UP-FRONT MESSAGE FROM MOVE-ON.ORG!
Normally, I don't tie in with the various campaigns being waged by progressive activist groups. Given how important the health care debate is right now, however, I make an exception here.
Dear MoveOn member,
It's getting ugly out there. All across the country, right-wing extremists are disrupting congressional town-hall meetings with venomous attacks on President Obama's plans for health care and clean energy.
* Last night in Tampa, Florida, a town hall meeting erupted into violence, with the police being called to break up fist fights and
shoving matches.
* A Texas Democrat was shouted down by right-wing hecklers, many of whom admitted they didn't even live in his district.
* One North Carolina representative announced he wouldn't be holding any town-hall meetings after his office began receiving death threats.
* And in Maryland, protesters hung a Democratic congressman in effigy to oppose health-care reform.
We've got a plan to fight back against these radical right-wingers. We've hired skilled grassroots organizers who are working with thousands of local volunteers to show Congress that ordinary Americans continue to support President Obama's agenda for change. And we're building new online tools to track events across the country and make sure MoveOn members turn out at each one.
But we need to scale up our efforts quickly to make sure this plan works. To really swing into action during this month's congressional recess, we need to raise at least $250,000 immediately. Can you chip in $25 to support our work?
Go HERE if you want to do this.
Now back to our regularly scheduled nuggets!
UP-FRONT MUST-READ ECONOMIC NUGGET!!
As Economy Turns, Washington Looks Better from the New York Times
"The evidence is now pointing pretty strongly in one direction: history books may conclude that the financial crisis of 2008 turned out to be far less bad than it could have been and that Washington deserved much of the credit."
Dialogue Only Option (Editorial) from the Arab News [of Saudi Arabia in English]
An interesting overview of where US-Middle East Policy is right now from an Arab perspective.
The Week When it All Came Together for the Clinton Two-for-One Package from the [Manchester] Guardian
"Here was Hillary Clinton, embarking on a seven-country tour of Africa as secretary of state, while her husband, the former president, successfully carried off an ultra-sensitive mission to one of the world's most recalcitrant regimes."
What the Death of Pakistan's Public Enemy No. 1 Means from Foreign Policy
"If Baitullah Mehsud is really dead, it's great news for Pakistan and the United States, and bad news for the militants.."
The End of Al-Qaeda? from Newsweek
"If Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban's most dangerous and powerful leader, was indeed killed by a U.S. Predator drone strike earlier this week, the biggest loser of all may be Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda. For the past eight years, the group had depended on Mehsud, his close allies, and other sympathetic tribals to protect it in South Waziristan."
The Danger to the West of Not 'Helping Russia' (Editorial) from Le Mond [of France in English]
An interesting view of Russia's status and recent history from a western European perspective.
"In Moscow, Obama called for, "a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia," occupying "its rightful place as a great power," and stated his belief that, "the days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chess board are over." How much we would like to believe it! But can we?"
Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform (Steven Pearlstein) from the Washington Post
"The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they've given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They've become political terrorists."
Take a Chill Pill (Matt Miller) from the Daily Beast
"No matter what the critics say, health-care reform isn’t in trouble yet. The Daily Beast’s Matt Miller says the bill should get through Congress and offers a prescription for making it easier to swallow."
The Tea Baggers Are Back -- Crazy as Ever (Bill Press) from the Hartford Courant
"We've seen it in Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; Georgetown, Del.; Salisbury, Md; and other communities. Taking a page right out of a Nazi playbook, organizers bus in professional protestors and arm them with instructions on how to take over meetings, shut down discussion, shout over any pro-health care reform speakers, and then post video of the resulting chaos on YouTube. It's mob rule, pure and simple."
The GOP's Ugly Jokers (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"A new ad campaign paints the president as a communist on health care—complete with hammer and sickle. The Daily Beast’s John Avlon on why the Obama-Soviet iconography degrades our country."
The GOP Freak Show (John Bachelor) from the Daily Beast
Conservative radio talk-show host John Batchelor says the whack jobs disrupting health-care town halls confirm the Republican Party has become a cruise ship to the seventh grade."
Violent Threats Target SEIU Over Health Care Town Halls from Daily Kos. See also HERE for a similar story from the Huffington Post
"The argument appears to go something like this: "If you say that you disagree with me, you're revoking my First Amendment rights, and to defend them, I'm going to shoot you!""
Punking the Obama Birthers from The Week
"An anonymous blogger posted four photos apparently showing the creation of the “infamous” fake Kenyan Obama birth certificate touted by Taitz, along with a “mocking” itemized list, MasterCard-style, that starts with “Fine cotton business paper: $11” and ends with “Punkin’ the Birthers: Priceless.”"
ODD ENVIRONMENTAL NUGGET!!
'Cloud Ship' Scheme to Deflect the Sun's Rays is Favourite to Cut Global Warming from the [London] Daily Telegraph
"Ships with giant funnels which travel the world's seas creating more clouds to deflect the sun's rays could help cut global warming, say scientists."
HISTORY-OF-CRIME NUGGET!!
My Battle with Manson (Vincent Bugliosi) from the Daily Beast
"Forty years ago today, Charles Manson’s “family” killed Sharon Tate. Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor who put Manson away, on how he nailed the infamous murderer."
ANCIENT HISTORY NUGGET!!
Roman Emperor's 2000-Year-Old Villa Unearthed Near Cittareale from the Huffington Post
"Archaeologists have unearthed a sprawling country villa believed to be the birthplace of Vespasian, the Roman emperor who built the Colosseum, they said Friday. The 2,000-year-old ruins were found about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Rome, near Cittareale, lead archaeologist Filippo Coarelli said."
LITTLE-HOUSE-ON-THE-PRAIRIE NUGGET!!
Wilder Women: The Mother and Daughter Behind the Little House Stories from the New Yorker
"Mrs. Wilder ... wasn’t entirely happy with her part-time career, or with her obscurity. In 1930, she sat down with a supply of sharpened pencils—she didn’t type—to write something more ambitious: an autobiography."
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