Supremely Irrelevant: Iran Tried to Take Advantage of the Arab Spring. It Failed, Miserably (Colin Kahl) from Foreign Policy Magazine
The reaction in Tahrir Square represented a sign of things to come. Iran has tried to exploit events, but the winds of political change have not blown in Tehran's favor."
Poll: High Marks for Obama's State of the Union Speech from CBS News
"According to the poll, which was conducted online by Knowledge Networks immediately after the president's address, 91 percent of those who watched the speech approved of the proposals Mr. Obama put forth during his remarks. Only nine percent disapproved."
WOW. Ninety-one percent!! It just goes to show that Bill Clinton's approach to the SOTU address was probably correct: a long, rigorously poll-tested laundry list of accomplishments will trump soaring rhetoric and some big vision statements EVERY TIME. I personally hate the tedious enumeration, the posturing from the Congress, and the manipulative "showcasing" of some notable "average person of the moment" in the gallery. But then, clearly, this is an event where genuinely average voters seem to eat it up!
Senate Democrats Plan To Put Republicans On The Wrong Side Of The Middle Class from Talking Points Memo
"Senate Democrats are preparing an aggressive legislative agenda to complement the vision President Obama outlined in his State of the Union Address. The goal is to test the idea that the public supports an agenda of aggressive federal action on behalf of the middle class, and that Republicans are locked in a pattern of reactionary opposition, even to popular policies."
Kornacki: Boehner ‘Entirely at the Mercy’ of the Tea Party from Raw Story
"“We’ve already seen the situation that John Boehner is in as House Speaker,” Kornacki said on Countdown. “He really is the most weak House Speaker that we have seen in decades, almost ever, because he is entirely at the mercy of the House Republican caucus that believes any form of cooperation, any form of compromise with Barack Obama is a sellout of conservative principles.”"
The GOP Goes MAD: The Candidates Go Thermonuclear, but the Party Itself May Get Hit (Daniel Henninger) from the Wall Street Journal
"For nearly three decades, the American and Soviet nuclear arsenals cohabitated uneasily inside a policy of Mutual Assured Destruction without blowing each other up. MAD was insane, but the players were not. Campaigning politicians operate under no such rational constraint. We are hours away from the second Florida primary debate in which Newt Gingrich will give Mitt Romney a lesson in massive retaliation for the governor's Gatling-gun attack on the speaker last Monday night. Traditionalists will dismiss the idea that the GOP is in the process of blowing itself up. Campaign politics has always been about the rough and tumble, old boy. It was ever thus. Thus is over."
"Massive retaliation..." -- oh yeah. I'll believe it when I see it. Newt didn't help himself with his "base on the moon" idiocy yesterday.
Obama Team Counting on Weakened Romney (Dan Balz) from the Washington Post
"The president’s political advisers, still struggling to win over independents, see the Republican crippled by a major strategic mistake."
Rush Limbaugh: Resentment, Cultural Insecurity Fueled Gingrich's Rise (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
Friedersdorf is on a ROLL!! His analysis of the S.C. electorate and their support for Gigrich has been DEAD ON!
"In his telling, Gingrich's victory is rooted in the cultural insecurity and resentment of conservative Republicans. The only difference between his analysis and the folks I've quoted is that he regards this
emotionalism as unproblematic and justified. ... Limbaugh may think this victim complex, and the desire for revenge and emotional catharsis it creates, is justified. He is nevertheless admitting that the behavior of the conservative base isn't grounded in principle or patriotism or a desire to advance conservative policy."
The State of the Union Address: After Some Sleep (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
" I think my reaction to the SOTU reflects a skewed perspective - much different than most people tuning in, who were the speech's core audience. A big part of the speech was reminding Americans of the facts about Obama's record - as opposed to the massive lies and distortions we keep hearing in the GOP debates. That's new to many; and it's impressive."
