UP-FRONT YOU-CAN'T-MAKE-THIS-STUFF-UP NUGGET!!
OOPS! Historic 'Spending Cut' Bill Increased Spending By $3 Billion from Talking Points Memo
I'll have to say: this is one of the reasons I started this blog -- because it never ceases to amaze how WRONG the MSM can be in their "accepted narrative" of events!
"[On the six-month extension] how many billions of dollars in spending would Democrats agree to cut, without risking massive Republican defections, and, perhaps, a protracted government shutdown? A few weeks after they cut the deal, we have an answer. It turns out the six-month spending bill Congress passed in April increased discretionary outlays through the remainder of the fiscal year by a bit over $3 billion."
Now, you've got to ask yourself: WHO got rolled back in the original budget negotiations? At the time, the pundits and many liberal hand-wringers declared that Obama and the Dems were the ones who "blinked" and that Boehner was pretty "crafty" in how he handled the negotiations. So... what happened? Did Obama and the Dems actually roll the GOP? More importantly, if I were one of those Tea Party lawmakers in the House, I'd be wondering if I GOT PLAYED by my own leadership! I'll be curious to see if those folks and/or their Tea Party constituents react. I'd be ripped!
Gaddafis Named as War Crimes Suspects by International Criminal Court from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Chief prosecutor requests arrest warrants for Libyan leader, his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi."
A new form of heat being applied.
Libya: Caught in a Vice from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Airstrikes and arrest warrants may suggest the jaws are closing around Gaddafi - but they could just as easily be losing their grip."
Iran, Syria Foment Hate for Israel from the Chicago Sun-Times
"Ever since Israel’s victory over the armies of Arab states in 1948, Arab regimes have flayed the Jewish state in their media, mosques and schools to divert attention from their corrupt governments, their suppression of dissent and their failure to deliver economic prosperity."
This tactic could easily end up derailing the 'Arab Spring' revolts. This reflects the most cynical kind of "fetch-the-stick" mass politics -- and I wouldn't be surprised if it works. Look for the other desperate dictators to follow suite. It will be interesting to see how Israel responds -- because one could see the case that it actually works for Netenyahu for the dictators to STAY in power and for 'Arab Spring' type revolts to fail. The devil you know...
U.S. Speeds Up Direct Talks with Taliban from the Washington Post
"The administration has accelerated direct talks with the Taliban, initiated several months ago, that U.S. officials say they hope will enable President Obama to report progress toward a settlement of the Afghanistan war when he announces troop withdrawals in July."
Bin Laden was the KEY MAN in the linkage between Al Qaeda and the Taliban. With Osama gone, the Taliban can feel free to cut a deal where they agree never to harbor Al Qaeda again. IF they were willing to do that -- I say cut the deal.
Sarkozy's Favorite Sex Scandal (Eric Pape) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The political suicide of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is great news for France's embattled and unpopular president."
In France, Questions Raised About a Code of Silence from the New York Times
"Traditionally, the French have regarded a politician’s private life as his own business. But the charges Dominique Strauss-Kahn faces may change that."
The Macho Democrat (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Obama looks unbeatable now—but the GOP sees weak spots. In this week’s Newsweek, Michael Tomasky on the political advantage gained by the president’s national security “scalp”."
John Kerry: The Pakistan Whisperer from Newsweek
"In a dangerous region, John Kerry emerges as America's unofficial peacemaker. Next stop: Secretary of State?"
White House Cybersecurity Plan Boosts Chances of Bipartisan Bill from the Wall Street Journal
"The White House unveiled a far-reaching cybersecurity plan Thursday that largely endorsed the leading proposal on Capitol Hill, boosting the chances Congress will enact a new security regime for companies that run key elements of the nation's infrastructure."
This is LONG OVERDUE. This is where those "Anonymous" cyber-attacks against the US, Mastercard, and others that came earlier this year in the wake of Julian Assange's arrest made a positive contribution! I like to think it WOKE UP lawmakers on US vulnerabilities. But this is only the beginning...
