News Nuggets 1011

DAYLEE PICTURE: Deepwater whip coral in Suruga Bay in Japan.  From National Geographic.

Due to lack of regular internet access and moving, the daylee nuggets will not be daily this week or occasionally during the summer.  Your patience is appreciated.

Mitt's Gray Areas (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"...the contrast between George Romney and his son Mitt — a contrast both in their business careers and in their willingness to come clean about their financial affairs — dramatically illustrates how America has changed."

Redefining Success and Celebrating the Ordinary from the New York Times 
"I understand that Mr. McCullough, son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, is telling these high school seniors that the world might not embrace them as unconditionally as their parents have. That just because they’ve been told they’re amazing doesn’t mean that they are. That they have to do something to prove themselves, not just accept compliments and trophies. So where did this intense need to be exceptional come from?"

The Hollowing Out (Thomas Edsall) from the New York Times
"Is technological innovation driving a permanent future of joblessness?"

Obama’s Big Health Care Win: An Incredible Stroke of Luck (Michael Grunwald) from Time Magazine
"Obama has secured an achievement that Democrats have dreamed of since FDR and Truman, extending health insurance to the uninsured, while laying the groundwork for systemic reforms. As Vice President Joe Biden said, it’s a big you-know-what deal. And as the Duke of Wellington once said, it was a near run thing."

What Happens if a State Opts Out of Medicaid, in One Chart (Sarah Kliff) from the Washington Post
"If governors opt their states out of the health law’s Medicaid expansion — as many are now threatening to do — it’s the poorest Americans who would find themselves getting the rawest deal."

Five Basics for Defending Obamacare (Bob Burnett) from Alternet
"President Obama, and all Democrats, needs to do a better job of conveying the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. Here are 5 points to remember:..."

John Roberts Health Care Switch Sparks 'Deep' Supreme Court 'Discord' from the Huffington Post
"More than a week removed from the Supreme Court's landmark health care ruling, a new report of dissension among the justices has emerged. ... "The discord is deep and it is personal," said Crawford on the broadcast. "This could affect this court for a long time.""
Who knows?  Maybe it will get Roberts to be the chief justice he said he was going to be during confirmation.  One can only hope.  HERE's the original story from CBS News.

John Roberts’ Trail Of Hints That He’d Uphold ‘Obamacare’ from Talking Points Memo
"After his hostile questioning during oral arguments, most court watchers placed his vote comfortably in the “overturn” column. But in the months leading up to the decision, Roberts left behind a trail of subtle — albeit inconclusive — hints that he may vote in favor of the law."

Supreme Court Health Care Ruling: How CNN, Fox News Ran With The Wrong News (VIDEO) from the Huffington Post
"CNN and Fox producers were scouring the opinion and read that the individual mandate was "not a valid exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause." The statement appeared at the bottom of page two, and producers at CNN and Fox News immediately ran with the information."

The GOP’s Class-Warfare Hypocrisy, From Nixon to Romney (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"Romney in the Hamptons, Romney on a Jet Ski at his N.H. estate—conservatives may be crying foul at the Obama campaign playing up these stories, but they’re masters at running on class resentment, says Peter Beinart."

Mississippi Voters' Catch-22 (Joan McCarter) from Daily Kos
"If you don't have acceptable photo identification to vote, you have to have your birth certificate to get a voter ID. But you can't get your birth certificate unless you have photo identification. This is apparently a problem that state officials were well aware of, but not really doing anything about."

Impact of Jobs Report on Presidential Contest Minimal (David Lauter) from the Los Angeles Times
"Obama’s apparent ability to defy economic gravity highlights some key electoral realities: Partisanship trumps statistics, national figures may be tempered by those in battleground states and undecided voters tend to tune out much of what happens in campaigns, at least until the fall’s presidential debates, when the remaining holdouts sometimes take sides."

Swing States Poll: Amid Barrage of Ads, Obama Has Edge (Susan Page) from USA Today
"At this point, Obama is the clear winner in the ad wars. Among swing-state voters who say the ads have changed their minds about a candidate, rather than just confirmed what they already thought, 76% now support the president, vs. 16% favoring Romney."

How Obama Can Really Hurt the GOP: Focus on Its Radical Economic Plan (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"The president can sink Romney by trumpeting the details of the ludicrous economic solutions he’s been backing. How Mitt would turn America into one big Pottersville."

Romney Won't Pick Woman VP Because of Sarah Palin (Rebekah Metzler) from US News and World Report
"Despite hints from Ann Romney, wife of likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney, that her husband is considering at least one woman in his vice presidential search, it's unlikely he'll actually a tap a female for the post. That's because the long shadow of Sarah Palin still hangs over vice presidential politics ..."

When Voters Don't Believe Romney (Jonathan Bernstein) from the Washington Post
"t’s difficult for anyone to know what to take at face value and what to ignore."

SANITATION HISTORY NUGGET!!
Quite Likely the Worst Job Ever (Mike Dash) from Smithsonian Magazine 
"Inside 19th Century London's sewers with "toshers," who made a living by scouring for trash and waste to be resold: "They were mostly celebrated, nonetheless, for the living that the sewers gave them, which was enough to support a tribe of around 200 men–each of them known only by his nickname: Lanky Bill, Long Tom, One-eyed George, Short-armed Jack...."