News Nuggets 1067

DAYLEE PICTURE: A green sea turtle in the Red Sea near Egypt.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT MUST-SEE PITTSBURGH NUGGET!!
It's Columbus Days with Docking of Nina, Pinta Replicas from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A replica of the Nina, one of Christopher Columbus' ships from 1492, arrives in Pittsburgh Thursday. Both the Nina and Pinta are docked at the North Shore Riverfront Park and open to the public for tours."

TWO UP-FRONT PUNDIT NUGGET!!
An outstanding one-two punch from Gerson and Fineman.  Read both in their entirety.
1. An Ideology Without Promise (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post 
"... a Republican ideology pitting the “makers” against the “takers” offers nothing. No sympathy for our fellow citizens. No insight into our social challenge. No hope of change. This approach involves a relentless reductionism. Human worth is reduced to economic production. Social problems are reduced to personal vices. Politics is reduced to class warfare on behalf of the upper class."

Fineman picks up on Gerson's editorial:
2.  Mitt Romney Is Driving The GOP To Pieces: Countdown Day 46 (Howard Fineman) from the Huffington Post
Fineman articulates eloquently precisely what I have been sensing about the GOP for some time now.
"It was perhaps the most thorough, full-throated denunciation of Romney this year -- and, of course, a conservative Republican wrote it. ... The real story, the deeper story, is the flying apart of the modern GOP into its constituent but rivalrous pieces. The Romney campaign feels like the end of an era in the party, rather than the beginning of one, because there's no center and it cannot hold."

China's Brainwashed Youth (Qi Ge) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The protests against Japan didn't get us our islands back, but they made one thing clear: The people are puppets of the Chinese Communist Party."

The Mideast Protests, Social Networks & the Global Brain (Deepak Chopra) from the Daily Beast
"The future of the Middle East looks like a race between the mullahs and the iPad—and despite recent setbacks, social networks are rewiring our brains to topple traditional barriers, says Deepak Chopra, author of God: A Story of Revelation."

Mormons Want to Excommunicate Romney Critic (Jamie Reno) from the Daily Beast
"After writing negative articles about the Republican candidate, the managing editor of MormonThink.com says he faces excommunication. Is the Church on a witch hunt? Jamie Reno reports."
A very disturbing story.

What’s The Matter With White People? (Joan Walsh) from National Memo 
"I am repeatedly struck by the extent to which conservatives have given up on the America we all grew up with: apparently it costs too much and we can’t afford it, and besides, we can’t all get along, so we can’t enjoy it."

Battleground Snapshot: Obama Winning by Bigger Margins than Four Years Ago (Markos Moulitsas) from Daily Kos
"...we can see how Pres. Barack Obama is running compared to his first bid. And the answer, for the most part, is "much better"." ... Obama is already running significantly ahead of 2008, when he had a 2.2-point national advantage over McCain. ... A week ago, Romney exceeded 46 percent five of these states, and hit 48 percent in just one. This week, he hits 46 percent in just three of them, and 48 percent in none. He is losing support."

Barack Obama Sets New Fundraising Record, Crushes Mitt Romney In Advertising Spending (Paul Blumenthal) from the Huffington Post
"...  the fundraising machine that is the reelection campaign of President Barack Obama now looks like the $1 billion money machine that was promised back in early 2011."

 Obama’s Convention Bounce May Not Be Receding (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"In the 10 states that have generally been ranked the highest on our tipping-point list — Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Michigan — there have been 21 such polls since the Democratic convention ended. Mr. Obama has led in all 21 of these surveys — and usually by clear margins."

Romney's Campaign Undercuts His Competence Pitch (Jill Lawrence) from National Journal
"Mitt Romney’s misfiring presidential campaign casts doubt on his credibility as a manager and raises questions about how he would govern."

The Imaginary Campaign (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"Like Eastwood, they were campaigning against a Barack Obama who was a figment of their imagination. ... We now know that Romney has been running not only against an imaginary President but against an imaginary electorate as well."

Mitt Romney Claims to have Intentionally Overpaid 2011 Taxes (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"Mitt Romney's attorney says he overpaid his 2011 taxes: ... Mitt Romney in July said if he overpaid his taxes he wouldn't be qualified to be president: ..."

FANTASY BOOK NUGGET!!
Happy Birthday, ‘The Hobbit’: The History of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Book (Corey Olsen) from the Daily Beast
"It’s the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit. Corey Olsen, author of the new book Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, tells us the history of how the story of Bilbo Baggins changed even after the book was published. Plus, see Tolkien’s beautiful illustrations for The Hobbit."

BIBLE HISTORY NUGGET!!
The Inside Story of a Controversial New Gospel (Ariel Sabar) from the Smithsonian
"According to a top religion scholar, this 1,600-year-old text fragment suggests that some early Christians believed Jesus was married—possibly to Mary Magdalene."

GOP HISTORY NUGGET!!
The Republican Party’s Race Problem and Strom Thurmond’s Legacy (Jordan Michael Smith) from the Daily Beast
What went wrong for the party of civil rights? Why do they have so few African-American supporters? A new book argues that Strom Thurmond reshaped the Republican Party and the South with his support of segregation—and left the party with a poisonous legacy on race relations that continues to this day."

JAMES BOND NUGGET!!
The Birth of Bond (David Kemp) from Vanity Fair
"The complicated birth of the big-screen 007. After several false starts, author Ian Fleming handed his character to two relatively small-time film producers:..."

News Nuggets 1066

DAYLEE PICTURE:  A desert rose on the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT ROMNEY CAMPAIGN NUGGET!!
Five Reasons Mitt Romney Is A Much Worse Candidate Than John McCain Was from the National Memo
"Reason #4: Who quits a winning campaign six weeks before election day? No one. But Romney's national co-chair Tim Pawlenty did just that on Thursday.   This is the first sign that Romney recognizes that his campaign is as badly in need of a revamp as the Salt Lake Olympics was."

UP-FRONT CAMPAIGN HISTORY NUGGET!!
Look How Far We’ve Come Apart (Haidt & Hetherington) from the New York Times
"...things started to change in the 1960s and 1970s, as the Democrats became the party of civil rights and the Republicans forged an alliance with the religious right. By the 1980s, the two parties were well on their way to ideological purification. ... On the bright side: it is mathematically impossible for congress to get much more polarized."
As regular readers know, I have long argued that the gridlocked polarization we see now will pass only after the baby boom generation moves out of central rings of political power and off the voter rolls.  Indirectly, this report substantiates this view.

Chick-fil-A No Longer Will Fund Traditional-Marriage Groups from the Washington Times
"Chick-fil-A stopped funding traditional-marriage groups in an effort to open a new Chicago restaurant, but the company initially kept quiet about the decision, prompting gay rights groups to speculate that the company feared a backlash from conservative customers."
Big-buck donor CEOs take notice!  Political meddling will COST you if your commercial interests are reliant on a broad base of consumers!

