News Nuggets 829

DAYLEE PICTURE: Five Flower Lake in Jiuzhaigou Valley in China.  From National Geographic.

Next Year, in Review (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"From the fall of Ahmadinejad, Assad, Castro, and Chavez to the rise of cyberattacks -- the top 13 stories that could dominate the headlines in 2012."

Goodbye Iraq (Robert Dreyfuss) from the Nation
"Fact is, Maliki runs Iraq, not the United States. He’s there because the United States catapulted him and a bunch of other exiles, many linked to Iran, into power after 2003. There’s little or nothing that the United States can or should do to insert itself into Iraqi politics now. With luck, Iraqi nationalism will reassert itself vis-à-vis Iran, and Iraq will likely rely in the future on cash and investments and technology from Western countries and the Arab nations of the gulf. But if not, and if Iran begins to transform Iraq into a client state and ally, so be it."

The President and the Generals (Richard Clarke) from the New York Times
"George W. Bush ... repeatedly said things like “our commanders on the ground will determine the size of the troop levels” in Iraq. Letting generals in the field dictate strategic decisions didn’t turn out well for Mr. Obama’s predecessor, and the president is wise not to do the same."

Newt, Mitt, Bibi and Vladimir (Thomas Freidman) from the New York Times
"Many American Jews are deeply worried about where Israel is going. Many others are just drifting away."

Lessons of the 1930s: There Could be Trouble Ahead from the Economist [of London]
"In 2008 the world dodged a second Depression by avoiding the mistakes that led to the first. But there are further lessons to be learned for both Europe and America."

How Fox News is Helping Barack Obama's Re-election Bid (Jonathan Freedland) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Because Fox has put off the best Republican candidates, Barack Obama will be much less vulnerable at the election."

Why Team Obama Is Bullish on Re-election in 2012 (Alexis Simendinger) from Real Clear Politics
"Using bullet points, calendars, maps and measures of nearly every campaign activity to date, message-shaper David Axelrod and campaign manager Jim Messina described how they believe Obama “will win” in 2012. Here are 10 of their arguments:"

Optimism Returns to Obama Campaign as Republican Race Takes Shape (Ewen MacAskill) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"While the economy remains an issue, a faltering GOP field and foreign policy successes are giving Obama reason to hope."

Team Obama: We’ll Take The Longest Republican Primary You Have, Please from the Talking Points Memo
"A long fight would shorten the general election, and thus most likely put less of a focus on Obama for much of the year as Gingrich and Romney duke it out. Yet the Obama campaign says bring it on."

NBC/WSJ Poll: Romney Struggles with Primary Voters, Gingrich with General Electorate from MSNBC
"Romney faces a challenge with the Republican primary electorate, trailing Gingrich nationally by 17 percentage points as nearly two-thirds of Republicans view him as either liberal or moderate. Gingrich, meanwhile, faces a challenge with the general electorate, as half of all voters say they wouldn’t vote for him in November, and as he trails President Barack Obama by more than 10 percentage points in a hypothetical contest -- compared with Romney’s two-point deficit versus the Democratic incumbent."

NBC/WSJ: Gingrich At 40% With GOP, But Would Be Crushed By Obama from Talking Points Memo
"“Gingrich struggles with other important voting blocs — like women (20 percent positive vs. 38 percent negative), independents (16 percent positive vs. 40 percent negative) and suburban residents (25 percent positive vs. 41 percent negative),” MSNBC continued."

Why Romney Might Not be Following Hillary's Footsteps (Chuck Todd et al.,) from MSNBC
"three key differences: (1) Romney doesn't appear to be spending the amount of money that Clinton did. Remember, after Super Tuesday, the Clinton campaign essentially ran out of money ... . But Romney's team has hoarded much of its cash. ... Team Romney has LONG planned for the LONG nomination fight; (2) Romney's camp isn't "all in" in Iowa, the same way Clinton's was four years ago. That's why Clinton's loss in the Hawkeye State was so devastating and why her victory in New Hampshire a week later was so surprising; And (3) As we mentioned yesterday, Newt Gingrich's operation isn't Obama's from 2007-2008, whether it's in fundraising or organizing."
One countervailing trend to these countervailing trends: Hillary Clinton ALWAYS had more support within the Democratic Party than Romney has EVERY had in the GOP.  The question is: can Romney use his many organizational advantages to overcome his many ideological/flip-flopical disadvantages?  As notable past GOP not-quite nominee Phil Graham can attest: money and organization can't buy you love!

Mitt Romney’s New Hampshire Nightmare (Michael Crowley) from Time Magazine
"There are growing signs that the Republican primary campaign might be a long and muddy slog, a slow grind to accumulate delegates that doesn’t produce a nominee until spring or even summer; a contest more in the World War I style of Obama v. Clinton 2008 than the D-Day landing of George W. Bush 2000. But there’s also a scenario in which, one month from now, Mitt Romney suffers a blow so damaging that he might never recover: defeat in New Hampshire."

21 Days Till Iowa: Watching the Lincoln-Douglas Debacle (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"What we got was, with certain admirable exceptions, the appearance of substance. And, more often than not when Gingrich was speaking, what we got was dangerous nonsense passed off as considered thought. A waste of time? No. We learned a lot about Gingrich’s depth of knowledge on foreign policy. It is kiddie-pool deep."

Romney Adopts KKK Slogan: "Keep America American" (John Aravosis) from AmericaBlog
Normally, I don't post these 48-hour tempest stories -- but I thought Arovosis's follow-on comment was on-target concerning what's permissible and what isn't in the MSM environment.
"...it's apparently okay for Republicans to accuse President Obama of being a socialist, I guess we now need to ask if Mitt Romney is a Ku Klux Klansman. ... I'm waiting for the traditional media to poo-poo this and ignore it, or write it off as funny, while they quote the GOP candidate, and members of Congress, repeatedly calling the President a "socialist," and never write articles about how kooky or ridiculous that accusation is."

X-MAS TOYS NUGGET!!
Blocks, a Tiny Racecar, and a Flying Shark: Five of the Most Innovative Toys of 2011 from Slate
These toys ARE really hilarious!!
"I’m going to focus on the year’s five most innovative items—the toys I thought offered new twists on old forms of play. If you’re shopping for kids this year, you won’t go wrong with any of these."

WILD BEAR NUGGET!!
Grizzly Proves he's Smarter than the Average Bear (VIDEO) from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Bears are not usually known for their good manners. But this friendly chap has given a warm welcome to those visiting his wildlife reserve home."
Normally I don't post videos showing animals doing silly things -- there are simply too many of them!  But this one is unusually charming!  As an aside: what an ENORMOUS animal to be confined by such a meager wire fence!  That wouldn't slow me down very much -- and I'd be surprised if it could slow down this grizzly if he got really steamed.