News Nuggets 111

Barack Obama Dazzles Europe with Campaigning Style from the Times [of London]

"To anyone who watched him in icy Iowa last year, the uplifting rhetoric would have been familiar, the style virtually identical, the youthful and exuberant crowd similar in every respect except nationality. The scale of his ambition, however, is expanding with each passing

THREE RELATED VIDEO NUGGETS!!

(1)  Obama's German press conference

(2)  French Town Hall Meeting [EXTENDED C-Span version]

(3)  Obama's Press Conference for the World Press Corps in London

Barack Obama's New World Order (Michael Scherer) from Time Magazine

"Talk of American economic supremacy has been replaced by a call from Obama for more growth in developing countries. Claims of American military supremacy have been replaced with heavy emphasis on cooperation and diplomatic hard labor."

Grading the G-20 Summit from the New Republic

"Finding the gaps between what Obama wanted and what he actually got."

The Return of Statecraft from Slate

"Vast multinational conferences, like the G20 summit in London, are useful mainly for the "bilaterals"—the one-on-one side-room conversations—and, in these forums, President Barack Obama is living up to high expectations."

Obama Exercises Diplomacy, Helps Avert Mess -- Again (Jake Tapper) from ABC News

"President Obama exercised his negotiating skills once again on this overseas trip, this time at the NATO Summit.  This time the debate was over whether Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen should become the next secretary general of NATO.  Rasmussen enjoyed widespread support among leaders of 27 member states, with one notable exception: Turkey."

Popping the Bubble: Obama Courts the Unlike-Minded from New York Magazine

Cass Sunstein's latest book speaks to a lot of the issues discussed below.

"In Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide, Sunstein argues that spending too much time in the company of like-minded people serves only to exaggerate your own views and make you less tolerant of differing opinions. ... rom this perspective, the excesses of Obama’s predecessor make chilling sense. George W. Bush famously lived in a bubble, and Sunstein’s point is that bubbles don’t just insulate; they radicalize. From this comes the uttering of such sentences as “We create our own reality.”"

Pitchforks and Pistols (Charles Blow) from the New York Times

I've been wondering this myself!

"Lately I’ve been consuming as much conservative media as possible (interspersed with shots of Pepto-Bismol) to get a better sense of the mind and mood of the right. My read: They’re apocalyptic. They feel isolated, angry, betrayed and besieged. And some of their “leaders” seem to be trying to mold them into militias."

What We're Not Talking About (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post

"Not even three months have passed since President Obama's historic inauguration, and already it tends to slip the nation's collective mind that the first black president of the United States is, in fact, black. There may be hope for us after all."

Inside Obama's Bank CEOs Meeting from Politico

FASCINATING account of Obama's meeting with Wall Street giants last week!

"“These are complicated companies,” one CEO said. Offered another: “We’re competing for talent on an international market.”  But President Barack Obama wasn’t in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public’s reaction to such explanations. “Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that.”  “My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”"

Looking for Reconciliation (Eleanor Clift) from Newsweek

A good look-ahead to how health care reform is shaping up -- looks like the Dems are taking no prisoners this time and WILL pass some major bill.

"Since senate Democrats will be able to push through health-care reform without them, Republicans should try participating in the legislation instead of just obstructing."

Anti-Obama Talk Worries Some on Right from Politico

As it SHOULD -- see the posting that follows this one!

"Although Beck’s brand of libertarian conservatism has generated a strong following, some members of the right-leaning commentariat openly doubt whether such heated rhetoric is helpful to the Republican Party or the conservative movement at large. "

Three Police Officers Killed in Pittsburgh from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post

As a rule, I do not post much on the idiocy that passes for informed discussion in the right-wing -- but I've read enough to know that THIS STORY from my own town tells you one result of the irresponsible, hysterical language being used on the right!!  This is something that has been WAITING to happen.

"Friends said [the shooter] had been upset recently about losing his job and that he feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns."

Is the GOP Cynical or Naive -- or Both? (Christopher Orr) from the New Republic

"A variety of factors--the media chorus of talk radio and Fox News, the increasing number of GOP House members that come from conservative districts, the vocal pressure groups and riled up voter base--seem to have persuaded a fair number of GOP leaders that this is not merely a center-right nation, but a far-right one, a place where if you just screw around with the numbers a bit, the public will clamor for economic policies far more conservative than any pushed by Reagan or Bush II."

Political Pullback from the Christian Right? (Kathleen Parker) from the Washington Post

Very interesting analysis of divisions within the religious right.

"Is the Christian right finished as a political entity? Or, more to the point, are principled Christians finished with politics?"

A FINAL VIDEO NUGGET!!

Tara and Bella: The Odd Couple of the Animal Kingdom from CBS News

An AMAZING story of a dog and an elephant!