In a Tight Race, Obama Draws on the Levers of His Power from the New York Times
"Some of President Obama’s most significant recent policy announcements have been keyed to voter blocs, as his campaign seeks to make the most of his incumbency."

This One's No Contest: When it Comes to the Question of which Candidate has a Better Campaign Team, President Obama Wins by a Long Shot from the National Journal
"At least that's the impression given by the results of the latest National Journal Insiders poll. A full eight out of 10 GOP insiders said their opponent had the more effective operation, while 96% of Democratic insiders appraised the Obama team as superior to the one being deployed by Mitt Romney."

Why Does Everybody Hate Mitt Romney? (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast 
"No other presidential candidate has racked up unfavorable ratings this high during a campaign, according to a Pew Survey. Why is Romney so disliked? It’s not personal, it’s business."

Disdain for Workers (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"...  the fact is that the modern Republican Party just doesn’t have much respect for people who work for other people, no matter how faithfully and well they do their jobs. All the party’s affection is reserved for “job creators,” a k a employers and investors."

Headwinds for Romney in Latest Poll Results from the Wall Street Journal [partial subscription wall]
"Mitt Romney's path to victory is narrowing, new polling data suggest, presenting challenges for the Republican nominee at a moment when he is trying to rebound from a week of bad headlines by refocusing on federal spending."

Our PUNDIT-OF-THE-DAY!!
Romney Needs a New CEO (Peggy Noonan) from the Wall Street Journal 
A follow-up to Noonan's devastating column from the other day.
"So here's one tough, cool-eyed report on what is happening in the presidential race. .;. "The pendulum has swung toward Obama." Mitt Romney has "a damaged political persona." ... How did we get here? What can turn it around? ... The Romney campaign has to get turned around. This week I called it incompetent, but only because I was being polite. I really meant "rolling calamity.""

In the Heart of Romney World, No Retreat, No Surrender (Beth Reinhard) from the National Journal
"At campaign headquarters, there are signs of business as usual: Chick-fil-A ordered for lunch, an office prank posted on Twitter, and a festive gathering for a staffer’s birthday. But there are also signs of the bunker mentality typical of campaigns under siege."

What Working Class Whites Really Think About Dependency and Redistribution (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
VERY interesting findings!!
"On “dependency,” the study finds that large numbers of working class whites (46 percent) have received Social Security or disability payments over the last two years; more than a fifth have received food stamps; 19% have received unemployment. Yet the study also finds that three quarters of working class whites believe poor people have become too dependent on government assistance."

It's Not All God, Guns, and the GOP for Working-Class Whites (Abby Ohlheiser) from Slate
"White, working-class Americans get a more nuanced look in a new survey out today from the Public Religion Research Institute. The big takeaway? It's not all guns, God, and the GOP for one of the most targeted demographics of this election season."

THREE HEAD-FOR-THE-HILLS GOP NUGGETS!!
1.  Allen: ‘I Have My Own Point Of View’ On The 47 Percent from Talking Points Memo
"Already in other key Senate races, Republicans Linda McMahon, Scott Brown and Dean Heller have backed away from Romney’s secretly recorded comment that 47 percent of Americans are voting for President Obama because they don’t pay income tax, and think of themselves as victims who want the government to take care of them."

2. Good For Morale! (Josh Marshall) from Talking Points Memo
"[In Wisconsin], Tommy Thompson explains his rapid fall in the polls in part on having to run with Mitt Romney at the top of the ticket."

3.  Pawlenty: New Public Enemy No. 1 (Andrew Leonard) from Salon
"Tim Pawlenty ditches Romney's campaign -- sending poli-Tweeters into overdrive. But the real story is his new job."

Before Debates, Romney Faces a Daunting Path from the New York Times 
"The state-by-state landscape facing Mr. Romney is more daunting than he expected by this stage in the contest. He anticipated, aides said, to be in a position of strength in at least some of the states that turned Democratic in 2008 for the first time in a generation, but few of them show signs of breaking decisively his way, and Mr. Obama still has more and clearer paths to 270 electoral votes."

Polls Show Democrats Taking Over In Key Senate Races from the National Memo
"According to recent polling, Democratic candidates are making major gains key Senate races across the country."

Senate Polls Show Democrats Gaining On Rising Voter Enthusiasm (Blumenthal & Carlson) from the Huffington Post
"In the two weeks since the Democratic National Convention, Democratic Senate candidates have been making considerable gains in the polls in several closely contested races across the country."

Mitt Coattails Not Reaching Senate from Politico
"Hopes for a 2010-style GOP wave are near zero."

Can Democrats Retake The House? (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast 
"Sam Wang, bucking the conventional wisdom, claims that the "transfer of control is more likely than not.""
For some reason, the link to Wang's report isn't working right now.

Does Mitt Romney Even Want to Be President? (Leslie Savan) from the Nation 
"That’s not just a rhetorical question: In Mitt Romney’s heart of hearts, maybe all he really wanted was the Republican nomination. Every time Romney gets an opportunity to reset the narrative of the election, he makes some psychologically revealing mistake."

Romney in Fantasyland (Ruth Marcus) from the Washington Post
"Governor, you’re no Horatio Alger. What will you do to give others the opportunity that good fortune granted you?"

47 Percent or Bust! (David Weigel) from Slate
"Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh want Romney to write off half the country. Even Pat Buchanan knows better."

Mitt Romney Super PAC Down To Only $6 Million Cash On Hand After Major Spending In August from the Huffington Post
"The powerhouse super PAC, run by former Romney aides and instrumental in helping him secure the Republican nomination, raised only $7 million in August, while spending $21.1 million. The heavy spending seems to have had little effect, as most polls have shown a surge for Obama at the national and state-by-state level since the early September Democratic National Convention."

Big Month for Obama Super PAC from Politico
"Dems opened their checkbooks as the super PAC devoted to Obama had its best month to date."

The Aimless Career of James Carter IV (Molly Redden) from the New Republic 
"...for Carter, the Romney video confirms his place among those stars of the 2012 election—like Andrew Kaczynski at Buzzfeed—who dig up tantalizing videos of pols at their most off-message or ideologically whack."

News Nuggets 1065

DAYLEE PICTURE: An Asian Small-Clawed Otter pup at the Perth Zoo in Australia.  From Zooborns.

UP-FRONT CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT NUGGET!!
Time for an Intervention (Peggy Noonan) from the Wall Street Journal 
"It’s time to admit the Romney campaign is an incompetent one. It’s not big, it’s not brave, it’s not thoughtfully tackling great issues. It’s always been too small for the moment. All the activists, party supporters and big donors should be pushing for change. People want to focus on who at the top is least constructive and most responsible. Fine, but Mitt Romney is no puppet: He chooses who to listen to. An intervention is in order. “Mitt, this isn’t working.”"

