Capitalism After the Fall from the New York Times
"The president is hinting at an audacious ambition as he waits for that inevitable if distant day: a redefining of American capitalism."
Gerald Seib said basically the same thing yesterday -- see below.
Signs of Spring: US-Latin America Relations Thaw from Time Magazine
Very interesting analysis. Here again -- this is why I thought Obama would be amazing in foreign affairs.
"The Open Veins is one of the best introductions to the longstanding Latin grievances that keep producing populist leaders like Chávez. It was an appropriate gift for Obama — not because he's clueless about that manera de pensar, but because he proved at the Trinidad summit to be the first U.S. President to get it."
Warming Relations in a Warm Locale from the New York Times
"President Obama, ... , spent Saturday here playing down his celebrity and casting himself as the new kid on the block. “I have much to learn,” Mr. Obama declared. ... With 33 other Western Hemisphere leaders and thousands of delegates and a raucous press corps squeezed into a Hyatt Regency hotel, Mr. Obama found it tough to keep a low profile. Everybody seemed to want a piece of him."
Race a Dominant Theme at Summit from the Washington Post
"In talking about his race and the backgrounds of his counterparts, Obama is associating himself more closely than his predecessors did with Latin America's indigenous, black and mixed-race underclass, which has long identified the United States with economic policies that benefit the elite of European descent far more than them."
This explains the Colombian poll that was released late last week. See article below.
Republicans' Pit Bull Attacks Don't Hurt Obama (Al Hunt) from the Bloomberg News Service
"This is a party still reeling from George W. Bush’s perceived failures, a shortage of compelling national figures, and ambiguity over whether the greater need is to energize its intense but shrinking base or woo an increasingly skeptical middle."
Kashmir, Texas from the Times of India
"If Uncle Sam does intercede [in Kashmir], can New Delhi now say that demands for secession are almost routine in democracies? Just look at Texas."
Megan McCain: "Old School" Republicans are "Scared Shitless" from the Huffington Post
This sounds true to me. And the Republicans should be scared. McCain's commentary is one of the FEW that I have seen from Republicans that even begins to address their manifest failures of recent decades.
"I think we're seeing a war brewing in the Republican Party. But it is not between us and Democrats. It is not between us and liberals. It is between the future and the past.""
Right Wing Becklash (Benjamin Sarlin) from the Daily Beast
AMAZING -- there actually IS some push-back from more level-headed folks on the right against the Becks and Malkins of this world! See also HERE.
"Commenting on Beck's manic transitions between light comedy and frothing-at-the-mouth rage, Allahpundit added: "Either he’s acting or his mind is … highly nuanced.""
Why We Should Get Rid of the White House Press Corps (Ana Marie Cox) from the Washington Post
"Here are some stories that reporters working the White House beat have produced in the past few months: Pocket squares are back! The president is popular in Europe. Vegetable garden! Joe Biden occasionally says things he probably regrets. Puppy!"
Cox says something I've been sensing for ages but haven't articulated. The larger the press corps gets, the less reporting they do that is genuinely news or even newsworthy. I am not someone who makes it my mission to trash the MSM or the White House Press Corps -- I'm sure they are all doing the best they can. But Cox's argument here makes sense to me -- although her conclusion I'm not so sure about.
EMPLOYMENT NUGGET!!
The Best (and Worst) US Cities for Jobs from Forbes Magazine
An interesting overview on a lot of fronts in a set of articles here. The best: all south, all west -- Texas and Louisiana fair especially well. The worst: California and especially Florida: OUCH!
"In hard times, metropolitan areas in Texas and college towns hold out the best opportunities for employment."
CULTURE NUGGET!!
The Bigot's Last Hurrah (Frank Rich) from the New York Times
In the main, this site does not focus on gay politics -- there are already plenty of good sites out there that cover this. Indeed, I tend to eschew "culture war" issues; As a rule I find them exhausting. BUT -- Frank Rich's column today makes a larger cultural point worth making after this week's events.
"Easy to mock as “Gathering Storm” may be, it nonetheless bookmarks a historic turning point in the demise of America’s anti-gay movement. What gives the ad its symbolic significance is not just that it’s idiotic but that its release was the only loud protest anywhere in America to the news that same-sex marriage had been legalized in Iowa and Vermont. If it advances any message, it’s mainly that homophobic activism is ever more depopulated and isolated as well as brain-dead."
SUSAN BOYLE UPDATE!
One Song and She Breaks the Grip of this Sneering World from the Times [of London]
The middle-aged singer from Scotland continues to generate attention (which I don't care about) and interesting analysis (which I do). The following is a piece of the latter.
"What really interests me about the clip is not so much her talent as her story and people’s passionate reaction to it. Susan Boyle’s experience has all the symbolic power of a fairy story. It’s a story of transformation - always one of the most powerful - both for her and for her studio audience."
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