China's Gradual Descent from the Editorial Board of the Chicago Tribune
"When China slows, the world feels it. To an extent, business activity in the U.S., Europe and Japan will be constrained. That might sound like a problem, but it could turn out to be a big plus in the long run. Here's why:..."
Kerry: Agreement Reached On Basis For Mideast Peace Talks from Talking Points Memo
"U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Israel and the Palestinians will meet soon in Washington to finalize an agreement on relaunching peace negotiations for the first time in five years. Kerry has told reporters that he and the two sides “reached an agreement that establishes a basis for direct final status negotiations,” but he added that it is “still in the process of being formalized.”"
This Could Actually Work (Hussein Ibish) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Why John Kerry's Middle East peace push isn’t a fool's errand."
When It Comes to Domestic Spying, the U.S. is No China (Wang Lixiong) from the Washington Post
"In China, the government can enter any space of any citizen anytime it wants. It is the “counterespionage” of citizens that is prohibited."
Welcome to the ‘Sharing Economy’ (Thomas L. Friedman) from the New York Times
"Who knew the spare bedroom could pay the monthly mortgage?"
“Trayvon Martin Could Have Been Me” (John Dickerson) from Slate
"President Obama’s remarks on race are what his election always promised: His best attempt to knit Americans together.
Obama on Trayvon Martin: The First Black President Speaks Out First as a Black American (David Maraniss) from the Washington Post
"In Obama’s search for identity, he figured out how to straddle different worlds. In terms of family, he realized that he would find the comfort of home only in black society. But beyond that, in his professional life and outlook, he believed that he could not confine himself to one perspective, that his unusual composition offered him an unusual platform."
It is astonishing to read what Obama's critics are saying about this speech! Obama is "race-baiting" and "playing the race card" and how his words were so "divisive"!! To me, these criticisms speak volumes about the assumptions of their authors and say very little about what Obama actually said. Assumption #1: Obama IS one of the most divisive presidents ever. Assumption #2: Obama (and many of his supporters) are extremely racist and that the President "plays the race card" to divert people's attention when he is in trouble; Assumption #3: Obama must never be trusted on what he says or does. And assumption #4: Obama has used his oratorical skills to fool the American public about what he is really up to -- and that the only ones who see through his act are non-racist conservative whites who happen to watch a lot of FOX News and listen to Rush Limbau. Caveat: One of the more interesting side-lights to the Obama presidency is how it has showcased the different ways conservatives and non-conservatives understand the word, "racist." For many conservative whites, they understand "racist" as being someone who TALKS about race and who discusses openly the ways our country is divided by race. For these folks, the fact that they never talk about race demonstrates clearly that they are NOT racist. It is only those people who can't shut up about it -- they are the true racists. This formula is really quite elegant because it never requires any introspection, empathy, or anything but the most superficial understanding of the issues. All it requires is silence. Nothing Obama says will ever make any difference for these people -- they simply have too much noise going on in their own heads to hear one word of what he is actually saying.
The GOP Can’t Reboot With Bigots In Its Midst (Cynthia Tucker) from the National Memo
"Thoughtful Republicans — the moderates and right-leaning modernists who accept diversity — need to convene a meeting to take their party back and restore the brand to its pre-1960s luster. They ought to name their group “Republicans Against Racism.” They will have to be prepared to call out and criticize the insensitive claptrap and vitriolic nonsense that gets bandied about not only by Limbaugh, but also by other well-known conservative pundits ..."
I completely agree with Tucker's views here -- but any leader or lawmaker who takes her counsel will run into an angry buzz saw driven by the sentiments I've noted above.
Obama Takes on Race (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"... so, after delivering what was at bottom a very pessimistic message — racial discrimination is very much still with us, and any conversation politicians have is unlikely to do all that much to fix things — Obama sought to end on a more optimistic and conciliatory note. To use the formulation he often employs, he was saying the arc of history is bending in the right direction."
The Next Phase of the Obamacare Battle Begins (Paul Waldman) from the American Prospect
"Try to imagine a government trying to build a new bridge, while all throughout their political opponents were not only telling people they'd die if they drove across it, but going out to throw rocks at the construction workers. Nevertheless, the Obama administration seems to be cautiously optimistic about its ability to overcome the obstacles."
Obamacare is Working—Believe Republican Naysayers at Your Peril (Egberto Willies) from Daily Kos
"For states that have decided to be proactive and work for the wellbeing of all their citizens and small businesses, the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is being implemented successfully. There will be bumps but it will be successful where politicians start supporting it as opposed to putting obstacles in its way to attempt to cause it to fail for ideological reasons."
Even the Aide Who Coined the Hastert Rule Says the Hastert Rule Isn't Working (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
"John Boehner is hamstrung by a stricture that a majority of the majority must back any bill. Would he be a stronger speaker if he collaborated with Democrats more, not less?"
Given how little the House has accomplished with Boehner as Speaker and how weak and ineffective he has appeared, I find it interesting that this conservative columnist is even asking this question. Will Boehner accept accomplishing nothing long term as the price it takes to stay in the Speaker's chair? We'll see.
Democrats Try Hardball on the Vanilla Issues of Legislating (Niels Lesniewski) from Roll Call
"Senate Democrats and the White House are striking an aggressive tone on some bread-and-butter issues after successfully playing “nuclear” hardball to confirm President Barack Obama’s executive appointees."
Senate Republicans Splinter As Moderates Rise Up from Talking Points Memo
"Whether it’s immigration reform, the budget, or President Obama’s nominees, a faction of more moderate Republican senators are increasingly splitting from both their leadership and the tea party and partnering with Democrats on key issues."
The White House Is Not a Metronome (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"On first approximation, then, presidential election results have resembled a random walk, with the important exception that an incumbent party has had a significant advantage when it has held exactly one term in office. I am suspicious of the patterns that people claim to identify beyond that, which may reflect the human bias toward detecting signal in random noise."
Are Republicans Trying to Lose the 2016 Presidential Race? (Ryu Spaeth) from The Week
"The RNC's much-hyped autopsy report has largely been ignored. And when Republicans like Marco Rubio try to take the RNC's advice, they get hammered by the base."
BUG NUGGET!!
The Most Painful Insect Stings from the Weather Channel
"Schmidt decided to create a pain index scale of insect stings ranging from 0 to 4. A 1 elicits minimal reaction. “You’re out at the pool and you’re drinking your favorite beverage and a little sweat bee lands on the crook of your elbow,” Schmidt says. “She stings you, it’s a little bit of a sharp pain, but it’s not enough to make you drop your glass. It’s a pretty minor thing.” Fours, on the other hand — those critters are Schmidt’s favorites. Getting stung by a tarantula hawk, for example, feels like a cattle prod or 20,000 volts."
CHINA BOOK REVIEW NUGGET!!
‘Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-First Century’ by Orville Schell and John Delury (Joseph Kahn) from the New York Times
"Two scholars argue that the humiliation of defeat by foreigners has been a nationalist rallying cry in modern China."
WORLD WAR II BOOK NUGGET!!
A Review of ‘A Call to Arms: Mobilizing America for World War II ’ by Maury Klein (Jonathan Yardley) from the Washington Post
"With those words, FDR set the United States on the course it was to follow through another year of ostensible neutrality and then four years of warfare around the world. The story of how America became the “great arsenal of democracy” is the subject of “A Call to Arms,” and I can’t imagine it being told more thoroughly, authoritatively or definitively."
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