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Thursday, April 30, 2009

News Nuggets 131


The Gore-acle in his office.  Amazing -- it looks a lot like my office.

Bruised by Stimulus Battle, Obama Changed His Approach to Washington from the Washington Post

"The night before the Senate vote on President Obama's $787 billion stimulus bill, one question echoed through the West Wing:  Where is Arlen Specter?"


Democrats' Message to GOP in Budget Plan: We Don't Need You from the Christian Science Monitor

"Though Democrats are asking for bipartisan support, the resolution passed Wednesday suggests they are prepared to go it alone on healthcare and education reform."


What Obama Has Shown, So Far, About his Governing Style from Congressional Quarterly

"In the case of Barack Obama, who will mark his 100-day milestone on Wednesday, the benchmark is being treated with unusual significance. As the first new president in eight years, the first African-American president ever, and a president called upon from the start to manage both a deep recession and two wars, his every move has been guaranteed an intense level of attention — and comparisons to FDR are more direct than most new presidents face."


The Honeymoon's Not Over (Amy Walter) from National Journal

"The fact that many voters who don't like bigger government, and who supported McCain, still want to see Obama's economic policies succeed suggests that the president's "post-partisan" style is having some success in breaking down the traditional polarized party lines."


Obama's Enchanting Quizfest (Tom Shales) from the Washington Post

"You ask, he'll answer -- earnestly, disarmingly, enchantingly, even -- and most of the time convincingly, which is no small accomplishment for a politician."


The Amtrak Connection (Gail Collins) from the New York Times

"It turns out that besides reinforcing his commitment to mass transit, Biden’s commute also gave him hours and hours of uninterrupted quality time with the senator from Pennsylvania.  Which he used to urge Specter to ditch the Republicans."


From the Start, Putting a Bold Stamp on the White House from the Washington Post

"There has been nothing tentative about President Obama's first 100 days in office. The defining characteristics of his presidency have been his appetite for leadership, the breadth of his ambitions and his determination to pass his programs in the face of united Republican opposition."


The Instant American Revolution from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]

"After his first 100 days -- an arbitrary landmark set by Franklin D. Roosevelt -- President Obama has overturned decades of Republican ideology in Washington. One Republican even managed to sweeten the date for Obama by defecting to the Democrats. But the president still has to be wary."


Republicans Feud Over Specter from Politico

"Faced with a high-profile defection and the prospect of political irrelevance in the Senate, Republicans took off the gloves Wednesday for a ferocious game of finger-pointing."


Bush Vets: Can You Spare a Job? from Politico

Brandon and Megan can't get jobs!  Awww.  WHAT a SHAME!  [I know -- I'm a heartless fiend]

"The economic implosion that was largely an intellectual policy challenge inside the White House has abruptly become a harsh reality for Bush administration officials cast out of the bubble and back into the real world. To survive, they’re taking pay cuts, stepping down to state government work and even renting out their own homes to the ascendant Democrats."


I think I have been very good about avoiding mocking commentary about Michelle Bachmann's sideshow-within-a-sideshow antics that have received so much attention from Jon Stewart and others -- but, as a historian, THIS was too good to pass up!!  How could any intelligent person in Minnesota have voted for this woman?!

Your New Sarah Palin from Daily Kos


'Beloved' Michelle Outshines Obama, Speaks to Youth from the Bloomberg News Service

"So complete is her image makeover that her 84 percent approval rating in a New York Times/CBS News poll this week exceeded President Barack Obama’s 68 percent."


VIDEO NUGGET!

Obama reads Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" at Easter

WHAT A HOOT!


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