Who’s in Charge? (Todd Purdum) from Vanity Fair
"It may well be that all unhappy campaigns are unhappy in their own way, but the surest universal sign of staff discord and dysfunction is the appearance of the circular firing squad. Mitt Romney’s top advisers have had each other in the crosshairs all week."

Romney’s Gift to Democrats (Alex Setz-Wald) from Salon
"The ripple effects from his leaked video comments will extend far beyond the presidential race."

Obama’s Lead Looks Stronger in Polls That Include Cellphones (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"...  for the most part Mr. Obama seems to be getting stronger results in polls that use live interviewers and that include cellphones in their samples — enough to suggest that he has a clear advantage in the race. ... The difference seems especially pronounced at the state level. Mr. Obama got very strong results in a series of NBC News/Marist College polls last week in Ohio, Florida and Virginia, which included cellphones and used live interviewers."

Democratic Enthusiasm Swells in the Swing States, Nationally from Gallup 
"Overall, 59% of swing-state voters now highly enthusiastic, up from 46% in June."

Barack Obama: The Luckiest Politician Alive (Matt Latimer) from the Daily Beast
"Why on earth isn’t Obama in trouble? Chalk it up to Romney’s incessant bumbling—and the greatest streak of good fortune in recent political history. By Matt Latimer."

Romney's "47 Percent" Remarks Damage his Image with Voters: Reuters/Ipsos Poll from Reuters
"Nearly six in ten, or 59 percent, in the poll said they felt Romney unfairly dismissed almost half of Americans as victims in his remarks made to donors in May at a private event at a luxury home in Florida."

A Mood of Gloom Afflicts the Romney Campaign from the New York Times 
"A palpably gloomy and openly frustrated mood has begun to creep into Mr. Romney’s campaign for president. Well practiced in the art of lurching from public relations crisis to public relations crisis, his team seemed to reach its limit ... a flustered adviser, describing the mood, said that the campaign was turning into a vulgar, unprintable phrase."

Obama Ahead with Stronger Support, Better Image and Lead on Most Issues from the Pew Research Center
"Not only does Obama enjoy a substantial lead in the horserace, he tops Romney on a number of key dimensions. His support is stronger than his rival’s, and is positive rather than negative. Mitt Romney’s backers are more ardent than they were pre-convention, but are still not as enthusiastic as Obama’s. Roughly half of Romney’s supporters say they are voting against Obama rather than for the Republican nominee."

Mitt Romney Video Offends Liberals And Conservatives Alike, Receives Negative Press Response (Grim & Sledge) from the Huffington Post
"...many were unimpressed with the Republican candidate's unapologetic stance. "Romney's explanation of his comments may be worse than the comments," said Politico's Roger Simon. "The sickest thing here is that Romney did not, and won't, apologize or say he was wrong in any way," said liberal columnist Michael Tomasky."

Romney Takes Hits in Republican Party as Obama Gains Edge (Lisa Lerer and Julie Hirschfeld Davis) from the Bloomberg News Service
"“He’s had two narratives over the last week and a half: one that says, ‘Is he compassionate?’; the other that says, ‘Is he competent?’,” Matthew Dowd, a Bloomberg analyst and former strategist for President George W. Bush, said on Bloomberg Television"

Why Romney's Video Comments Have Killed His Candidacy (Peter Goodman) from the Huffington Post
"The reason the video kills what remains of his bid for the White House is because of what it tells us about his understanding of the basic facts of the American situation: He thinks there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the economy, and there are plenty of lucrative opportunities out there for anyone willing to work for them."

Matt Taibbi: Mitt Romney's 'Insane' Comments Reveal Delusions Of The Super Rich from the Huffington Post
""I think he really genuinely believes that the only reason that his particular message isn't resonating is that people want something for free and he's not offering it to them," Taibbi, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. "It's crazy.""

Why Time Is Running Out for Mitt Romney (Mark McKinnon) from the Daily Beast
"Mitt Romney is running out of time, and voters like me are running out of patience. ... the release of the Romney tape was a moment that certainly revealed something about him. But not what I was hoping for. Just the opposite. It reveals a deeply cynical man, who sees the country as completely divided, as two completely different sets of people, and who would likely govern in a way that would only further divide us."

Mitt Romney's Resentment (Amy Davidson) from the New Yorker
"Romney has been running a campaign centered on resentment, in many forms: the resentment directed at the “successful” that he imagines is driving his critics; the resentment he is trying to fan in his base voters; and, increasingly and most strangely, his own. Romney’s resentment has become a matter of temperament, of policy, and of politics."

Ryan Walks Back Romney’s ‘Victim’ Talk on Leaked Video (David Freedlander) from the Daily Beast
"Campaigning in New Hampshire, Paul Ryan appeared to defend Romney’s leaked remarks about America’s poor—while distancing himself at the same time."
Ah, a nice loyal surrogate!

News Nuggets 1064

DAYEE PICTURE: Ural Owl mother and chick in Estonia.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT OBAMA AD NUGGET!!
Boy -- it didn't take the Obama team long to get an ad out using the Romney fundraiser video.  Here it is:
Romney's Fatal Word: "Victims" (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast 
"The Obama campaign has put out an online ad that uses two of the most potent things in political commercials - a candidate's own words in his own voice and the opinions of ordinary voters, in their own voices."
Sullivan's commentary that accompanies the ad is quite devastating as well.

Mitt Romney's Very Bad Day: Roundup from Daily Kos
"Here's a roundup of today's news about the Mitt Tape, the leaked tape of Mitt Romney addressing a $50,000-per-plate fundraiser by, of and for the very rich. Yes, the release of this one tape has become a big enough thing that it requires a "roundup," mostly because it consists of Mitt saying stupid things at two-minute intervals for the better part of an hour. It's like a standup routine, except not funny."

Romney Offers No Apologies for "Victims" Remarks from CBS News
"At a hastily called news conference late in the day, Romney offered no apologies for his remarks, and when he was asked if he was concerned he had offended anyone, he conceded the comments weren't "elegantly stated" and they were spoken "off the cuff.""

A Note on Romney’s Arrogant and Stupid Remarks (William Kristol) from the Weekly Standard
"Recalling that a good chunk of the 47 percent who don't pay income taxes are Romney supporters -- especially of course seniors (who might well 'believe they are entitled to heath care,' a position Romney agrees with), as well as many lower-income Americans (including men and women serving in the military) who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they're not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan. So Romney seems to have contempt not just for the Democrats who oppose him, but for tens of millions who intend to vote for him."

