TEN BEST NUGGETS OF THE WEEK!!
1. The Fall of Bo Xilai (Robert Keatley) from the National Interest "The dramatic story of China's ousted princeling reveals much about the country's deep-rooted corruption—and its aversion to reform."
2. One Year After Bin Laden's Death: A New World (Michael Hirsh) from the National Journal
"Even U.S. conservatives are battling over how to handle the ‘post-al-Qaida era.’"
3. The Rise of the Killer Drones: How America Goes to War in Secret (Michael Hastings) from Rolling Stone Magazine
"An inside look at how killing by remote control has changed the way we fight."
4. In Afghanistan, Underground Girls School Defies Taliban Edict, Threats from the Washington Post
"A U.S.-funded girls school about a mile away was shuttered by insurgents in 2007, two years after it opened. They warned residents that despite a new government in Kabul and an international aid effort focused on female education, the daughters of Spina were to stay home. For a while, they all did."
5. The Ayatollah Under the Bed(sheets) (Karim Sadjadpour) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"In the Islamic Republic of Iran, all politics may not be sexual, but all sex is political."
6. Bullying the Nuns (Garry Wills) from the New York Review of Books
"The Vatican has issued a harsh statement claiming that American nuns do not follow their bishops' thinking. That statement is profoundly true. Thank God, they don't. Nuns have always had a different set of priorities from that of bishops. The bishops are interested in power."
7. Fighting Back from the New Republic
"Domestic violence homicides in Maryland have dropped by 40 percent since 2007—and its success is attributed to a simple new approach to helping victims: ..."
8. Ready for the Fight: Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama (Jann Wenner) from Rolling Stone Magazine
"The president, in the Oval Office, discusses his job, the opposition and the coming campaign."
9. Let’s Just Say It: The Republicans are the Problem (Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein) from the Washington Post
Note: Ornstein is no left-wing hack. He is a decades-long premier right-of-center observer of congress.
"We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party."
10. The Ghost of Joe McCarthy in Today's Republican Party (Bill Moyers) from Alternet
"By now, little of what Allen West says ever surprises. He has called President Obama “a low level Socialist agitator,” said anyone with an Obama bumper sticker on their car is “a threat to the gene pool” and told liberals like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to “get the hell out of the United States of America.” ... But this time, we shook our heads in disbelief: “78 to 81 Democrats… members of the Communist Party?” That’s the moment the memory hole opened up and a ghost slithered into the room. The specter stood there, watching the screen, a snickering smile on its stubbled face. Sure enough, it was the ghost of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin farm boy who grew up to become one of the most contemptible thugs in American politics."
Now, to our regular nuggets for Sunday, April 15.
U.S. Signals Major Shift on Iran Nuclear Program (Paul Richter) from the Los Angeles Times
"The Obama administration might support letting Iran continue enriching uranium up to 5% purity if it agrees to other U.N. restrictions."
Peter Bergen’s Manhunt: The Decade-Long Hunt for Osama bin Laden (Bruce Reidel) from the Daily Beast
A new book chronicles the 10-year search for the world’s most-wanted terrorist. Ex–CIA official Bruce Riedel on the myths of Osama—and what the Pakistanis don’t know."
The United States is a Low-wage Nation (Laura Clawson) from Daily Kos
"The United States is a low-wage country. (Here a chorus of Republicans pipes up: Yes, but it's the greatest low-wage country in the world, and don't you forget it!) In fact, in 2009 the United States led developed nations, with 24.8 percent of workers earning less than two-thirds of the median income."
Check out the table that accompanies this article.
My Faith-Based Retirement (Joe Nocera) from the New York Times
"The only thing I haven’t dealt with on my to-do checklist is retirement planning. The reason is simple: I’m not planning to retire. More accurately, I can’t retire. My 401(k) plan, which was supposed to take care of my retirement, is in tatters."
American Enterprise Institute And Brookings Must-Read: ‘The Republicans Are The Problem’ (Joe Romm) from Think Progress
"I’ll excerpt the piece by Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann at length for two reasons. First, the problem they describe in detail is the central reason the United States failed to act on climate change when it had the chance in 2009 and 2010, and the central reason this country is poised to abandon any hope of maintaining leadership in what will certainly be the biggest job creating sector of this century — low-carbon technologies and strategies. Until it is fixed Second, they issue some advice to the media on the dangers of false balance in a world where there isn’t actually balance between the two “sides.”"
Demographics Favor Obama Over Romney in November Election (Eleanor Clift) from the Daily Beast
"Millennials and minorities, who boosted Obama in 2008, are growing, while white working-class voters, Romney’s bread and butter, are declining. But those loyalties could shift in the coming years, analysts tell Eleanor Clift."
Romney Advisers Concede the Personality Contest (Sara Murray) from the Wall Street Journal
"Mitt Romney may be conceding — the likability battle, that is. Eric Fehrnstrom and Peter Flaherty, senior advisers to the Romney campaign, acknowledged in the starkest terms yet that instead of trying to win the likability race against President Barack Obama, they’ll focus on their candidate’s credentials. “This is not an election that’s going to be decided on issues like dogs or likability,” Mr. Fehrnstrom said at a Washington Post Live event Saturday, referencing the now infamous story of the candidate’s dog Seamus."
BIG mistake!! As I've documented before, in the age of the modern-media presidency (since FDR) the "likable" candidate has (with one exception: Nixon-Humphrey) always won. Moreover, the gaffe-prone Romney won't be able to carry the "competency" argument against an incumbent like Obama. What I hear in the background here is that the Romney team has bought into the GOP rhetoric that compares Obama to Carter. Only committed right-wingers (who will never vote for Obama anyway) are buying that argument. If this article is correct, it further reinforces my sense that Romney's team is not up for the big show. Their performance in the primaries has been underwhelming. It's possible his handlers are just desperate and have very little to work with in Romney. I don't see that though. Romney is not THAT BAD a candidate. For Romney to win, he MUST compete with Obama on the likability/human connection front. Otherwise he will join the Hoover-Landon-Wilkke-Dewey-Stevenson-Nixon-McGovern-Ford-Carter-Mondale-Dukakis-Bush-Dole-Gore-Kerry-McCain less-likable-then-the-winner club of candidates who ran and lost.
Here's another take on the same issue:
Will Romney Let a Hair Down? (Ann McFeatters) from the Dickinson Press [of North Dakota]
And now we have the great loosening-up campaign. The problem? Nobody can really imagine living next door to Mitt Romney, let alone exchanging house keys with him in case of emergency. That is how Howard Baker, the Republican former senator from Tennessee and all-around good guy, once described a hypothetical perfect presidential candidate."
And, believe it or not, another take on the same topic:
The GOP’s Fear of a Cool Obama (Leslie Savan) from the Nation
"Republicans used to exult in fielding candidates that voters would like “to have a beer with.” This year, of course, their candidate doesn’t drink beer—in fact, Mitt Romney’s so socially challenged that his advance team is wary about letting him share cookies with voters. But lately Obama has been raising the ante on social comfort, asking which candidate would you like to share a song or nod to a pulsing beat with, and the GOP clearly considers this to be some kind of dirty trick."
A GOP version of the story:
John Boehner’s Blues (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"He says the president picked a "false fight" on student loans. Is he trying to throw the youth vote to the Dems?"
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