Hersh: Obama finally ‘taking control’ on Afghanistan from Raw Story
"President Barack Obama is not satisfied with any of the options on Afghanistan he has received from his national security team and is demanding revisions, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow turned to veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh for insight.
"It could be huge," Hersh told Maddow, "simply that the president's finally saying, 'I'm taking control.'""
Racial Rethinking as Obama Visits from the Washington Post
I knew this was happening around the time Obama was elected -- It's good to see that Obama's sheer existence continues to roil these same waters around the globe.
"As the country gets ready to welcome the first African American U.S. president, whose first official visit here starts Sunday, the Chinese are confronting their attitudes toward race, including some deeply held prejudices about black people. Many appeared stunned that Americans had elected a black man, and President Obama's visit has underscored Chinese ambivalence about the growing numbers of blacks living here."
In a similar vein:
Obama Can Teach Shanghai Officials a Thing or Two (Editorial) from the China Daily [of the People's Republic of China in English]
"This op-ed from the China Daily, columnist Hong Liang, uses the imminent visit of Barack Obama to explain why young people in Shanghai love the president - and loath the 'authoritarian excess' that critics regard as the hallmark of the Beijing regime."
Debunking the Myths About Trying Mohammed in New York (Andrew Cohen) from the Washington Post
Very interesting item!
"A Mohammed trial for Sept. 11 crimes -- the case might actually be styled United States v. Mohammed -- could be one of the biggest legal landmarks in American history. It's not surprising that bringing one of the "faces of terror" to within blocks of Ground Zero would generate a lot of fear, trepidation and political hysteria. So let's try to separate sizzle from steak. Here are six myths about Mohammed and his trial that ought to be destroyed:"
Town Welcomes Idea of Gitmo Detainees' Arrival from the Chicago Breaking News Center
"News that the federal government seems interested in transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Thomson Correctional Center was greeted warmly in this small, rural farm town along the Iowa border."
Tensions Brewing Between Republicans and CEOs Over Health Care Reform from The Hill
"Tension between Republicans and the nation’s top CEOs over healthcare reform escalated this week when the executives released a report praising aspects of President Barack Obama’s top initiative."
GOP Faces Choice If Health Bill Passes (Ronald Brownstein) from National Journal
"If Obama does sign a reform bill, which appears more likely than not, Republicans will face a momentous choice between consolidation and repudiation -- between accepting the new program and seeking to dismantle it."
This is a no-brainer -- they will seek to dismantle it. Passing the legislation -- why should that stop the conservatives doing everything they can to undercut health care?
Pelosi's Bill: How She Did It from the National Journal
"She was the player most responsible for guiding the complex measure to passage -- not President Obama or White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and not the committee chairmen. She engaged in constant deal-making, in several dozen caucus meetings and perhaps thousands of phone calls and hallway conversations with Democratic members."
Pelosi, Emanuel Tough as Nails from National Journal
"This health bill could have foundered in so many places, not the least of which involved abortion restrictions, but Pelosi and Emanuel muscled it through."
Orszag: US Health Care Overhaul Will be Enacted this Year from Bloomberg News Service
“We think we’re going to get this done before the end of the year,” Orszag said yesterday at the Bloomberg Washington Summit. “We need the Senate to move, and we need to move to conference” to negotiate a House-Senate compromise, he said."
The Old Republican Revival (Terrence Samuel) from the American Prospect
"Will the GOP be sufficiently rebuilt to challenge Obama and the Democrats in 2010? Probably not"
MO: Republican Senator Blunt Faces GOP Crowd Somewhat Wary of His Washington Record from the St. Louis Beacon
More teabagging trouble for the GOP!!
"His standing-room-only audience at Chesterfield City Hall of the West County Republicans group included a sizable number who made clear -- although generally (but not always) politely -- that they weren't necessarily buying Blunt's pitch."
And over in Utah:
Utah Becomes a Battleground in the GOP's Civil War from the Los Angeles Times
"Sen. Robert Bennett is under fire from those in the party who find him insufficiently conservative. His battle may be a reflection of an anti-establishment anger that could affect both parties."
Lou Dobbs Resignation Memo Leaked to the Press from Huffington Post
Normally, I avoid "pundit" stories -- I so don't care -- but this one caught my eye. I'm amazed CNN kept him on so long!
British Scouts Investigated Over Anti-Jewish Chants from the [Manchester] Guardian
Teabagging goes trans-Atlantic. Just what the world needs.
"Dressed in full uniform, the explorer scouts, who were taking part in Remembrance Sunday service in Romford, Essex were heard to repeatedly shout "Let's kill the Jews" at Jewish second world war veterans."
Memoir is Palin's Payback to McCain Campaign (Review) from the New York Times
"In what reads like payback for McCain aides’ disparaging comments about her in the wake of the ticket’s loss to Barack Obama, Ms. Palin depicts the McCain campaign as overscripted, defeatist, disorganized and dunder-headed — slow to shift focus from the Iraq war to the cratering economy, insufficiently tough on Mr. Obama and contradictory in its media strategy."
INTERVIEW NUGGET!!
For Vermont Senator Bernie Saunders, Breaking Up is Hard to Do from the Nation
"Vermont's Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (D) coined the phrase, "If you're too big to fail, you're too big to exist," back when he voted against the initial Wall Street Bailout in October 2008. Now, none other than former Fed Chairmen Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker are parroting it, and a lot of other notables from across the political spectrum have come around to support busting up the banks too, as the Senator describes below.
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