Business Climbs Aboard (Ronald Brownstein) from the National Journal
IF TRUE (I am still a skeptic), this says a lot about big business's relationship with THE GOP! Many complex factors may underly this shift -- but Republican weakness, no prospect of improved standing any time soon, and the GOP's own hypocritical anti-Wall Street rhetoric (among some) I'm sure played a role.
"Business interests have decided to cut deals with the Democrats. On their two top domestic priorities, President Obama and leading congressional Democrats this week executed pincer movements that allied them with traditional adversaries in business and potentially isolated congressional Republican opponents."
Change? You Asked for It... (Michael Kinsley) from the Washington Post
I think Kinsley is on to an interesting dynamic that is unsettling the Democratic Party these days. The Dems are so used to posturing and posing for the cameras, but in short order they will be able to REALLY make substantive change -- and many lawmakers can't quite get their brains around it. Gridlock is so much easier.
"With a Democratic majority in the House and a Democratic president, suddenly politics seems like a more serious business. We have endured gridlocked government for so long that the idea of a president and a Congress from the same party enacting the legislation that they promised to enact while they were running for office seems almost unnatural."
We Tortured to Justify War (Joe Conason) from Salon
Something of an update on this topic.
"Dick Cheney keeps saying "enhanced interrogation" was used to stop imminent attacks, but evidence is mounting that the real reason was to invent evidence linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida."
Obama and the Middle East from the New York Review of Books
"In Mideast policy at least, there is little reason to imagine that Obama will be a revolutionary president. The radical break with traditional US policy came with the Bush administration, ... Obama's first step will be to close that stormy parenthesis. It will be no small achievement."
'Tea Party' Republicans Rebel Against National GOP from the Washington Independent
This article identifies a KEY aspect of the internal war currently going on within the Republican Party. As I have suggested to some, what you see here is radical populism verses the right-wing Wall Street Republican establishment. While both major parties have experienced periods in the wilderness, THIS DYNAMIC within the current GOP could spell a long, and almost certainly very bitter, time in the woods.
"“This is Barack versus Hillary,” said David All. “This is going to be a battle about what the Republican Party stands for. We have to make a decision: Are we going to get behind candidates who are real reformers who can help the Republicans recover its brand?”"
Are Republicans Serious About Their Soul-Searching? from Vanity Fair
I'm not sure whether to laugh or run for cover when I read here about how some Republican groups are combing paranoia with commerce. They are just SO entrepreneurial!!
"A recent one titled "Extremely Urgent: Society to Come Unglued" recommended I buy the "Social Chaos Survival Guide: Smart, Savvy Precautions To Make You Self-Reliant in These Dangerous Times," which included a bonus report on "Life-Saving Basics: Make Your Own Antibiotic Alternatives At Home.""
Obama Ratings Leveling Off at 35,000 Feet (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal
"So what's with the recent rise in President Obama's already high job-approval ratings? Obama has escaped virtually unscathed from any number of embarrassments."
Dems Pack July Agenda from The Hill
A preview of coming attractions on Capitol Hill. It's AMAZING how much BIG stuff is just around the legislative corner!
"Congressional Democrats have planned an ambitious July, stacking healthcare reform, climate change legislation, annual spending bills and a potential Supreme Court nomination battle on the “To Do” list before the August recess."
New Drug Czar: 'We're Not at war with People in This Country' from the Huffington Post
Via Joe in Florida, another example of how the new administration is moving on SO MANY FRONTS, what would otherwise be big news barely gets a mention these days. This piece is a concise look at many of the changes (and some of the gaps) of Obama's new drug policies.
"Drug policy reformers of every stripe are abuzz. They recognize, after lo these many decades that agitation for reform is multiplying exponentially at both the state and federal levels. The prospect of real change is palpable."
The Truth About Richard Bruce Cheney (Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson) from the Washington Note
"When will we hear from those in my party who give a damn about their country and about the party of Lincoln? When will someone of stature tell Dick Cheney that enough is enough? Go home. Spend your 70 million. Luxuriate in your Eastern Shore mansion. Shoot quail with your friends--and your friends."
Cheney's Role Deepens from the Daily Beast
"Former NBC News investigative producer Robert Windrem reports that the vice president’s office suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner who was suspected of knowing about a relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam."
Who Lost Conservatism? from The Week
This commentator makes an excellent point about why the GOP is in the mire that it is in -- and why they may stay in the mud for a LONG time.
"The faction most responsible for the GOP’s political failure is national security conservatives. Yet within the party, they remain unscathed, their assumptions about the use of American power largely unquestioned, and their gross errors in judgment forgotten or readily forgiven."
GOP Insiders Say Cheney is Hurting the Party from the National Journal
The comments from GOP insiders are quite interesting!
"Anything that reminds the public of the Bush administration harms the party's ability to turn the page. If he'd had any concern for his public image when he was in office, he wouldn't have to worry as much about defending his reputation now."
Who Takes Lead in Criticizing Dems? from Politico
"Rather than the oft-talked-about divide between moderates and conservatives within the GOP, it seems the real divide is between those who want to fight Democrats and those who want to fight other Republicans. "
GOP Trade Barbs as the Young Flee from the National Journal
"Republicans these days seem more intent on tossing brickbats than facing up to the work of rebuilding a party coming off back-to-back election disasters. And in the past couple of weeks, their party leaders have been taking aim at each other almost as much as at Democrats."
Socialist Sanders Taps Populist Anger to Influence Fed Bailouts from the Bloomberg News Service
"The future of American capitalism is being shaped in part by Congress’s only avowed socialist."
Progressive America: The Millennial Generation from the Center for American Progress
"The 2008 election saw strong shifts toward progressives among almost all growing demographic groups in the United States. Conversely, conservatives typically retained strength only among stagnant or declining groups."
The Political Ideology of the Millennial Generation from the Center for American Progress
"What is most important about these voters is not their current predilection for Democratic candidates, however, but rather the deeply held progressive beliefs underlying their voting preferences. The progressive beliefs of these young adult voters could recast the core ideological battles that have defined our country’s post-Vietnam political discourse."
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