News Nuggets 406

A sea nettle off San Carlos Beach in California.  From National Geographic.

VACATION NUGGET!

The nuggetsman will be on vacation until July 26th.

Our UP-FRONT PUNIDT OF THE DAY!!

The Pundit Delusion (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times

"He’s too liberal for a center-right nation. No, he’s too intellectual, too Mr. Spock, for voters who want more passion. And so on.  But the only real puzzle here is the persistence of the pundit delusion, the belief that the stuff of daily political reporting — who won the news cycle, who had the snappiest comeback — actually matters"

The Failed-State Conundrum (Fareed Zakaria) from the Washington Post

"When Condoleezza Rice was secretary of state, she used to call failed states the worst threat to American security, as did a host of scholars, U.N. officials and pundits. ... The trouble with trying to fix failed states is that it implicates the United States in a vast nation-building effort in countries where the odds of success are low and the risk of unintended consequences is very high."

Unlikely Tutor Giving Military Afghan Advice from the Sunday New York Times Magazine

"Mr. Mortenson — who for a time lived out of his car in Berkeley, Calif. — has also spoken at dozens of military bases, seen his book go on required reading lists for senior American military commanders and had lunch with Gen. David H. Petraeus, General McChrystal’s replacement."

Those of you who have read "Three Cups of Tea" will be familiar with Greg Mortenson's amazing work.

What is Obamaism? President Must Do Better in Explaining His Policies (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post

"The "center" is said to be the most comfortable place in American politics. But this assumes that the center is stable, that most people on either end of the philosophical continuum give would-be centrist politicians the benefit of the doubt and that voters actually care whether someone is "centrist." Not one of these assumptions works."

Michael Tomasky of the Guardian has related analysis HERE.

Health Reform Moves Ahead from the Editorial Board of the New York Times

"Less than four months after Congress approved historic health care reform legislation, the Obama administration has been making good progress in bringing some early benefits to fruition and issuing rules to guide the reform process. Despite all of the critics’ hype and scare tactics, some polls suggest that the public perception of reform is slowly improving."

Tactical Radicalism and the End of the GOP Establishment (Jonathan Chait) from the New Republic

"Yet it seems perfectly clear that the effect of these challenges has been a disaster from the conservative perspective.  You don't have to love Sue Lowden to understand that a 90% chance of Lowden winning is better than a 20% chance of Sharron Angle winning. Nor is there any recognition on the right that conservatives paved the way for health care reform by driving Specter out. In conservative lore, the Pat Toomey primary challenge remains a glorious triumph, when in fact it's a disaster of historic proportions."

Ed Kilgore at the Democratic Strategist has some further commentary on this HERE.

Has the GOP Hit a Wall? (Joshua Green) from the Atlantic

"One reason for my reluctance to fully embrace the Armageddon-for-Democrats scenario has to do with the rhythms of how the media cover the two parties, and how I expected them, at some point, to change. When a single party holds power, that party appropriately tends to be the focus of attention. But when the possibility that the other party might take over becomes read--and we're certainly at that point--the attention starts to shift."

GOP Candidates Stiff Mainstream Press (Howard Kurtz) from the Washington Post

"Some of the most conservative and combative Republicans running for Congress are convinced that the media have it in for them. But these candidates seem to regard it as an affront when reporters challenge them on their past statements and inconsistencies, which is a basic function of journalism. They are avoiding or limiting interviews with all but the friendliest faces as a way of circumventing the press."

As predicted here at the nuggets page some months ago.

In a World of Online News, Burnout Starts Younger from the New York Times

"Such is the state of the media business these days: frantic and fatigued. Young journalists who once dreamed of trotting the globe in pursuit of a story are instead shackled to their computers, where they try to eke out a fresh thought or be first to report even the smallest nugget of news — anything that will impress Google algorithms and draw readers their way."

Palace Intrigue Intensifies for GOP from Politico

"The growing belief that Republicans could win control of the House has set off a frenzy of behind-the-scenes jockeying for top leadership jobs — and created new tensions for those currently holding them. "

Tea Party Groups Fire on Each Other from Politico

"Two of the tea party movement’s largest organizations are at odds Monday after a fight over a resolution approved by the NAACP calling their tactics “racist.”  On Sunday, the Tea Party Federation, an umbrella organization, expelled the Tea Party Express over the actions of one of its leaders, Mark Williams. "

WV-Sen: Special Election for Byrd Seat in Doubt from the Charleston Gazette [of WV]

"Time is running out for legislation that would set a fall vote for the seat held by the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd after it sat idle Sunday."

More analysis is HERE from Politico.

Mel Gibson and the Christianist Right (Andrew Sullivan) from the Atlantic

"What we see in this dialogue is deeply revealing, it seems to me, about Gibson's mindset and the fundamentalist psyche that is undergirding politics and culture the world over."