News Nuggets 1059

DAYLEE PICTURE: Cabbage Coral in Indonesia.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT NUGGET!!
The Problem with Mitt (Joe Scarborough) from Politico
This long column is quite perceptive in its diagnosis of Romney's problems as a candidate -- although his prescriptions will only make matters worse for the GOP.
"How can it be that this man who turned around countless businesses, saved the 2002 Olympics and ran Democratic Massachusetts like a pro be the head of such a disastrous campaign? ... Mitt Romney is in trouble. Not because of a boring convention or a bloodless speech or a grossly inappropriate press conference, but rather because the man refuses to stick his neck out and take a stand on the critical issues of our time. ... If we want to win the battle of ideas in the long term, we should be willing to face the fact that Mitt Romney is likely to lose — and should, given that he’s neither a true conservative nor a courageous moderate. He’s just an ambitious man.  ... Craven calculation ... does not pay off for
conservatives."

Libyan Activists to America: Don’t Leave Us (Jamie Dettmer) from the Daily Beast
"Benghazi activists say the attack that killed America’s ambassador wasn’t planned—and it doesn’t represent their nation. Jamie Dettmer on their fear that the U.S. will abandon them."

Obama’s Call Pushes Egypt to Heal Rift From Protests from the New York Times
"A blunt phone call from President Obama prompted Egyptian leaders to scramble Thursday to try to repair the country’s alliance with Washington."

Obama Widens Lead Over Romney to Seven Points: Reuters/Ipsos poll from Reuters
"President Barack Obama widened his lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney to 7 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters on Thursday, the latest survey to show the Democrat ahead in the run-up to the November 6 election."

Does the Stock Market Know if Obama Will Win? (Alex Klein) from the Daily Beast
"Obama’s fortunes seem to be rising with the S&P 500. Alex Klein looks at the numbers."

California Man Confirms Role in Anti-Islam Film from the Associated Press 
"The search for those behind the provocative, anti-Muslim film implicated in violent protests in Egypt and Libya led Wednesday to a California Coptic Christian convicted of financial crimes who acknowledged his role in managing and providing logistics for the production. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, told The Associated Press in an interview outside Los Angeles that he was manager for the company that produced "Innocence of Muslims," which mocked Muslims and the prophet Muhammad..."
Just what the Christian Copts of Egypt need right now.  The Copts have been targeted by conservative islamists in Egypt since the Arab Spring.  I woulodn't be surprised if the heat gets raised on them further because of this clown.

Restricting the Franchise from the Economist [of London]
"...when tactics turn from encouraging one's own voters to vote and setting up legal barriers to prevent the other side from doing so, that is something much nastier -- particularly when those most directly impacted by these legal barriers were similarly barred from voting by 'legal' barriers for most of this country's history. ... Eventually, and sooner rather than later, demography will make this sort of strategy unworkable for electoral reasons. Until then, we ought to recognize it for what it is: deliberate voter suppression, and a betrayal of democracy."

Bill Clinton: Blame Me, Not Obama from Politico
"President Bill Clinton said to blame him for the economy, if you want, but absolve President Obama from any fault."

Mitt Romney Drops His 3 a.m. Phone Call (James Fallowes) from the Atlantic 
"On the basis of the past 18 hours, I will now say that I also strongly prefer the Democratic presidential candidate to the Republican on temperamental grounds. Mitt Romney's response to the murder of American diplomats in Libya was his "3 a.m. phone call" moment, and what it revealed was not good."

Top Romney Adviser: `Apology’ Statement Fit Our Narrative, So We Ran with It (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"In short, it’s now clear that top Romney policy director Lanhee Chen basically confirmed to the Times — even though he was not quoted on record doing so — that the Romney camp attacked Obama in the way it did because it fit the campaign’s predetermined narrative."

OUR PUNDIT-OF-THE-DAY!!
Why The Vileness Matters (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
A very shrewd set of observations from Krugman on the real impact of Romney's gaffe.
"...now Romney has really ensured that everyone in the news media, the GOP propaganda organs aside, is going to view him with distaste and alarm — as well they should. Romney could still win, but he has just made it even harder for anyone to consider him suitable for the job."

Romney Takes Hits From Fellow Republicans (Rachel Weiner) from the Washington Post
“He bobbled it,” Republican lobbyist Ed Rogers told the Post of the news conference. “It’s important that he present himself as serious, poised and credible during this time, and I thought his statement this morning was unpolished, a little too off-the-cuff for the occasion, and the contrast he set with Obama

Romney Foreign Policy Attack was Disgraceful (John Avlon) from CNN 
""Partisanship ought to end at the water's edge" is a longstanding adage of American politics. But in the hours after the death of the first U.S. ambassador killed in decades, Mitt Romney -- panicked as his poll numbers have slipped -- punched hard against the president, unleashing an unwise, inaccurate and unpresidential attack on the Obama administration."

The Lost Soul Of Mitt Romney (Rick Ungar) from Forbes Magazine
"Is this really how leadership works? ... In speaking out before he was fully aware of the situation on the ground, Governor Romney chose the path of the impulsive politician rather that the road taken by a measured leader—and all in the quest of political gain."

The Burden of Speech (Timothy Egan) from the New York Times
"Mitt Romney's words about the attack in Benghazi were all too revealing."

Mitt’s Major Meltdown (Gail Collins) from the New York Times
"...when the crisis in the Middle East flared up, Romney turned out to have no restraining inner core. ... Two months to go and we’re rethinking our presumption that the Republican primary voters picked the most stable option."

Former Romney Adviser on Libya: “They Stepped in It” (Noam Scheiber) from the New Republic
"“I always thought it was a one-two punch [by the Obama campaign],” the adviser continued. “Punch one was Thursday night. Punch two would be in the foreign policy debate. To cast Romney as naïf, an empty suit on foreign policy, and tie him to Bush—as a puppet of the bow-tied hawks of the Bush administration. … This intervening event was gravy.”"
Ah -- Obama set Romney up!  Pretty savvy!  


Mitt Romney’s Total Neocon Meltdown (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast 
"Romney’s irresponsible reaction to violence in the Mideast shows he plans to repeat the mistakes of George W. Bush. Does the GOP really think that’s what the American people want?"


WORST PUNDIT OF THE MONTH NUGGET!! [a first here at the News Nuggets] 
Is Obama Responsible for his Own Foreign Policy Flubs? (Jennifer Rubin) from the Washington Post
"If Romney wanted to sound more presidential than the president, he succeeded."
As the election season has unfolded, it has increasingly been my sense that Jennifer Rubin has become so in-the-tank for the Romney people that she might as well let them write her column for her.  I don't mind a major outfit like the Washington Post having a conservative columnist or even that her views tend to cleave towards one candidate.  I just wish they could chose someone who occasionally has something original to say.

Mitt Romney Won’t Stop Attacking (Roger Simon) from Politico
"As I said, one does not know whether to laugh or cry. As it was, Romney used none of his formidable foreign policy skills in commenting on the twin crises. Instead, having just spent days rehearsing for his upcoming debates with Barack Obama, Romney was still in debate mode: answer instantly, do not pause, do not take time to think."

SPACE PROGRAM HISTORY NUGGET!!
Moondoggle: The Forgotten Opposition to the Apollo Program (Alexis Madrigal) from the Atlantic
"For most of our lunar adventure, a majority of Americans did not support going to the moon. On the 50th anniversary of JFK's "We choose to go the moon" speech, we examine why."