How the Romney Campaign Scrambled to Respond to Secret Video from the New York Times
"Mr. Romney and his advisers quickly grasped the severity of the footage, shot surreptitiously in Florida a few months ago and suddenly dominating the cable news airwaves and political blogs."

The Real Romney Captured on Tape Turns Out to Be a Sneering Plutocrat (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"... the video exposes an authentic Romney as a far more sinister character than I had imagined. Here is the sneering plutocrat, fully in thrall to a series of pernicious myths that are at the heart of the mania that has seized his party. ... Romney genuinely seems to conceive of the lowest-earning half of the population as implacably hostile parasites."

Mitt Romney’s Darkest Hour (Chris Cillizza) from the Washington Post 
"Taken individually, none of the incidents referenced above are that big a deal in the constant swirl of politics. Taken together, they paint an image of a campaign in disarray and a candidate not ready for primetime."

The Romney Campaign is in Trouble (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post 
A must-read.
"There are two sure signs a campaign is in trouble. The first is that it begins changing its strategy rapidly and erratically. The second is that it begins attacking its strategists fiercely and anonymously. The Romney campaign is in trouble. ,,,  the most surprising of Erikson and Wlezien’s results, and the most dispiriting for the Romney campaign, is that unlike the conventions, the debates don’t tend to matter."

Romney in Panic Mode (Alex Seitz-Wald) from Salon
"Way ahead of schedule, the finger-pointing has already begun in Romneyland."

A number of conservatives are slamming Romney for a wide range of reasons: 
Conservatives Agree: Romney's Wrong (Michael Warren) from the Weekly Standard
"Plenty of conservatives are pushing back against the worldview espoused by Mitt Romney in his "arrogant and stupid' remarks at a private fundraiser earlier this year. ... Romney's reductive characterization of the political landscape indicates he doesn't understand any of this."

Here’s Why Mitt’s 100% Wrong on the 47% (David Frum) from the Daily Beast 
"Mitt Romney has just committed the worst presidential-candidate gaffe since Gerald Ford announced in 1976 that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe." Irreparable? To Romney's image, yes; to his election chances ... we'll see. But you know who's determined that Romney never recover? His deluded supporters in the conservative media world."

The Sinister Message Behind Romney's "Gaffe" (David Frum) from the Daily Beast
"The background to so much of the politics of the past four years is the mood of apocalyptic terror that has gripped so much of the American upper class."

Seven Weeks Out, Romney Oversees Campaign in Disarray (Steve Benen) from MSNBC
"While "talk of infighting within the Romney headquarters" has been "percolating for months," we've clearly entered a new stage. Politico published a lengthy piece last night filled with unnamed aides pointing fingers and casting blame -- for Romney's muddled message, ineffective ads, disjointed convention, and useless speeches."

Mitt Romney Secret Video: Why Remarks to Republican Donors Tell Us He Won't be President (Amol Rajan) from the Independent [of the UK]
"His supporters are straining every sinew to defend the indefensible. They've lost their narrative completely. This week he probably lost the election."

There's Just No Stopping Romney (Clive Crook) from the Atlantic
"Of course it was dumb, dumb, dumb for Romney to say what he said anywhere within reach of a recording device. It stuns me that politicians running for president still need to be told that nothing is off the record. But in this case it's not just the tactical ineptitude, it's the gross misjudgment on the point of substance."

We Are All Welfare Queens Now (Ta-Nehisi Coates) from the Atlantic 
"In all this you can see the insidious and lovely foresight of integration which, at its root, posits an end to whiteness as any kind of organizing political force. I would not say we are there. But when the party of white populism finds itself writing off half the country, we are really close."

GOP Civil War Is Coming as Mitt Romney Campaign Flails in Video’s Wake (Robert Shrum) from the Daily Beast
"The video carping about government moochers may well have sealed it. Mitt Romney is going down, and the fight already is on for the future of the Republican Party. The battle will be bitter—and prolonged, says Robert Shrum."

First Thoughts: Romney's Brutal Last Three Weeks (Chuck Todd et al.) from NBC News
"...  the last three weeks for Mitt Romney have been about as brutal as we can remember for any presidential candidate, especially this close to the election. ... What is so potentially deadly about this video is the timing, because it comes as the Romney campaign was already viewed to be behind and in crisis."

Romney’s Libya Response May Have Done Real Damage from Talking Points Memo 
"Mitt Romney’s tough — and inaccurate — response to a fatal attack on the American Consulate in Libya last week is not sitting well with voters, according to several new polls. ... Polls show significant swaths of America are interested in the Mideast attacks and generally unhappy with Romney’s reaction."

FiveThirtyEight Forecast: G.O.P. Senate Hopes Slipping (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"Democrats are now favored to retain control of the Senate when the new Congress convenes in January, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast, breaking a summer stalemate during which control of the chamber appeared about equally likely to go either way."

Eastwood: If They Were 'Dumb Enough to Ask Me…' from CNN
""If somebody is dumb enough to ask me to go to political convention and say something, they're gonna have to take what they get," said Eastwood in an interview Tuesday with the television show "Extra" about the convention speech that won rave reviews, puzzled looks and slacked jaws."

ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY NUGGET!!
A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife from the New York Times 
"A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ...’ ” ..."

News Nuggets 1063

DAYLEE PICTURE: The view from Troll's Tongue Rock in Norway.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

EXPLOSIVE POLITICAL NUGGET!!
Excerpts from Leaked Mitt Romney Fundraiser Videos from the Washington Post
"Below are excerpts from a series of videos of Mitt Romney speaking bluntly at a fundraiser published on Monday by Mother Jones magazine. Mother Jones obtained the video from a confidential source."

Here's one of the "money" quotes:
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…"

The original source for the leaked video was this story from Mother Jones Magazine.  There are WAY MORE disgusting comments from Romney in other things he says, any one of these multiple comments would be a story in and of itself:
SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters (David Corn) from Mother Jones Magazine
"[David Corn's summation] Here was Romney raw and unplugged—sort of unscripted. With this crowd of fellow millionaires, he apparently felt free to utter what he really believes and would never dare say out in the open. He displayed a high degree of disgust for nearly half of his fellow citizens, lumping all Obama voters into a mass of shiftless moochers who don't contribute much, if anything, to society, and he indicated that he viewed the election as a battle between strivers (such as himself and the donors before him) and parasitic free-riders who lack character, fortitude, and initiative."

The text of the Romney campaign's response can be found here:
Romney Campaign Non-responds to Devastating Videos of Mitt Being a D#$% (Kaili Joy Gray) from Daily Kos
"That would be the completely non-responsive response to the jaw-dropping no-longer-secret video of Mitt Romney ... Worst presidential campaign EVER."

