News Nuggets 1111

DAYLEE PICTURE: Giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevadas.  From National Geographic.

Chinese Consumers Love the Made in the U.S.A. Brand (Daniel Gross) from the Daily Beast
"People will pay more for products born in the United States—and Chinese consumers agree. Daniel Gross on whether the stamp of approval means more money."

The GOP’s Absurd Attack on Susan Rice Over Benghazi (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Furious that Obama paid no electoral price for Benghazi, Republicans are threatening to filibuster his presumed secretary of state nominee, Susan Rice, as a scapegoat. Michael Tomasky on the real scandal."

The GOP’s Misguided Crusade Against Susan Rice (Michael Crowley) from Time Magazine
"Nearly 100 House Republicans sent a letter to President Obama on Monday urging him not to name Susan Rice as Hillary Clinton‘s successor at the State Department. Its tortured reasoning exposes the flimsiness of the GOP‘s crusade to make Rice a scapegoat for the Benghazi tragedy."

The Benghazi Circus (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"Let me just repeat this flat out: there is no scandal here–except for the reprehensible behavior of politicians like John McCain and Lindsey Graham who have conducted a scurrilous campaign against Ambassador Susan Rice."

Obama, Hillary Clinton Wax Nostalgic as She Nears Exit from Politico 
"... she and President Barack Obama have been spending some quality time together, waxing nostalgic about their work in office over the past four years and their history as rivals in the hard fought 2008."

How Partisans Fool Themselves Into Believing Their Own Spin (Alesh Houdek) from the Atlantic
"Science shows that we often allow our moral judgment to overshadow factual arguments."

The Conservative Future (David Brooks) from the New York Times
"...if you go online, you can find a vibrant and increasingly influential center-right conversation. Most of the young writers and bloggers in this conversation intermingle, but they can be grouped, for clarity’s sake, around a few hot spots:"

The Winners and Losers of Election 2012 (Alex Altman) from Time Magazine 
"This was a long and petty election marked by Twitter flame wars and silly memes, glitter bombs and moon colonies, Big Bird and binders. But even small campaigns have winners and losers."

Friended: How the Obama Campaign Connected with Young Voters (Michael Scherer) from Time Magazine
"For supporters, the app appeared to be just another way to digitally connect to the campaign. But to the Windy City number crunchers, it was a game changer. “I think this will wind up being the most groundbreaking piece of technology developed for this campaign,” says Teddy Goff, the Obama campaign’s digital director."

Democrats Push to Redeploy Obama’s Voter Database from the Washington Post 
"... though the election is over, Obama’s database is just getting started. Democrats are now pressing to expand and redeploy the most sophisticated voter list in American political history, beginning with next year’s gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey and extending to campaigns for years to come. The prospect already has some Republicans worried."

Obama Plots Outside Game To Leave Washington, Add Pressure On Lame-Duck Congress (Sam Stein) from the Huffington Post
"The goal, organizers said, is to keep engaged the activists and followers who have stood with Obama through two campaigns, and to begin applying external pressure to the president's negotiations with congressional Republicans."

Republican Politicians Must Stop Pandering to Conservative Populism (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"Marco Rubio said Earth’s age is a great mystery. Fellow rising star Bobby Jindal’s state teaches creationism alongside science. Both Republicans are preaching reform, but if they and others keep pivoting away from common-sense science, the GOP will remain the Stupid Party—and fail."

Conservative Republicans Fight Back After Romney Loss (Paul Kane and Rosalind S. Helderman) from the Washington Post
"Evangelical leaders and conservative activists have a simple message for establishment Republicans about Mitt Romney’s failed presidential bid: We told you so. After nearly two weeks of listening to GOP officials pledge to assert greater control over the party and its most strident voices in the wake of Romney’s loss, grass-roots activists have begun to fight back, saying that they are not to blame for the party’s losses in November."

The World in Which Mitt Romney Lost Because he Wasn't Conservative Enough (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"Actually, this is nonsense. Mitt Romney lost because he failed to win enough voters outside of the

Senate Democrats Earned Every Seat They Won--Thanks to the DSCC from the National Journal
"A postmortem on how the two parties' campaign committees performed in this year’s House and Senate races."

Denny's CEO Not Happy About Franchisee's Obamacare Surcharge Threats (Laura Clawson) from Daily Kos
"Denny's corporate management and many Denny's franchise owners are not happy with John Metz, the owner of 40 Denny's restaurants who said he'd be adding a 5 percent surcharge to meals at his restaurants to pay for employee health insurance requirements under Obamacare. The CEO of Denny's has shut Metz up but good:..."

After Obama, Christie Wants a G.O.P. Hug from the New York Times
It seems Republicans outside New Jersey couldn't have cared less about any old hurricane.  Why wasn't Christie being a good surrogate for Romney!? 
"Mr. Christie and his advisers were startled to hear from out-of-state donors to Mr. Romney, who had little interest in the hurricane and viewed him solely as a campaign surrogate, demanding to know why he had stood so close to the president on a tarmac. One of them questioned why he had boarded Mr. Obama’s helicopter, according to people briefed on the conversations."

Jed Lewison (with a two-fer today) comments on Christie's plight:
Republicans Still Furious at Chris Christie for Being Governor (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"We've grown numb to Republican dysfunction, but that attitude (echoed by Romney donors who a campaign aide described as "furious") encapsulates just how severely the Republican Party has lost its way. It's not just that so many of them are heartless jerks who would have rather seen Christie screw over the people of his state than work with President Obama, it's that they political idiots who aren't smart enough to realize Christie would have been a guaranteed 2013 loser if he'd done what they wanted—and Mitt Romney still would have lost anyway."