Two Big Wins Transform the Presidency for Obama from Agence France-Presse
"Two big wins for Barack Obama at home and abroad — a historic health care bill and a new arms treaty with Russia — have injected sudden momentum into a presidency that had been looking beleaguered."
Obama: A Giant Killer Feeling His Oats (Helene Cooper) from the New York Times
"Mr. Obama could retire into the history books, many presidential scholars say, on the health care achievement alone. But there is a swagger emanating from the White House that suggests he may now have acquired a liking for the benefits of sticking his neck out to lead."
Israel Absorbs Twin Rebukes from Top Allies from the New York Times
"Even as Mr. Netanyahu met with Mr. Obama at a session during which the White House pointedly withheld the usual trappings of a visit by the head of a government, Israel’s other ally, Britain, expelled an Israeli diplomat. It was a rare move by a friendly government, meant as a rebuke for what appeared to be the use of a dozen fake British passports by assassins suspected of being Israeli agents in the killing of a Hamas official in Dubai."
Obama Tears Up Israel's Carte Blanche (Andrew Sullivan) from the Times [of London]
"‘Let me know if there is anything new,” was Barack Obama’s final, somewhat contemptuous, instruction to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, whom he left in a room at the White House and subsequently stiffed for dinner. Those who believe that Obama is incapable of anger are, it appears, being proven wrong."
Benyamin Netanyahu Suffers Worst Week of his Second Premiership from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Israeli PM under fire from press at home after dispute with US over new settlements in East Jerusalem."
The US-Russian Arms Treaty May Not Be Big News, But It's Good News (Editorial) from Slate
"In sum, the new treaty is a good thing—for Obama, politically, a very good thing."
Obama Recess Appoints 15 Top Officials End-Running GOP Obstruction from the Huffington Post
"In a post to the White House blog that accompanied Obama's announcement, spokeswoman Jen Psaki wrote that the president "was no longer willing to let another month go by with key economic positions unfilled, especially at a time when our country is recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.""
Why Did Health Care Reform Pass? Nancy Pelosi Was in Charge (Op-Ed) from the Washington Post
"This wasn't just another piece of legislation for Pelosi -- this was the culmination of a crusade she has been waging her entire career to reorder Washington's priorities. Pelosi's animating ambition has been to put so-called women's and family issues such as health care, education and the welfare of children on the same level as homeland security, foreign relations and defense."
The Key Moments in Obama’s Struggle to Pass Health Reform from The Hill
"The difference between the passage and failure of health reform arguably came down to the Democrats’ ability to take a punch, a 7-hour White House summit and 312 votes in a Minnesota Senate race."
President Wins Early Spin Battle from The Hill
"Democrats, led by President Barack Obama, have put Republicans on their heels in the crucial first few days after Congress passed an overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system."
Health Care Repeal Wars Fracturing GOP Primary Candidates from TalkingPointsMemo
"For Republican candidates across the country, the movement du jour seems to be a pledge to repeal health care reform if elected. Republicans are rushing to co-sponsor and promote efforts to repeal the bill on Capitol Hill. But not everyone is biting, exposing another fissure between the GOP's right and far-right."
The Rage is Not About Health Care (Frank Rich) from the New York Times
"To find a prototype for the overheated reaction to the health care bill, you have to look a year before Medicare, to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Both laws passed by similar majorities in Congress; the Civil Rights Act received even more votes in the Senate (73) than Medicare (70). But it was only the civil rights bill that made some Americans run off the rails. That’s because it was the one that signaled an inexorable and immutable change in the very identity of America, not just its governance."
Right's Anger Could Backfire (Clarence Page) from the Chicago Tribune
"Today's conservative coalition, like the Democrats of the 1960s, appears to be subdividing between the angry and the angrier. House Republican Leader John Boehner quite properly condemned those who threaten or vandalize and told them to "take that anger and channel it into positive change" in political campaigns and the voting booth. Good advice."
Obama Derangement Syndrome (Paul Rosenberg) from OpenLeft
"This week Harris released a poll showing widespread belief in things about President Obama that are so clearly delusional that Republicans really don't want to talk about them. Oh, sure, they'll talk about the most popular one-that Obama is a socialist (presumably for continuing Bush's bank bailout & pushing a national version of Mitt Romney's health care plan for Massachusetts). But most of the rest the GOP would rather just keep well below the radar. As well they might."
The findings here are quite startling.
Foul Mouths in Congress? Big [expletive] Deal (Norman Ornstein) from the Washington Post
"The incivility on Capitol Hill today is the worst I've seen in decades. And the partisanship that makes people demonize their opponents is dangerous, ... But such behavior is not unprecedented. Indeed, the recent incidents are mild when compared with Congress's storied history of salty language -- and worse."
I love the slides that go with this.
With No Jobs, Plenty of Time for Tea Party from the New York Times
"When Tom Grimes lost his job as a financial consultant 15 months ago, he called his congressman, a Democrat, for help getting government health care. Then he found a new full-time occupation: Tea Party activist."
Pope Faces Fresh Wave of Child Abuse Scandals in Italy from the Guardian [of the UK]
"The head of the Catholic church is bracing himself for a new round of allegations by victims of paedophile priests — in Italy."
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