News Nuggets 195

Foggy and cloudy dawn off the coast of New Zealand from the Daily Telegraph [of London]

UP-FRONT IRAN NUGGET!!

Clerical Group Defies Leader on Disputed Iran Election from the New York Times

"The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment."

Why Iran's Hard-liners are Inviting Isolation from the Christian Science Monitor

"A senior cleric called Friday for British Embassy employees to be tried for allegedly inciting mass protests. The move signals a heightened effort to portray recent unrest as a foreign plot."

Tehran Dispatch: Basijis Hang Around, Do Nothing from Salon

"It is the people, the mellat, that have taken on the most creative and unexpected role in this drama. "

Is the Worst Over?  Most Economists Says Yes from Weekend Edition Sunday on NPR

"As the year's second half begins, most economists are saying the worst of the recession is over, and that slow growth will begin in the fall."

Obama's 'Common Ground': Slogan or Substance? from Politics Daily

Title aside, this article provides interesting analysis of the tough media environment Obama confronts.

"As polarization rooted itself more deeply in Washington, explicitly political media (cable news, radio talk programs, blogs and other outlets) mushroomed and stole viewers, listeners and readers from mainstream sources.  One consequence of this new politically charged media environment is the decline in a mutually shared pool of information that existed before the cable, satellite and Internet explosion."

Sarah Palin 'Out of Politics, Period' from the Huffington Post

"Reporters are beginning to piece together an explanation for Sarah Palin's abrupt resignation announcement that stands in stark contrast to the reasoning Palin offered in her speech."

Major Blowback on Palin Decision from Conservative Blogs from Hot Air [a conservative blog]

"No one leads by quitting.  No one leads by quitting.  Palin’s abandoning  her post, and at least from her own description, doing it because she doesn’t want to deal with the issues of being a “lame duck,” a status all politicians have to handle at some point."

Palin Resignation Splits GOP from Politico

"Many establishment GOP operatives and political commentators of various stripes were withering, both about the decision and the way she announced it — in a jittery, hyperkinetic news conference that rambled between self-congratulation and bitter accusations at the foes she says are eager to destroy her. ... But her defenders believed an unorthodox move, even if risky, has a clear logic and may only further increase her standing with conservatives who don’t care what establishment figures in or out of the GOP think."

Alaska GOP Senator Blasts Palin: You Abandoned Our State from the Huffington Post

"Alaska's Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a surprisingly harsh statement late on Friday, ripping Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to leave office at the end of the month. "I am deeply disappointed that the Governor has decided to abandon the State and her constituents before her term has concluded," Murkowski wrote."

Why Sarah Palin is No Richard Nixon (Op-Ed) from the Congressional Quarterly

I love this analogy!!

"Running from the governorship -- rather than for it -- is hardly a recommendation for the presidency. It's like walking into a job interview as an air traffic controller and telling the hiring authority that you quit your last job as a crossing guard because the pressure was getting to be too much."

Other interesting analysis of Palin HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and especially HERE.

Michelle Obama Bringing Glamor to Moscow This Weekend from the Huffington Post

"In a country where a presidential candidate once quipped he'd sooner pack his wife off to a convent than allow her to dabble in politics, Russia still has trouble with the concept of an empowered woman behind the throne."

INDEPENDENCE DAY NUGGET!!

Reading of the Declaration of Independence on Morning Edition from NPR

A WONDERFUL tradition on National Public Radio!