critical ranks:

What would our nation — or the world for that matter — do without those who are convinced they are smarter, more refined, more well-read, and more entitled than the rest of us? If these people did not exist, would The New York Times, Variety and other outlets simply implode? Would we really be the worse for their absence? [...]

[C]limb down from the Ivory tower from time to time and actually speak to those in line to see the movies of Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Rob Schneider. If you do, you will find that you are speaking to a representation of the vast majority of the people in our nation.

Yes — please, snobs, these are tough times. No harshing the Blartocalypse, especially not now that John Horn has followed up with the customarily lukewarm LAT trend piece validating the phenomenon. And nothing makes it more official than the disclosure that Blart's producers at Happy Madison — the Sandler shingle that has long eschewed franchising its hits — "believe there is an opportunity to make another Paul Blart movie." Which, not coincidentally, MacKinnon writes that he's "anxiously awaiting." Presumably the reviled New In Town will do for his vast majority in the meantime.