News Nuggets 1278

DAYLEE PICTURE: The beach at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.  From National Geographic.

In Rebuke, Obama Cancels Moscow Summit with Putin from the Associated Press
"In a rare diplomatic rebuke, President Barack Obama on Wednesday canceled his Moscow summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The decision reflected both U.S. anger over Russia's harboring of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and growing frustration within the Obama administration over what it sees as Moscow's stubbornness on other key issues..."

Wendy Davis, Kamala Harris, Chris Taylor & More Tough Democratic Women (Patricia Murphy) from the Daily Beast
"Kathleen Kane has fought her governor on gay marriage. Alison Lundergan Grimes is taking on Mitch McConnell. Both are part of a rising guard of Democratic women, reports Patricia Murphy."

The Bipartisan Call To Bring Back The Smoke-Filled Room (Zeke J Miller) from Time Magazine
"This seemingly counterintuitive opinion — that outcomes would improve if the process is obscured — is catching on in Washington among political elites of both parties as a way of making a dysfunctional Congress work again."

Expect More Than Just Town Hall Protests This August (Alex Rogers) from Time Magazine
"Four years after August town hall meetings devolved into shouting matches, fistfights and arrests, many members of Congress will return home for recess this week to find the battle has once again come to them, whether they host a town hall or not."

Republicans Confront Lady Problems in Congress from National Journal   
"GOP groups are scrambling to expand outreach to women, as party operatives fear gender gap could grow."

Tea Party's Obamacare Threat Could Harm GOP Election Chances, Republicans Warn from the Huffington Post
"In an unexpected twist, the veteran lawmakers who are not exactly known for being voices of moderation are appealing for a more deliberate approach. They worry that most of the nation simply is not ready to shutter the government just to hamstring Obamacare. "

The GOP’s Insane Obamacare Boycott (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine 
"Republicans are following a strategy of withholding support for any bipartisan fixes to the law. They will vote to repeal or undermine Obamacare, but they won’t support any changes intended to improve its functioning. It’s a pure Leninist strategy — heighten the contradictions to help hasten the collapse they are certain is inevitable."

Comparing Republicans With the Mainstream (Andrew Rosenthal) from the New York Times
"There’s a disconnect between what the general population and G.O.P. voters want in a politician."

Why Don’t Republicans Want to Win? (Pramila Jayapal) from Politico 
"America’s lower body had just managed to squander another work period without any movement on immigration reform. The only conclusion to draw from this episode is that Republicans don’t want to win a presidential election ever again."

Republicans’ Desperate Plan to Hide its Clowns (Alex Pareene) from Salon 
"Party begs for fewer primary debates, so candidates won't embarrass themselves on TV anymore. It will backfire."

Priebus Admits Republicans Can't Handle Presidential Primary Debates  (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"I think 23 debates is ridiculous, but the second thing that is ridiculous is allowing moderators, who are not serving the best interests of the candidate and the party, to actually be the people to be deposing our people. And I think that's totally wrong."
WHAT an extraordinary statement! One can only assume then that the only worthwhile debates worth having are those where the fix is baked in.

Christie’s Giuliani-Like National Security Demagoguery (Daniel Larison) from the American Conservative
"Christie’s national security rhetoric is best understood as confirmation that he is the candidate of the people that thought Giuliani was a competitive and credible presidential candidate. ...  It is not a
constituency that will propel a politician to a presidential nomination, but it could ensure a devoted club of admirers among hawkish editorial writers and columnists. ... As Hagel, Lugar, Huntsman, and others have shown us in recent years, Republicans win few friends and earn a lot of enemies by adopting this position."
I completely agree with this very right wing pundit.

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