Some reactions to this extraordinary candor:

Obama's response:
"It's shocking that a candidate for President of the United States would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the American people  view themselves as ‘victims,’ entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take ‘personal responsibility’ for their lives.  It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation."

Thurston Howell Romney (David Brooks) from the New York Times
This is the most thoughtful and devastating comment from this evening's ample crop.
"Romney, who criticizes President Obama for dividing the nation, divided the nation into two groups: the makers and the moochers.  ... This comment suggests a few things. First, it suggests that he really doesn’t know much about the country he inhabits. Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare? It suggests that Romney doesn’t know much about the culture of America. ... The people who receive the disproportionate share of government spending are not big-government lovers. They are Republicans. They are senior citizens. They are white men with high school degrees. ... "


And there are MANY more responses worth your time:
Romney ‘Victims’ Video Digs Hole for Campaign Damaged by Infighting (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"The candidate is heard on video denigrating Democrats as freeloaders—just as his campaign appears consumed by infighting. Howard Kurtz assesses the fallout for Romney."


Today, Mitt Romney Lost the Election (Josh Barro) from Bloomberg News Service
"You can mark my prediction now: A secret recording from a closed-door Mitt Romney fundraiser, released today by David Corn at Mother Jones, has killed Mitt Romney's campaign for president. ... So what's the upshot? "My job is not to worry about those people," he says. He also notes, describing President Obama's base, "These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax." This is an utter disaster for Romney."

Similar sentiments abound:
This Video Could Kill Mitt Romney's Chances of Becoming President. Is it Too Late to Draft Rick Santorum? (Tim Stanley) from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Sure, Romney's quote might contain a grain of truth. But it’s also cruel and fatalistic. The American Dream is rooted in the hope that someday we’ll all be rich enough to pay lots of tax (or own a bank account in the Caymans). To suggest that some folks will stick with their entitlements forever – that’s un-American. And Mitt makes it so much worse by suggesting that he doesn't care about them, either: "My job is not to worry about those people.""

Why This Is Bad for Romney (Mark Halperin) from Time Magazine
"There are just too many lines in what Romney said that are not politically defensible, especially, “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” The reaction from the Romney campaign in a printed statement and from the right on cable, in tweets, and on the web so far is defiance. ... This is politically devastating because it plays into people’s preconceived notions of Romney as Monty Burns+Thurston Howell. And the bigger potential problem is that the right (Limbaugh, Ingraham, Erickson) will love what Romney said and if he walks it back they will savage him as being a weak-kneed and caving to liberals and the media."

Did Romney Just Lose The Election? Ctd (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
An interesting rundown of what conservative columnists are saying about the Romney fundraiser video.

Romney: I’ll Never Convince Obama Voters to Take Responsibility for their Lives (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"I’ve argued here that the Romney campaign often seems to be running against a version of Obama that exists only in the imagination of the Fox/Limbaugh base and doesn’t really exist in the minds of swing and undecided voters. This takes the narrative to a whole new level ..."

Devastating (Josh Marshall) from Talking Points Memo
"It’s rare when the impact of some gaffe or embarrassment or revelation isn’t overstated on first blush. But this may just be that rare exception. This tape strikes me as absolutely devastating. ... this is a fine distillation of the most rancid version of the libertarian conservative worldview. Democrats are moochers and losers who can’t get their act together and think the government owes them food, board, health care and basically whatever else they want. You don’t need to look long to find this version of reality on the web. But this isn’t some right-wing blogger. It’s the Republican candidate for President of the United States. ...

Mitt Romney's 'Clinging to Guns or Religion' Moment (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
"These sorts of remarks do double damage. They needlessly insult some people whose votes the candidate would like to win. And beyond the particulars of what is said, they remind voters that candidate's public persona is phony and affected. ... People will react the same way when they see this Romney tape."

Mitt Romney Trashes the 47 Percent (Jonathan Capehart) from the Washington Post
"That one-minute-seven-second clip lays waste to Romney’s concern “about the very heart of America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.” Worse, it reveals it to be a lie. He couldn’t care less about them, it seems. That condescending clip shows a contempt for half the country that demands an explanation from Romney."

Mitt Romney Insults Half the Country (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"The GOP nominee writes off 47 percent of Americans as lazy, dependent Obama voters. Good luck getting elected, sir!"

There was some other news items for today:
Meir Dagan, Former Mossad Chief, Says Attack On Iran 'Stupidest Idea' He's Ever Heard (VIDEO) from the Huffington Post
"Speaking to '60 Minutes' Dagan said: "An attack on Iran now before exploring all other approaches is not the right way how to do it [sic]." Dagan, a man who Iranian authorities reportedly claim has dispatched assassins, computer viruses and faulty equipment in a bid to delay the country's nuclear program, appears to have developed a surprising appreciation for the Islamic Republic's regime - which is a sworn enemy of Israel."

Ultimatum to US: ‘Criminalise Blasphemy or Lose Consulate’ (Rana Tanveer) from the International Herald Tribune
"He said the director, the producer and all those involved in the production and release of the movie must be hanged publicly. “The US must make a law against blasphemy – or we will not let the US consulates in Pakistan function,” he said."

Devout Values Conflict With Free Speech in Muslim Rage from the New York Times
"Egyptians angered over an anti-Islam film have described their protest as a demand for “freedom”: the right of a community, whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish, to be free from grave insult to its identity."

Don’t Tell Anyone, but the Stimulus Worked (David Firestone) from the New York Times
"The president is no more likely to get credit for the Fed’s action — for which he was not responsible — than he gets for the transformative law for which he was fully responsible: the 2009 stimulus, which fundamentally turned around the nation’s economy and its prospects for growth, and yet has disappeared from the political conversation."

Boy Scouts Face Release Of Damaging Child Sex Abuse Files from Reuters via the Huffington Post
"The Boy Scouts of America could face a wave of bad publicity as decades of records of confirmed or alleged child molesters within the U.S. organization are expected to be released in coming weeks."

The American Election’s Global Reach (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"Polls reflecting an Obama upturn since the conventions suggest the Obama-Clinton politics of balance is far more popular than ideological conservatism. The two conclaves plainly shifted the campaign’s focus to the views of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan — and the more swing voters think about what the Republican ticket would do, the less they seem inclined to support it."

OUR PUNDIT-OF-THE-DAY!!
My Embed in Red (Frank Rich) from New York Magazine
"A week steeped in right-wing media reveals a Republican Party far more despairing than the lamestream knows."

Cameron 'Claimed Britain is United Against Mitt Romney' from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"David Cameron described US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney as having the “unique distinction of uniting the whole of England against him”, a Hollywood movie mogul has said."

