DAYLEE PICTURE: Azure Lake in Canada. From National Geographic.
UP FRONT 2016 ELECTION NUGGET!!
The Real Primary Fight of 2016 (and it's Not an Alternative to Hillary) (Markos Moulitsas) from Daily Kos
"Some people have to come to terms. And I'm looking at you, people desperate to find an alternative to Hillary Clinton in 2016. ... To reiterate, leads like 45-25 in 2007 didn't make Hillary "inevitable". Numbers like 73-11 in 2014 absolutely do. And you know what? Those are not irrational numbers. Hillary will be a great president."
This posting contains much to ponder. In the main, I agree with Moulitsas's view on Clinton's inevitability as the Dem candidate in 2016. But as regular readers know, I don't discount the Clinton's capacity to cripple themselves -- thus I don't have a problem if some Democrats of substance choose to throw their hats in the ring just to make it competitive. If Clinton worst-case-scenarios on us, someone credible needs to be there to pick up the pieces. See Zelizer's commentary near the bottom of today's posting.
East Asia's Dangerous History Wars (Rajan Menon) from the National Interest
"Abe likened the polemics and gunboat diplomacy (he did not characterize it thus) that China and Japan have been using against each other of late to the rivalry between Germany and Great Britain in the run-up to World War I."
Islam, the American Way (Lee Lawrence) from the Christian Science Monitor
"Islam in America: A new generation of Muslim Americans separate what is cultural, what is religious, and what is American, finding that the 'straight path' isn't the same path for all."
Rescuing a Vietnam Casualty: Johnson’s Legacy (Adam Nagourney) from the New York Times
"They are seeking a reconsideration of Johnson’s legacy as president, arguing that it has been overwhelmed by the tragedy of the Vietnam War, and has failed to take into account the blizzard of domestic legislation enacted in the five years Johnson was in the White House."
The Changing Face of Christian Politics (Michael Wear) from the Atlantic
"Looking back, 2013 is likely to be remembered as the final collapse of the old, confrontational Religious Right in favor of a less partisan, more pragmatic approach."
ObamaCare is Finally in the Clear (Jon Terbush) from The Week
"ObamaCare, we were told in October, had proven itself to be an unworkable train wreck. Four months later though, the health care law is chugging right along. ... January was the first month in which enrollments outpaced the administration's projections. ... the enrollment totals dispel the biggest concern about ObamaCare: that it would collapse due to low participation."
Barack Obama: You Can Call it ‘Obamacare’ from Politico
"It may not be polling well, but President Barack Obama isn’t too worried about the Affordable Care Act’s nickname, Obamacare, or the health care law’s impact on his legacy. “I like it. I don’t mind,"
A New Populism? (Michael Tomasky) from the New York Review of Books
"Confidence is appropriately near zero on matters like that. Rather, it’s about the widely held perception that the Democratic Party, after years of, in the argot, “moving to the right,” is finally soft-shoeing its way leftward, away from economic centrism and toward a populism that the party as a whole has not embraced for years or even decades."
Last Call for State Parties? from Politico
"The effect is that candidates can be more beholden to national organizations or single-issue groups rather than state party leaders. That’s leading to a change in candidates and their beliefs and the issues that come up in elections and statehouses."
Why Lewinsky Shouldn't Be a GOP Talking Point (Ron Fournier) from National Journal
"Clinton-bashing makes the Republican Party look desperate and out of control."
It's a message that will only play with people who will never vote for Hillary in the first place. Moreover, I just don't believe the GOP spinmeisters and their candidate clients are clever or subtle enough to ever have this message land with anything but a resounding thud.
Republican Leaders Must Keep Tea Party on the Run (Juan Williams) from The Hill
"Having successfully defied the Tea Party on the debt ceiling, now it is time for Boehner and McConnell to use that momentum to pass three bills: An extension of unemployment benefits for people suffering long-term joblessness; a minimum wage hike; and, most important of all, immigration reform."
More Beltway BS -- I'm not sure how you keep Tea Partiers "on the run" when you're hiding in your foxholes. Ted Cruz demonstrated for all to see the underlying weakness of the establishment GOP. How many Republican lawmakers actually "defied" the Tea Party wing? Five in the Senate. 17 in the House. Pretty thin numbers to be hanging a sea change on.
The Matter with Kansas Now: The Tea Party, the 1 Percent and Delusional Democrats (Thomas Frank) from Salon
"Out here the gravity of discontent pulls in only one direction: To the right, to the right, farther to the right. Strip today’s Kansans of their job security, and they head out to become registered Republicans. Push them off their land and next thing you know they’re protesting in front of abortion clinics. Squander their life savings on manicures for the CEO and there’s a good chance they’ll join the John Birch Society."
Ted Cruz Just Doomed the GOP — but Not in the Way You Think (Brian Buetler) from Salon
"He won a small battle with his debt limit gambit, but also made the GOP's extortion tactics much harder. Here's why."
The Party Of George W. Bush Or Ted Cruz? from National Memo
"Republicans will face a clear choice in 2016: Are they members of the party that destroys the economy accidentally, or on purpose? In the corner of unintentional destruction, we have the George W. Bush Republicans, represented by Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ). This week during a fundraising trip in Chicago, the governor seemed to reassure donors that unless he’s in jail or asleep with the fishes, he’s running for president. And he’ll be doing it as a George W. Bush Republican."
Yes, Pundits, Hillary Has the 2016 Nomination in the Bag (Robert Shrum) from the Daily Beast
"Unable to tolerate the idea of a one-woman race, political pundits are pretending Hillary Clinton isn’t the inevitable 2016 Democratic nominee. They couldn’t be more wrong."
I am not as sanguine about this as Mr. Shrum.
Why am I not as smug as Shrum? See Zelizer's column. He is spot-on with his many caveates:
Clinton, Biden and a Post-Obama Democratic Party? (Julian Zelizer) from CNN
"...if they are to be successful, they will need to look outside the beltway to learn about the kinds of issues that are animating voters outside of Washington. They would do well to draw on some of the ideas that have been percolating in recent months from newer voices in the party. And at a time when politicians can suffer quick downfalls, as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is learning, Democrats would do well to make sure that they have other potential candidates who can compete on the national stage, should Clinton or Biden fail to materialize as 2016 candidates."
Nudging News Producers and Consumers Toward More Thoughtful, Less Polarized Discourse (Darrell M. West and Beth Stone) from the Brookings Institute
"Too often, journalists follow a “Noah’s Ark” approach to coverage in which a strong liberal is paired with a vocal conservative in an ideological food fight. The result is polarization of discourse and “false equivalence” in reporting."
PRESIDENTS DAY NUGGET!!
The Presidents on the Presidents: How They Judge One Another (Jon Meacham) from Time Magazine
"A look at how residents of the Oval Office consider their predecessors."
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