TEN BEST NUGGETS OF THE WEEK!!
1. Obama, Explained (James Fallows) from the Atlantic"Whether things seem to be going very well or very badly around him—whether he is announcing the death of Osama bin Laden or his latest compromise in the face of Republican opposition in Congress—Obama always presents the same dispassionate face. Has he been so calm because he has understood so much about the path ahead of him, and has been so clever in the traps he has set for his rivals? Or has he been so calm because, like the high-school kid on the plane, he has been so innocently unaware of how dire the situation has truly been? This is the central mystery of his performance as a candidate and a president."
2. 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."
3. Sorry, Mitt: It Won't Be an American Century (Charles Kupchan) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Abroad, the charge for the next U.S. president can hardly be to stick his head in the sand and deny that the global distribution of power is fast changing. On the contrary, it is to react soberly and steadily to the implications of such change and ensure that the United States remains secure and prosperous even as economic and military strength spreads to new quarters. President Barack Obama is on the correct path."
4. One Town’s War on Gay Teens (Sabrina Rubin Erdely) from Rolling Stone Magazine
"In Michele Bachmann's home district, evangelicals have created an extreme anti-gay climate. After a rash of suicides, the kids are fighting back."
5. The 2016 Election, Already Upon Us (David Leonhardt) from the New York Times
"DISTANT as it may now seem, with the Republican race dominating the news and President Obama sitting in the White House, the Democrats are not all that far from the tumult of another nominating contest themselves."
6. 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."
7. Does Romney Even Like Republicans? “Muttonheads” Discomfit Mitt (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
" [George] campaign was subsequently chewed to bits between the twin gears of a mindless press corps and rabid right-wing nationalists. “The rest of our [electoral] system I know pretty well,” young Mitt wrote to his father, “only one thing I can’t understand: How can the American public like such muttonheads?” Four and a half decades later, muttonhead-lovers continue to madden Romney, whose frustration has oozed out through blind quotes from his aides."
8. Mitt Romney’s Character Flaw (Jonathan Capehart) from the Washington Post
"Mitt Romney can’t translate his carefully manufactured aura of inevitability into reality because no one believes he is who he says he is. We all know this. But after his triple loss last night, I’m convinced that Romney’s problems with the Republican primary electorate and voters in general go deeper. They sense a lack of character in someone for a job that requires bedrock principles and core beliefs. And as far as I can tell, Romney has none."
9. What the Self-Manufacturing of Romney Hath Produced (Charles P. Pierce) from Esquire Magazine
"The transformation is now complete. Willard Romney, my former governor, the man who campaigned here for the Senate and lost, and who campaigned for governor here and won, has fashioned himself into the most carefully manufactured fake in the recent history of American politics."
10. The First Principles of Rick Santorum (Molly Worthen) from the New York Times
"One dismissive reviewer of Santorum’s 2005 book, “It Takes a Family,” wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer that Santorum is “one of the finest minds of the thirteenth century.” (An opponent once said the same of that other provocative Catholic conservative, William F. Buckley, Jr.) This is no insult: it is the heart of Santorum’s appeal to conservative evangelicals...."
Now, to our regular nuggets for Sunday, February 12.
UP-FRONT POLITICS NUGGET!!
Nattering Nabobs of Negativism (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
“How many of you,” Scott Rasmussen asked the crowd at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, “have ever mocked or made fun of the president’s call for hope and change? Raise your hands.” Most people in the Marriott Wardman Park hotel ballroom raised their hands. There were cheers and whoops. “With all due respect,” the conservative pollster and commentator told them, “I’d like to say that’s really stupid.” This time, there was uncomfortable laughter. “Voters are looking for hope and change as much today as they were in 2008,” Rasmussen explained, and “you ought to be encouraging Republican candidates, people you support, to offer that positive step forward.”
A Loss We Can Live With (James Traub) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The endgame in Afghanistan isn’t 2013 or 2014; it’s already happened. The only thing now is to make sure that the retreat is not a total disaster for those we leave behind."
Myanmar’s Startling Changes: Unravelling the Mysteries of a—so far—Peaceful Revolution from the Economist [of London]
"ANOTHER day, another milestone: there appears to be no let-up in the frenetic pace of Myanmar’s political transformation."
Vladimir Putin, Falling Czar (Jeffrey Tayler) from Businessweek
"Defying protests, Putin is poised to return as Russia’s President. But his days are numbered."