The Grand Old Straight White Men’s Party (Bill Keller) from the New York Times 
"New York Republicans have some practical lessons for the rest of the party."

Middle East Turmoil Closely Followed; Romney's Comments Viewed Negatively from the Pew Research Center
"Those who have followed this story have much more positive opinions about Barack Obama’s handling of the situation than Mitt Romney’s comments on the crisis. "

GOP Congressman Blows Up At CNN Host: ‘I Don’t Care What Fact Check Says,’ Obama Apologizes For America! from Think Progress
"During an appearance on CNN’s Starting Point on Monday, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) could not explain when President Obama “apologized” for the United States, despite repeatedly claiming that he went on an “apology tour” across the Middle East shortly after becoming president."

Mitt Romney Abruptly Shifts Strategy (Allen & Vandehei) from Politico 
"Mitt Romney, sensing an opening in the Middle East mess and catching flak from conservatives for giving too little detail about his policy plans, is rolling out a new and broader strategy to make the election a referendum on “status quo versus change,” chief strategist Stuart Stevens told POLITICO. The shift, which is to include much more emphasis on Romney’s policy prescriptions, means he is scrapping the most basic precept of his campaign."
Yes -- DO give more detail.  That's the ticket.  People will just love all the program cuts you're going to inumerate.

Romney's 'New' Campaign Strategy Isn't Actually New (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
From a right-of-center columnist no less:
"The Republican candidate hopes to convince voters he's turning the page -- by promising to keep doing exactly what he's been doing so far."

The GOP’s Self-Mutilating Panic (Leslie Savan) from the Nation
"As poll numbers rise for Obama and other Democrats down-ballot, it’s sinking in that the victory the GOP thought it would achieve with obstruction and falsehoods will probably turn into a defeat for both the presidency and the Senate."

FIRE TORNADO NUGGET!!
Caught on Camera: The Rare Tornado of FIRE that Whirled Around Australian Outback for Terrifying 40 MINUTES from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"An astonished filmmaker is coming to grips with the moment he witnessed one of nature's rarest phenomenons - a tornado comprised entirely of fire- and lived to tell the tale."

News Nuggets 1062

DAYLEE PICTURE:  The Landmannalaugar region of Iceland.  From National Geographic.   

UP-FRONT INSIDE-THE-ROMNEY-CAMPAIGN NUGGET!!
Inside the Campaign: How Mitt Romney Stumbled from Politico
"Stevens, bypassing the speechwriting staff at the campaign’s Boston headquarters, assigned the sensitive task of drafting it to Peter Wehner, a veteran of the last three Republican White Houses and one of the party’s smarter wordsmiths. Not a word Wehner wrote was ever spoken. Stevens junked the entire thing, setting off a chaotic, eight-day scramble that would produce an hour of prime-time problems for Romney, including Clint Eastwood’s meandering monologue to an empty chair."
WHO CALLED IT!?!  The GOP convention (especially the final day) smelled half-baked at the time -- and sure enough it was!!

For Russians, at Least Obama Would Be Predictable (Fyodor Lukyanov) from the Gazeta [of Russia in English]
"Romney’s rhetoric is not the expression of a long-held position, but a set of common stereotypes that are not backed by the candidate’s personal beliefs or attitudes. What course he would pursue if elected is therefore impossible to predict. ... There is no arguing that the Democratic president is a lot more flexible and modern than his opponent, so there will be less ideological sloganeering."

Netanyahu's Neocon Gambit (David Remnick) from the New Yorker
"The Israeli Prime Minister has made no secret of his distrust of Obama, but his latest attacks on the President have gone too far…"

Will Obama Win in November? Wide Gap Between Preference and Prediction from the Washington Post
"Nearly six in 10 (59 percent) registered voters in a Post-ABC poll in late August said they thought Obama would win while just 34 percent chose Romney, even as the head-to-head vote in that poll stood at 47 percent for Romney and 46 percent for Obama among registered voters."

The Worst Possible Preparation To Be The President Of The United States from the National Memo
"Do you remember the early days of the GOP primary — when all the non-Romneys were taking their turns humiliating the future nominee of the party? Early November 2011 was Herman Cain’s chance to shame Mitt. In some polls, Cain reached 30 percent, heights that Romney didn’t scale till months later."

Romney’s Character Comes To Light, And It’s Dark Indeed (Cynthia Tucker) from National Memo
Character is a combination of traits that etch the outlines of a life, governing moral choices and infusing personal and professional conduct. It’s an elusive thing, easily cloaked or submerged by the theatrics of a presidential campaign, but unexpected moments can sometimes reveal the fibers from which it is woven. Last week, Mitt Romney had just such a moment."

For Romney, Is Benghazi the New Bain? from the New Yorker
"How the Libya incident showcases qualities that make people doubt him—again."

Mitt Romney’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Campaign (William Galston) from the New Republic
"No developments in the economy or the world can explain this shift. That leaves the campaigns themselves. And during the past two weeks, Romney’s campaign has revealed itself to be stunningly incompetent."

Mitt Romney’s Worst Week Ever: Three Explanations (Francis Wilkinson) from the Bloomberg News Service
"Mitt Romney has been under siege this week, not just from reporters but from some fellow Republicans. His troubles have three main sources. First, the candidate himself. ... "

GOP Activists to Nominee Mitt Romney: Why Aren’t You Beating President Obama? from the Washington Post
"“If Romney loses this election, the party really needs to do some soul-searching.” Their sentiments were echoed in interviews with more than a dozen GOP activists and social conservative leaders who attended the annual gathering focused on social and cultural issues and sponsored by the Family Research Council."

Case in point:
Shut Down the Party? (Jonathan Riehl) from Politico
"Romney is not a successor to any legacy--his father's, Ronald Reagan's, or the movement solidified by great thinkers like William F. Buckley Jr. He is only interested in being a successor to Barack Obama. That is not the kind of mentality that the conservative movement was built on."

Romney Camp Decides: The Economy Isn't Enough (Zeke Miller) from BuzzFeed 
"Mitt Romney’s campaign for president appears to have quietly abandoned its guiding assumption, that the election would center on the struggling economy, and has visibly begun to feel for a new message."
My view: it is too late to improvise a winning strategy.

Virginia Ex-Congressman Could Cost Romney the Election (Patricia Murphy) from the Daily Beast
"In a state that's a must-win for Mitt, a conservative third-party candidate could throw the election to Obama. Former congressman Virgil Goode tells Patricia Murphy why he's running."

MA-SEN: Poll: Warren opens up 6-point lead over Brown in Mass. Senate race (Peter Schroeder) from The Hill
"Elizabeth Warren has opened up a 6-point lead against Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) in their hotly contested senatorial race, according to a new poll."