Democratic Analysis: GOP's 2010 Win Short-Lived from Politico
"President Obama’s successful targeting of Osama bin Laden, nearly a decade after 9/11, has provided him a much needed boost and set in stark relief the differences between the two Parties on the central dimensions of leadership, competence, resolve, and results. In the latest POLITICO-George Washington University Battleground Poll, Obama is running well ahead of the two GOP frontrunners, leads the Republicans in Congress on nearly every major issue front, and his Democratic counterparts are narrowly ahead in the generic Congressional trial heat. ... Republicans have aided this dynamic with their tortured criticism of the President and the same prescription of austerity and overreach that has doomed them in the past."
Liberals’ Five Favorite Republicans from Newsweek
"Democrats have broken up with the Olympia Snowes and Christie Whitmans of old. But even in this polarized political moment, there are five Republicans they have learned to love."
Seven Days in May: How One Week Clarified the GOP Field (Michael Duffy) from Time Magazine
"So here’s what we know for certain today that we could only bet on last Monday morning: Mike Huckabee is out. Newt Gingrich is officially in. Jon Huntsman finally broke cover. And Ron Paul is back."
The GOP, Looking for Love in All the Right Places (James Wolcott) from Vanity Fair
"In the run-up to the 2012 election, Republicans are behaving like, well, Democrats. Blind to the road-tested charms of Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, the G.O.P. base is lusting for an upstart savior—the likes of Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, or the tantalizingly elusive Ms. Palin. "
Newt is a Problem of the GOP’s Own Making (Jonathan Bernstein) from the Plum Line at the Washington Post
"So Republicans are embarrassed and infuriated that a prominent GOP presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, blasted their House-passed budget and its Medicare plan in extreme language, the kind that leads to “even the right-wing Newt Gingrich…” types of editorials, blog posts, and attack ads. But Republicans have no one to blame but themselves for their Newt problem"
Ah, once in a while, even the nudists will concede that the emperor has no clothes!
Donald Trump and the House of Horrors (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"He showed how scary our politics has become."
In WI, Paul Ryan Barbecues His Backyard (Andrew Romano) from the Daily Beast
"The House GOP’s fiscal star touted his “Path to Prosperity” anew Monday. But a Daily Beast analysis of the numbers shows his plan would squeeze the hell out of his own constituents. "
Boy, Scott Walker and the WI GOP will just LOVE him for this!
HIGHER ED NUGGET!!
In for Nasty Weather from Inside Higher Ed
"Maybe it’s because tenured professors are so disproportionately white male baby boomers that classic rock seems like a natural way to capture the sense that tenured faculty existence is vanishing."
PUNDIT PROFILE NUGGET!!
The Deflationist: How Paul Krugman Found Politics from the New Yorker
"When it is cold at home, or he has a couple of weeks with nothing to do but write his Times column, or when something unexpectedly stressful happens, like winning the Nobel Prize, the Princeton economist Paul Krugman and his wife, Robin Wells, go to St. Croix."
HEALTH NUGGET!!
British Scientists Find the Fat Gene from the Atlantic
"Researchers at King's College London and the University of Oxford may have turned a corner with a recent study with the discovery of the "master regulator" gene that controls the behavior of fat in the body. The breakthrough is expected to improve not only how we understand the development of obesity but also how doctors treat a host of obesity-related diseases."
HAPPY TIGERS NUGGET!!
Thailand Jungles Mask Surprise Rise in Tiger Numbers from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Experts film previously unknown group on hidden cameras – but loss of habitat and threat from poachers cloud newfound hope."
MYSTERY SOLVED BOOK NUGGET!!
A Military Post’s Secrets: Espionage, Not Aliens: A Review of Area 51 from the New York Times
"At the start of “Area 51,” Annie Jacobsen’s cauldron-stirring book about America’s most mysterious military installation, Ms. Jacobsen offers a passing glimpse of a large-headed little gray space alien being interrogated by scientists in white coats. This is both a tease and a distraction. Yes, Ms. Jacobsen will eventually address the U.F.O. issue with which conspiracy theorists eagerly associate Area 51, but her book is not science fiction. It’s much more levelheaded. It is an assertive account, revelatory but also mystifying, of the long-hidden United States weaponry and espionage programs to which she says Area 51 is home. "
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