News Nuggets 123

The President with the new First Dog.

The Obama Doctrine (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post

"But if Obama's critics were briefly silenced, they won't stay quiet for long, and not just because the pirates, as they showed yesterday, are not going away. The truth is that the president is moving American foreign policy in a new direction, and conservatives dislike what is becoming the Obama Doctrine.  Obama's doctrine departs from the previous administration's approach by embracing a longer tradition of American foreign policy. Obama insists that the United States can't achieve great objectives on its own"

Obama Announces New High-speed Rail Plan from the Federal Railroad Administration with some analysis from the Bloomberg News Service

"The Strategic Plan outlines the President’s vision that would transform the nation’s transportation system by rebuilding existing rail infrastructure while developing a comprehensive high-speed intercity passenger rail network through a long-term commitment at both the federal and state levels."

Obama Pens Op-ed for Latin American Newspapers from the Huffington Post

How SUBVERSIVE!  Why ... why ... he's LEADING!!

"As we approach the Summit of the Americas, our hemisphere is faced with a clear choice. We can overcome our shared challenges with a sense of common purpose, or we can stay mired in the old debates of the past. For the sake of all our people, we must choose the future."

It's All Obama, All the Time (Roger Simon) from Politico

"Barack Obama has gone from being historic to being ubiquitous.  He doesn’t just control the news cycle, he is the news cycle."

While I think Simon's article here is funny and largely true, I think he's missing the LARGER significance of what he has observed -- and that is (1) almost everything Obama is discussing and putting forward (in a different time and place) WOULD BE MAJOR NEWS, but because the Obama folks have so much really happening in so many areas right now, one big news item runs over the next in quick succession, the only common thread is Obama himself; (2) while safely employed folks like Mr. Simon (and much of MSM) may view Obama's level of exposure as excessive, it is NOT for millions of average Americans who have lost their jobs, their health care, or their homes (or all three) and for whom (as polls show) Obama is the ONLY CREDIBLE ELECTED OFFICIAL out there right now.  For these people, there is no one else, and they are desperate for some sense that their President is working his ass off to deal with these problems -- and ultimately the central truth is that the Obama people get this and are acting accordingly.

World's Stupidest Argument (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine

"In the long run, it's a safe historical bet that Bush will prove more polarizing than Obama because he was such an abject failure in the job"

Obama is Just Not Their Cup of Tea (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post

"As a tea party, what happened in Lafayette Square across from the White House yesterday was a washout."

Milbank doesn't need to indulge his penchant for the absurd in his description of yesterday's "tea party" in DC -- it's dark satire that writes itself.

Anti-Obama Rebellion Poses Risk for the GOP from the Chicago Tribune

"The [Tea Parties] came with a risk: In the current economic crisis, with half a million or more jobs vanishing each month, many Americans seem less concerned about how much Washington deducts from their paychecks than whether they will have a paycheck at all.  "Nothing is as pressing a concern as the economy," said GOP pollster Whit Ayres, noting that even among Republicans the political salience of the tax issue is not what it once was."

REALLY!?  And this from one of the brighter stars in the GOP firmament!

Obama Deserves Credit (Cal Thomas) from the Washington Times

"Conservatives have a point when they criticize President Obama and his fellow Democrats for not calling the mission in Iraq a "success" or a "victory." But if they are right about that - and they are - they cannot now withhold praise from Mr. Obama for the flawless rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from the hands of terrorists masquerading as pirates."

HISTORY NUGGET!!

Revealed: The Inbreeding that Ruined the Hapsburgs from the Independent [of London]

"The Hapsburg dynasty was one of the most important and influential royal families in Europe dating back more than 500 years and producing rulers in Austria, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands and the German empire. Then, in 1700, it suffered a sudden demise of its Spanish branch. Now scientists believe they have come up with a definitive explanation."

FOLLOW-UP NUGGET!!

The Dream She Dreamed (Jeanne McManus) from the Washington Post

A column that reflects some of my own sentiments on Susan Boyle's YouTube clip from yesterday's nuggets.  See also this other story, The Scot Heard Round the World, also from the Washington Post.