News Nuggets 232

A sea turtle -- I thought it was a beautiful image.

Due to a rising workload, I will be going on, to use Andrew Sullivan, a "bloggatical". I will post now and then, but not regularly at least in the short term.

UP-FRONT HEALTH CARE NUGGET!!

Progressives and critics on the left of Obama's plan should read this piece.

"Kennedy Saw Health-Care Reform Fail in the '70s" (Steven Perlstein) from the Washington Post

"Asked about his greatest regret as a legislator, Ted Kennedy would usually cite his refusal to cut a deal with Richard Nixon on health care.

It was back in 1971 and President Nixon was concerned that he would once again have to face a Kennedy in the next year's election -- in this case a Kennedy with a proposal to extend health care to all Americans. "

Obama on Brink of Deal for Middle East Peace Talks from the [Manchester] Guardian

"US to adopt much tougher line over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Israel to freeze construction of settlements on West Bank. France and Russia offer to host Middle East peace conference"

US Takes on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Iran's Nuclear Programme in One Massive Gamble from the [Manchester] Guardian

"Washington's plan to link two intractable problems raises international hopes of deal to restart the Middle East peace process"

The Women's Crusade (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times Sunday Magazine

"The liberation of women could help solve many of the world’s problems, from poverty to child mortality to terrorism."

Leadership 101 for Barack Obama (David Ignatius) from RealClearWorld

"The real foreign policy tests will start as soon as Obama begins to make some hard, and politically controversial, decisions on the Palestinian issue and Afghanistan. These would be tough problems even if the president were still coasting on the high poll ratings of several months ago, but now, with his popularity down and Congress in a partisan frenzy, they will require a different level of leadership."

http://www.realclearworld.com/printpage/?

Holder's Decision to Probe CIA Hints at a New Dynamic from the Washington Post

"The back story to Monday's appointment of a career prosecutor to review CIA interrogation methods illustrates Holder's influence in the new administration and sheds light on the emerging and delicate relationship between the White House and the Justice Department. In this and other big battles, including the decision to release memos this year by Bush administration officials giving the green light to harsh interrogation tactics, Holder and his Justice Department have prevailed over strong objections from the CIA and the intelligence community."

The Evidence Still Mounts (Andrew Sullivan) from the Atlantic

"The question of torture - and the United States' embrace of inhumanity as a core American value under the presidency of George W. Bush - remains, in my view, the pre-eminent moral question in American politics. The descent of the United States - and of Americans in general - to lower standards of morality and justice than those demanded by Iranians of their regime is a sign of the polity's moral degeneracy."

Cheney's Jihad: Why "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" Don't Enhance U.S. Interests from Foreign Policy Magazine

"The Bush administration had only prudently taken every measure necessary to keep Americans safe. Hiding behind a wall of classification has been a quintessential Cheney trope. But that wall just crumbled."

Slums of Suburbia: Sorting Through he Rubble of California's Foreclosure Tsunami from Newsweek

"Home prices tumbled by more than half, the largest declines in the country. Foreclosure rates in Stockton, Modesto, Merced, Bakersfield, Fresno, and Visalia soared to rank among the highest nationwide, a trend that continues to persist even after their housing markets have started to see signs of recovery. ... The irony in all these empty houses is the valley's rapidly growing population, which presumably needs a place to live."

Teddy the Radical from The Root

"Ted Kennedy was a white liberal who believed in black power, black political power, and he worked to make it happen. He was not one of those white liberals who looked down on African Americans and see a people ever in need of help, not to be trusted to take charge of anything of consequence."

The Other Kennedy Family: Ted's Staff from the Washington Post

"Suite 317, tucked along a marble-floored and white-columned corridor of the Russell Senate Office Building, was not only the liberal lion's den. It also was the finishing school for generations of Kennedy's cubs, hundreds of zealous proteges who came to work for the Massachusetts Democrat."

The Battle for Kennedy's Seat Begins from Newsweek

"Potential successors have been jockeying for months, even years─albeit quietly, out of respect for the ailing Kennedy. But in the coming weeks, competition for the seat is bound to heat up. "

Obama Working on Final Farewell for Kennedy from USA Today

"The passing of a political era from one generation to another will be complete this weekend when Sen. Edward Kennedy is eulogized by the man he helped elect president."

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know (Editorial) from the [Manchester] Guardian

"In Maryland, one man went even further, holding up a sign saying: "Death to Obama" and "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids". This militant, rightwing craziness comes on the back of the now-infamous ad published in a Pennsylvania newspaper in May, calling for Obama to be assassinated"

HISTORY NUGGET!!

D.C. Decoder: Where Were the Birthers in 1881? from the Christian Science Monitor

"We are referring to Chester Alan Arthur. The first (and so far only) Canadian president of the United States. Maybe."