Should China Abandon its Non-Interference Policy? (Iain Mills) from the Word Politics Review
"China's long-standing policy of non-interference in the sovereign affairs of other nations is a cornerstone of its Peaceful Rise foreign policy doctrine. But as recent events have brought sharply into focus, the current approach fails to protect China’s expanding overseas interests and has caused a trust deficit with regard to China’s intentions at an intergovernmental level. This raises the question of how long the non-interference policy can be sustained, and whether Chinese interests would be better served by abandoning it for a less rigid position."
Republicans Need More Than Rhetoric on Defense (George F. Will) from the Washington Post
"Through 11 presidential elections, beginning with the Democrats’ nomination of George McGovern in 1972, Republicans have enjoyed a presumption of superiority regarding national security. This year, however, events and their rhetoric are dissipating their advantage."
A broad, startling critique of the GOP's incoherent and stupid approach to foreign policy coming from a surprising source.
Same general topic; different perspective:
The GOP Scrambles for a Bogeyman (Harold Meyerson) from the Washington Post
"Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, one thing is increasingly clear: Boy, do the Republicans miss communism. ... With the collapse of the Soviet Union, then, the task of demonizing Democrats became vastly more difficult, as this year’s Republican presidential contest illustrates."
On Contraception, Tales From the Kitchen Table (Gail Collins) from the New York Times
"...they don’t seem in the mood to compromise. Church leaders told The National Catholic Register that they regarded any deal that would allow them to avoid paying for contraceptives while directing their employees to other places where they could find the coverage as a nonstarter."
Why White House Sees Political Opportunity in the Contraception Battle from the Washington Post
"Numerous pundits have predicted that the requirement —and its narrow exemption for churches — will be a political liability for Obama. But where Shields sees “cataclysmic” fallout, the White House sees something quite different: a chance to widen the reproductive health debate beyond abortion to issues like contraceptives, winning over key demographics of independent voters in the process."
Eleanor Clift has a similar take on this subject HERE.
The White Underclass (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"We need a national conversation about the dimensions of poverty or a chunk of working-class America could be calcified into an underclass."
Bright Minds and Dark Attitudes: Lower Cognitive Ability Predicts Greater Prejudice Through Right-Wing Ideology and Low Intergroup Contact (Gordon Hodson and Michael A. Busseri) from the journal, Psychological Science
"... we found that lower general intelligence (g) in childhood predicts greater racism in adulthood, and this effect was largely mediated via conservative ideology. A secondary analysis of a U.S. data set confirmed a predictive effect of poor abstract-reasoning skills on antihomosexual prejudice, a relation partially mediated by both authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact."
The Guardian of the UK has a commentary on this study HERE.
Wisconsin GOP's Vow of Omerta on Redistricting Busted Wide Open from Daily Kos
"...since any further resistance probably would have meant jail time ..., WI Republicans finally caved and forked over the goods. And ho-lee sh*t. I'm not even sure I can do justice trying to summarize what they produced, but it all describes a remarkable conspiracy to draw the new maps in utter secrecy and try to protect the process from public scrutiny by covering it with a bogus cloak of attorney-client privilege."
Mitt Romney is Dazed and Confused (Roger Simon) from Politico
"Romney is known as an even-keel kind of guy. Doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. But Tuesday he lost three states to Rick Santorum, and it threw him and his campaign into disarray and confusion."
Winners and Losers from Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri (Aaron Blake) from the Washington Post
"A supposedly less-important Election Day on Tuesday got pretty interesting by the time it was all said and done. We’ve combed through all the results so we can lay it all out for you — as usual — in the form of winners and losers."
Rick Santorum Wins Confirm Mitt Romney Weakness: Read The Polls (Mark Blumenthal) from the Huffington Post
"The results in the eight contests so far demonstrate two continuing difficulties for Romney. The first is his apparent problem with very-low-turnout caucus states. ..."
Republican Enthusiasm Issue is Real from the Public Policy Polling
"Going deeper inside the numbers: -25% of conservatives are not at all excited to vote this fall, compared to only 16% of liberals. -The percentage of Tea Party voters 'very excited' about voting in November has declined from 73% to 62% since late July."
The Vest Man Won: What Rick Santorum’s Surprise Victories Mean for Mitt Romney (John Dickerson) from Slate
"Mitt Romney sure hopes there's a safety net. His campaign needs it. His cautious and measured run for the presidency has been thrown off stride by Rick Santorum's victories Tuesday in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri. The GOP nominating race has become a clash of vampires and zombies."
Romney’s Even Bigger Problem (Josh Marshall) from Talking Points Memo
"But starting a little more than a week ago the two started separating and the current TPM Poll Average has President Obama with an almost 7 point lead over Romney, in other words a real lead."
In Santorum’s Sweep, Sign of G.O.P. Unease With Romney (Michael Shear) from the New York Times
"Rick Santorum’s sweep of Mitt Romney in Tuesday’s three Republican presidential contests sets the stage for a new and bitter round of intraparty acrimony as Mr. Romney once again faces a surging conservative challenge to his claim on the party’s nomination."
Romney Losing His Mojo After Caucus, Primary Losses to Santorum (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"Rick Santorum’s sweep exposed glaring weaknesses in Mitt Romney’s candidacy. Howard Kurtz on whether the ex-senator can capitalize on conservative qualms about Romney."
Clint, Rick and the Limits of Pessimism (E.J.Dionne) from the Washington Post
"What do Rick Santorum and Clint Eastwood have in common? Sorry, Rick, you haven’t made it yet as an Eastwood-style make-my-day cultural icon. But in different ways, Santorum and Eastwood have demonstrated the limits of both an entirely negative slant on politics and a pessimistic take on America’s future."
Mitt Romney’s Night from Hell (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"A stunning sweep by Rick Santorum pushes the GOP race closer than ever to complete chaos."
New Book Exposes Secret World of J. Edgar Hoover from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"J. Edgar Hoover assembled the largest collection of pornography in history to meet his insatiable sexual demands, according to a new biography. The former director of the FBI built up a vast stock of adult films made by Hollywood stars before they were famous which he watched for his own titillation - or to blackmail them."
WORLD WAR II NUGGET!!
Pacific Battlefield Tourism: A Dream Island Littered with Deadly Relics from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"World War II ravaged the tiny island of Peleliu in 1944 as US and Japanese forces clashed in one of the fiercest battles of the Pacific campaign. Rusting tanks, wrecked aircraft and live shells strewn across the island continue to attract battlefield tourists to this beautiful but dangerous place."
MEDIEVAL SPORTS NUGGET!!
Try Medieval Hot Pants? Surely, You Joust from the New York Times
"A skeptic finds out that wearing a 60-pound suit of armor like the kind used on the History channel’s new series “Full Metal Jousting” is not for the faint of ... anything."
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