UNBELIEVABLE EXHIBITIONIST NUGGET!!
What a View! Shock as Visitors Using Restrooms on 18th Floor of Swanky Manhattan Hotel are Visible from the Street from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Visitors using the restrooms on the 18th floor of an exclusive New York hotel may get a fantastic view through floor-to-ceiling windows - but passersby can't say the same.  Bathroom users at the Boom Boom Room club at the swanky Standard Hotel in Manhattan are entirely visible to people on the street thanks to the 10-foot windows lining the walls."

News Nuggets 1061

DAYLEE PICTURE: The eye of a Map Puffer Fish of the Tukangbesi Islands in Indonesia.  From National Geographic. 

UP-FRONT KICK-BUTT OBAMA CAMPAIGN AD NUGGET!!
I almost never post campaign ads -- but this one from the Obama people is short and says what there is to say on the economy.

SHORT & SWEET GOP NUGGET!!
Romney 360 on Egypt and Libya (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast 
"Why is that not as "disgraceful" as the original embassy statement? By his own logic? Or is there no logic here at all? Just shameless say-anythingism to get some kind of news cycle coup. And then lying afterwards."
"Shameless say-anythingism" -- if that isn't the strategy from the Romney team and the GOP generally I don't know what is.

Meet the New Boss (Steven Cook) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The news may look grim, but the United States is poised to remain the dominant power in the Middle East."

Neocons Slither Back (Maureen Dowd) from the New York Times
"Ryan was moving his mouth, but the voice was the neocon puppet master Dan Senor. The hawkish Romney adviser has been secunded to manage the running mate and graft a Manichaean worldview onto the foreign affairs neophyte. A moral, muscular foreign policy; a disdain for weakness and diplomacy; a duty to invade and bomb Israel’s neighbors; a divine right to pre-emption — it’s all ominously familiar."
As regular readers know, Dowd is not one of my favorite columnists -- but she is very much spot-on today with her assessment of the Romney foreign policy team.

The Foreign Relations Fumbler (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times 
"After that trip, you’d have thought that on foreign policy, Romney might remember the adage: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Yet with the Middle East exploding in recent days because of a video insulting the Prophet Muhammad, Romney dived in with a statement that hit a trifecta: it was erroneous, inflammatory and offensive."

Don’t Say “Desperate” (John Heilemann) from New York Magazine
"For unlike the posturing and platitudes that constitute the bulk of what occurs on the campaign trail, big external events provide voters with something authentic and valuable: a real-time test of the temperament, character, and instincts of the men who would be commander-in-chief. And when it comes to the past week, the divergence between the resulting report cards could hardly be more stark."

Obama ‘Fear’ Driving Social Conservatives from Politico
"Conservatives attending the conference said they worried about a range of things during a possible Obama II, from implementation of the president’s health care law, and a move to what they saw as more “socialist” policies to the end of the very values — including the protection of life and traditional marriage — that they came to the summit to support."

Challenged on Medicare, G.O.P. Loses Ground (Jackie Calmes) from the New York Times
"... in recent weeks Mr. Obama and his campaign have hit back hard, and enlisted former President Bill Clinton as well, to make the case that the Romney-Ryan approach to Medicare would leave older Americans vulnerable to rising health care costs. Now their counterattack seems to be paying off."

Why Obama's Lead is Even Better News Than You Think (Mark Sumner) from Daily Kos
"But extreme and ultra-extreme Republicans alike got it backwards on both counts, and that's what so exciting. It's not the messenger. It's the message. With apologies to H. L. Mencken, the Republicans are about to go bust by underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

Mitt Romney’s Last-Ditch Strategy: Inflame the Base (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Why is Team Romney slamming Obama's foreign policy as Americans die overseas? Michael Tomasky says they can't win the swing vote, so they're going with Plan B: Rile up the base."
Bingo!

Time To Panic (David Weigel) from Slate
"Obama reversed the Reagan-era ban on aid to international family planning programs. He appointed two pro-abortion rights Supreme Court justices. One in five voters still think the guy’s a Muslim. And he’s winning. Romney-Ryan didn’t get much of a convention bounce, but the president did."

Romney Hits New Low in Libya Remarks (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"Romney’s belief, apparently, is that such language sounds tough — that the harder he thumps his chest, the stronger he seems. You have to wonder whether he could ever summon the prudence and wisdom to pull back, as Reagan did, when circumstances indicate. You have to wonder whether he realizes that his shoot-from-the-lip attacks, far from projecting strength, sound frantic and weak. You have to wonder whether he knows there are moments when the guiding principle has to be “America first.” Not “me first.”
OUCH!!

Romney's 'Nostalgia' is Ill-Suited to Reality of a Fast-Changing World from Die Zeit [of Germany in English]
"Mitt Romney's candidacy and the world view of his political camp suffer from a fundamental evil that represents a danger for the future: the spirit of nostalgia. ... Compared to this retrograde policy and despite his flaws, Barack Obama embodies an aware, intelligent and engaged America. Unlike four years ago, he is no longer supported by worldwide hopes for his victory, but concerns in the event of his defeat."

Republican Lawmakers Say Romney Campaign Needs to Change Course from The Hill
"The GOP members say Romney must do a better job of communicating to voters what to expect of him, either by making a bold pledge akin to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 “no new taxes” promise or fleshing policy proposals with more details."
Won't happen.  Their course is set -- as it has been for most of the last year+.  Romney knows that if he gives credible details he'll lose his base -- but if he gives the details the base wants, he'll lose everyone else.

Right Wing Islam Obsession at the Values Voter Summit (Michelle Cottle) from the Daily Beast
"At the conservative Values Voter Summit, speakers invoked the recent violence in Libya to inflame a holy war. Michelle Goldberg on why it would have made the fallen Americans sick."

MO-SEN: Akin, Alone from the National Journal
"Shunned by his party and condemned by critics, an undeterred Todd Akin soldiers on in his increasingly lonely bid for the Senate."

News Nuggets 1060

DAYLEE PICTURE: A seal and a crab at the Galapagos Islands.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT ROMNEY CAMPAIGN NUGGET!!
Romney's Libya Blunder Reflects Larger Failings (John Cassidy) from the New Yorker
A spot-on indictment of Romney's entire team and the candidate himself!  It showcases perfectly what happens when you spend too much time somewhere else rather than the  "reality-based world" and when you can no longer distinguish between partisan bullshit designed to manipulate low-information voters and what's true.  A long excerpt is in order.  Read the whole thing -- it is very rich in new insights!
"Day three of the “September surprise,” and things aren’t getting any better for our boy Willard. ... perhaps the most disturbing thing about this whole incident is that it wasn’t simply a spontaneous gaffe on the part of the G.O.P. candidate. It was debated and thought through. According to the same report in today’s Washington Post, Romney acted on the “unanimous recommendation of his foreign policy and political advisers.” Well, it is widely thought that Romney’s political advisers aren’t the brightest bulbs—his entire campaign has been a litany of errors. What has been less remarked upon is the makeup of Romney’s foreign-policy team. For a former businessman who claims to willing to hire the best and smartest regardless of background, it is a remarkably unimpressive and ideologically driven group, consisting largely of washed up neocons and Cold Warriors, many of whom served in the Administration of George W. Bush. ... John Bolton is another important player in the Romney team."