Vatican Besieged by Leaks, Conspiracies from the Associated Press
"The Vatican is being besieged by near-daily leaks of confidential documents and tabloid-style reports of alleged financial mismanagement, political infighting and gossip about who might be the next pope — all coming out at an exceedingly delicate time for the Holy See and Benedict himself."
Eight Arrested in British Tabloid Scandal from the New York Times
"British authorities arrested eight people on Saturday, including five employees of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid The Sun, as part of an investigation into bribery of public officials by journalists, according to Scotland Yard and the newspaper’s parent company."
U.S. Navy Names Warship after Gabby Giffords from the Agence France-Presse
"The US Navy named a new warship after Gabrielle Giffords on Friday, honoring the former Arizona lawmaker who survived a gunman’s bullet to the head a year ago. The USS Gabrielle Giffords represented a fitting tribute to a congresswoman who embodies the navy’s “unwavering courage,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said at a ceremony at the Pentagon."
What, was she on the House Armed Services Committee? While I can get that this is intended as an honor for Ms. Giffords, it DOES strike me as just a little off-key. A congressional office building, sure! A park or a conference on non-violence -- totally. But ... a warship?!
Two COMPLETELY divergent views on the contraception issue. The sources tell you a lot of what you need to know about how this will play nationally.
President Obama’s Win-Win Reversal on Contraception from the Editorial Board of the Washington Post
"THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION appears to have found an elegant way out of its contraceptive problem — or, perhaps more to the point, to the political problem created by its approach to contraceptive coverage."
Immaculate Contraception: An 'Accommodation' that Makes the Birth-control Mandate Worse from the Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal
"The real audience for this non-compromise are the many voters shaken that the White House would so willfully erode the American traditions of religious liberty and pluralism, most of whom don't adhere to
anti-contraceptive teachings."
Catholic Tribalism and the Contraceptive Flap (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"Watching liberals defend a church they disagree with showed us that even Catholic insiders can feel like outsiders."
Students At Catholic Colleges Protest Lack Of Access To Birth Control (Ariel Edwards Levy) from the Huffington Post
"When we hear conservative Catholic organizations ask what we expected when we enrolled at a Catholic school, we can only answer that we expected women to be treated equally, to have their medical needs met. When students found out that the [Obama] administration was going to help us in this way, there was an environment of jubilation, just celebration. ... People who haven't gone to these schools don't realize it, but on the campuses, people are talking about it, they're excited about it, and they vote."
New Rules (Bill Maher) from HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher
Scroll down to the "final rule":
"You know, Republicans have created this completely fictional president. His name is Barack X. And he's an Islamo-socialist revolutionary who is coming for your guns, raising your taxes, slashing the military, apologizing to other countries, and taking his cues from Europe, or worse yet, Saul Alinsky! And this is how politics has changed. You used to have to run against an actual candidate. But, now, you just recreate him inside the bubble and run against your new fictional candidate. "
Sarah Palin Unleashes GOP Id On Worshipful CPAC Crowd from Talking Points Memo
"Even for a party that’s made anti-Washington sentiment its number one talking point, It was an especially provocative passage given that two of the current GOP presidential frontrunners, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, have had post-Congress careers working for special interests in Washington."
Palin Says Brokered Convention Would Not Hurt G.O.P. from the New York Times
"Sarah Palin said Saturday that Republicans should be in no hurry to wrap up the presidential nominating contest, declaring that a competitive campaign until the August convention in Tampa would not complicate the party’s efforts to defeat President Obama."
YEAH!! You tell'em, honey!! Don't you let those insiders tell you to hurry things up!! August sounds perfectly good to me too!!
Senate Republicans Seek to Make Joblessness Worse with Forced 'Volunteer' Work (Laura Clawson) from Daily Kos
"Senate Republicans want to change federal law to ... require all long-term unemployed people to "volunteer" 20 hours a week to continue receiving benefits, with an additional bill introduced by North Carolina's Richard Burr calling for them to spend 20 hours a week looking for work. Those requirements could be added to Republican efforts to allow drug testing requirements and to deny unemployment insurance to people who don't have high school diplomas."
Read the whole thing.
Poll: Santorum Surges into the Lead from Public Policy Polling
"Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories on Tuesday Rick Santorum has opened up a wide lead in PPP's newest national poll. He's at 38% to 23% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Newt Gingrich, and 13% for Ron Paul."
The numbers get WAY more interesting if Gingrich drops out. Check'em out.
Poll: Gingrich, Santorum lead in Georgia (Walter Jones) from Savannah Now
"Former Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich is leading among primary voters in the state he represented for two decades, and ex-Sen. Rick Santorum is second in a poll released Friday."
No comments:
Post a Comment