Don't Let Conservatives Blame Mitt Romney for Their Woes (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
"Whatever one thinks of Romney, no one forced Republicans to make him their frontrunner. Guys like Steyn are loath to say anything critical about the Tea Party or movement conservatism's rank-and-file, but that wing of the GOP coalition's spectacular failure to produce a viable candidate cannot go forever ignored. The frivolity of the campaign has been determined by the pathologies of the conservative movement much more than the individual failings of Romney."
A Vote for Newt is a Vote for... from the Economist [of London]
Again -- a dead on assessment of the hard-right GOP voter!
"Mr Gingrich's bristling retort to Juan Williams about race and his ferocious attack on John King's question about his ex-wife's allegations amounted to a sort of fantasy-fulfillment for many white, conservative Christians aggrieved by the erosion of their cultural dominance. Mr Gingrich took what indignant conservatives yell at their televisions, dressed it up in soaring rhetoric, and barked it at the business end of the TV camera. "Screw you and your superior P.C. bullshit, Juan Williams! Screw you and your sleazy anti-conservative, character-assassinating 'journalism', John King. You 'elites' are not better than us. This is our country, not yours. Our values set the standard, not yours." To all this, South Carolina's Republicans said "Woooo!""
Obama’s ‘Built to Blast’ Speech (Matt Miller) from Washington Post
"In reality, the speech was built to blast. To blast Mitt Romney, that is."
Daily Kos/SEIU State of the Nation Poll: Mitt Romney Won't Like These Poll Results (David Nir) from Daily Kos
"Q: Which of the following statements do you agree with more: 'Mitt Romney has strong principles' or 'Mitt Romney will say anything he has to to get elected'? Has strong principles: 26 Will say anything: 61 Unsure: 12"
Newt Slams Romney's 'World of Swiss Bank Accounts' from Politico
Boy -- that didn't take long! As I said yesterday, negative messaging about Swiss bank accounts in the current political environment is a complete no-brainer.
""You have to live in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and making $20 million for no work, to have some fantasy this far from reality," Gingrich said."
Gingrich Has Repeatedly Sold Out the Right (Jennifer Rubin) from the Washington Post
"Why the right would consider Gingrich to be the savior of consistent conservatism is a mystery to me. And anyone who thinks Gingrich would suddenly be gripped by ideological devotion rather than personal expediency once in office doesn’t know with whom they are dealing. Just as he sold Reagan out on the contras, tried to bully conservatives on spending, dissed capitalism and, let’s not forget, pummeled the best conservative Medicare reform idea (Paul Ryan’s) in a generation, he would once again sell out the right in a heartbeat. He always does."
TX-GOV: Battered And Bruised, Perry Returns To Texas (Wade Goodwyn) from NPR's All Things Considered
"The crux of Perry's problem is that he came across as not being very smart. And it certainly doesn't help Texas' image and obviously, this made a pretty negative impact on the folks back home."
ODD US PRESIDENTS NUGGET!!
Former President John Tyler’s (1790-1862) Grandchildren Still Alive from Yahoo News
"Former President John Tyler, born 221 years ago, still has two living grandchildren. The one-term president isn't a well-known historical figure; he's probably best remembered for helping to push through the annexation of Texas in 1845, shortly before leaving office."
HEALTH CARE NUGGET!!
Start Early To Curb Heart Risks For A Lifetime (Patty Neighmond) from NPR's All Things Considered
""If at age 45 you have two or more of either elevated blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes or smoking, and you're a man, then there's a 50-50 proposition that you will have a heart attack or a stroke during your remaining lifespan," cardiologist Donald Lloyd-Jones, who headed the study at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Women with two risk factors have about a 30 percent chance. ... Nonsmokers who make it to middle age with normal blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar have almost no risk of heart disease. "Our data suggested that for a 45-year-old man the likelihood that he would have a heart or stroke by 80 was only 1.4 percent," Lloyd-Jones says."
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