A related (and also quite revealing) item:
Romney's Team Turns On The Press from BuzzFeed
The GOP default when they really screw up -- nothing new.
"... frustration is building behind the scenes, egged on by a conservative media and Twitter conversation that has blamed the media for accusing Romney of a premature response to the crises in Libya and Egypt. ... "the national press, most of whom live in New York or DC, "pockets of
prosperity," are isolated from the realities of the harsh economy — and therefore, unable to grasp Romney's message."
Catch it?  It is the press corps that is too removed from the economic suffering of average Americans -- not Romney, Breathtaking.

Bears at the Heart of the Dragon from the Financial Times [of the UK] 
"Among the corporate titans and global leaders attending the World Economic Forum in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin this week a fascinating division appears to have formed. In quiet conversations and background chats with Chinese officials and analysts about the state of things in China, the tone of despondency and cynicism was pervasive while the views of international attendees on China were generally bullish and upbeat."
This reflects the pervassive "China Rising" meme that has dominated western media for 4-5 years now.  Chinese officials (when they are being straight) know their economic situation is deteriorating at an alarming rate -- and most in the western media still don't get it.

The US is Becoming a Selective Superpower (Philip Stephens) from the Financial Times [of the UK]
"Whether led by Mr Obama or Mr Romney, the US will continue to see itself as the most powerful nation on the international block. But the focus and ambition of its world view have narrowed. ... The US image of itself as permanent guarantor of the global commons is being replaced by a sharper assessment of national interests."
All for the good in my view.  One of Obama's least appreciated foreign policy achievements.

Ben Bernanke Rescues the US Economy from the Nihilism of the Right (Robin Wells) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"The Federal Reserve's new round of quantitative easing shows its chairman's bold commitment to intervening to restore growth."

Obama’s a Good Bet (Charlie Cook) from National Journal
"Mitt Romney could still win, thanks to the debates or outside events, but the president has the advantage."

First Thoughts: Obama's Post-Convention Advantage (Chuck Todd et al) from MSNBC
"Who are the undecideds? By the way, we looked at the undecideds in all three states -- collectively -- and these are voters who simply aren’t paying attention. And frankly, they don’t look like voters. ... Bottom line: These folks look like DISAFFECTED voters, they seem disengaged from the campaign, and they don’t call themselves enthusiastic about the election. They are probably NOT voters."

Obama's Lead Poses Test for Romney (Susan Page) from USA Today
"A presidential race that has been neck-and-neck for months suddenly isn't. In the week after the political conventions ended, President Obama has opened the most significant, sustained lead in the daily Gallup Poll since Mitt Romney emerged as the Republican nominee last spring."

No Sugar High, Voters are Hardening Against Romney from Daily Kos
"The undecideds are few and Barack Obama has a structural lead. ... What this means is that Romney has to start winning over committed Obama voters if he wants to win. An almost impossible feat considering the kind of campaign he has to run to get his white vote number up into the 60 to 65 percent range. What is the structural problem of which I speak? Demographics. The Republican Party is beginning to run into the demographic wall that has been foretold for years."

Mitt Romney Media Criticism Continues: 'He Looks Like Richard Nixon,' 'The Character And The Policy Were Both Revealed' (Jack Mirkinson) from the Huffington Post
"As Wednesday wore on, pundits continued reacting with astonishment at Romney's response. Speaking to Rachel Maddow, NBC's Andrea Mitchell said that "It was one of those moments where the character and the policy were both revealed.""

Mitt Romney Is Not Fit to Be Commander in Chief (Leslie Marshall) from US News & World Report
"If Mitt Romney continues to ignore discussing our military, the war in Afghanistan, and national security issues, and attacks the current administration, using an ambassador's death for his own political gain and to further divide our nation, is he truly fit to be commander in chief?"

Mitt Romney has a ‘Personal’ Problem (Jonathan Capehart) from the Washington Post
"Romney is a man of many strengths. But one of his weaknesses seems to be supreme confidence in his own abilities and his own gut. How else to explain some of the head-scratching decisions the campaign has made? I’ve heard political professionals say over and over again that this is the result of a meddling principal."

Romney Owes an Apology (Ruth Marcus) from the Washington Post
"There is something disgraceful happening here, but it doesn’t involve a comment by an obscure embassy spokesman. It is Romney’s cynical, dishonest effort to take advantage of this national tragedy for his own political ends."

Breaking Bad for Mitt Romney (Carter Eskew) from the Washington Post 
"Is it breaking bad for Mitt Romney? It certainly seems so.  Like Walter White, he seems more than a little angry these days.

Republicans Have Bad Case of Buyer's Remorse (Bill Press) from the Chicago Tribune
"As consumers, we know our rights, one of the most important of which is the right to return and exchange. Whether you're buying a new flat-screen TV from Best Buy, the new iPhone from Apple, or Daniel Silva's latest spy thriller from Amazon, if you're not happy with your purchase you can always take it back and exchange it. More and more Republicans today are wishing the same policy applied to political candidates. Both publicly and privately they admit they'd like to trade Mitt Romney in for somebody who could win."

New York Times Criticized By Public Editor For Scrubbing Romney Story from the Huffington Post
"The decision by the New York Times to substantially rework a critical article about Mitt Romney drew a rebuke from the paper's new public editor on Wednesday night. ... On Wednesday, Margaret Sullivan, the Times' new public editor, weighed in. She appeared to like the first version of the story better, saying that it had been clearer on the crucial issue of the timing of Romney's attacks."

Bryan Fischer: Today’s GOP Will Be ‘Dead’ If Romney Loses from Talking Points Memo
"“If Barack Obama wins this election the Republican Party as we know it is finished, it is dead, it is toast — you can stick a fork in it,” he told TPM Friday at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. “And conservatives, grassroots conservatives, are either going to start a third party or they are going to launch a hostile takeover of the Republican Party.”"

BIG DOG NUGGET!!
'Is that a Dog or a Pony?': Owner of Zeus, the World's Tallest Dog, Says her Giant Canine is so Big Children Think he is a Horse from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A 44in Great Dane has been named the world’s tallest dog by Guinness World Records. Aptly named Zeus weighs 155lbs and reaches an astonishing height of 7ft 4in standing on his hind legs.