News Nuggets 726

Crowds in Tripoli celebrating.  From the New York Times.

Rebel Forces Invade Qaddafi Compound from the New York Times
"Rebel fighters flooded into Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s sprawling compound on Tuesday, overwhelming what remained of its defenses and running pell-mell through the grounds, as the crackle of gunfire and rumble of explosions spread across a confused and wary Libyan capital in spasms of renewed fighting."

Applying the Lessons of Iraq to Libya (Fred Kaplan) from Slate
"Five concrete steps the West (and other allies) should take today."

Obama’s True Claim to Fame (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Yes, the economic recovery is too slow. But events in Libya suggest that this may be a truly great foreign-policy president in the making. Michael Tomasky on what Obama’s doing right."
Too early for this kind of assessment -- but (accept for the blindly partisan) I think it's clear to most that Obama is a way-better-than-Bush foreign policy president.

Libya After Gaddafi Could Mean Good News For Obama, U.S. Economy from the Huffington Post
"How the country moves from turmoil to stability presents a new challenge for Obama and could determine how the public views not only his foreign policy, but in some measure the economy as well. Yet, the news for Obama on Monday could not have been better. The Libyan street was euphoric, Gaddafi was in hiding and the price of oil - a contributor to dangerous economic lethargy - was dropping."

Libya’s Greatest Advantage? The Modest Expectations of the Libyan People (Barak Barfi) from the New Republic
"Qaddafi’s despised Libya’s political indifference, its refusal to expect anything of its leaders beyond monthly paychecks and its equal refusal to offer anything back. But for the rebels marshaled against him, these shortcomings afforded them the time and patience they needed to overthrow Qaddafi. Those Libyans living in rebel-controlled areas for the past six months have tolerated the new leadership’s stumbles and missteps."

Rebels' Success 'Makes Mockery' of German Foreign Policy from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The likely success of the rebels in Libya is proving an embarrassment for Germany, which abstained from the UN vote authorizing military action, and Berlin's credibility will probably suffer lasting damage. The country now needs to make amends by getting heavily involved in rebuilding Libya, say German commentators."

How Cities – and Governments – Fall (Martin Woollacott) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"With Libya on the brink of deposing Gaddafi, a look at the unpredictable final moments of other regimes."

Cognitive Dissonance: Conservative Media Respond to Libya's Liberation (Ben Adler) from the Nation
"Conservatives say the United States has an obligation to intervene militarily to depose hostile regimes such as Qaddafi’s. But it’s awfully embarrassing for them when it turns out that it is a Democrat who does so, and at considerably lower cost than we paid in Iraq. So how did the conservative media respond on Monday?"

In Libya's Wake, Pressure Builds on Assad from Time Magazine
"Perhaps the young ophthalmologist who inherited the presidency from his strongman father should be a little more concerned. The more blood is spilled, the harder it becomes for Assad to find the political solution he says he wants."

What Russian Empire? (Dmitri Trenin) from the New York Times
"The former Soviet republics are actually moving ever farther from Moscow."

Meet 'Generation Vexed' (Mary Sanchez) from the McClatchy News Service
"It is a moniker that is being applied to the nation's current crop of 20-somethings. They are said to be facing a dire job market, uncertain prospects for surpassing their parents' standard of living, and generally a long, hard slog before they will be able to find their way in life."

US Should Raise Taxes to Help Fix Deficits, Say Business Economists from the Christian Science Monitor
"US deficit-taming strategy should include boosting tax revenue, say a big majority of 250 business economists in the private sector. Their views, per a new survey, are at odds with GOP's position."

How Obama Can Win The Fall (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"They sense blood in the water. But that they wielded the stability of the entire global economy for a petty, short-term adrenaline shot tells you all you need to know about their fitness to govern. They are unfit to run a lemonade stand. But it seems also clear to me that the crucial fight - presaged by the debt ceiling nonsense - is still to be had in the next few months."

Contra Boehner, Business Economists Favor Some Tax Hikes from National Journal
"In fact, the survey of economists in question suggests something quite different: A wide majority of respondents believe the federal government should reduce its budget deficit with a combination of spending cuts and, at least in small part, tax increases. Only 12 percent said the deficit should be reduced "only with spending cuts.""

Progressives Plot Ballot Initiative Strategy To Roll Back GOP Laws (Amanda Terkel) from the Huffington Post
"Organizers are eyeing 2011 and 2012 elections as opportunities to put initiatives on the ballot that would overturn some of the measures passed by GOP legislatures and governors. The first three states likely to see fights are Ohio, Idaho and Maine."

Rewrite, Sugarcoat, Ignore: 8 Ways Conservatives Misremember American History—for Partisan Gain (Zachary Newkirk) from the Nation
"Right-wing pundits, politicians and pseudo-historians are nibbling away at objective historical truths to rewrite history for present-day purposes, and hardly any topic is off-limits: glorifying the “Reagan Revolution” to children, sugarcoating the Jim Crow South and revising textbooks to offer a favorable view on Phyllis Schlafly—among many others."

Poll: Obama Tops Perry (Tom Jensen) from Public Policy Polling
"Rick Perry is looking increasingly like the Republican favorite for President- he led in the Iowa poll we released this morning and he leads by double digits in the national poll we'll release tomorrow. The biggest beneficiary of Perry's rise? It might be Barack Obama. "

Rick Perry: Know-Nothing Neoconservatism Reincarnated? (Doug Bandow) from the National Interest
"With the economy stuck in the doldrums, President Obama faces a potentially difficult reelection fight. However, it will take someone to beat him, and so far the leading Republicans do not impress."

Vacation Elation from the Editorial Board of the Chicago Tribune
"Vacation elation is real. The first moments when the yoke is lifted, the cellphone silenced, the workaday cares receding — these are among the sweetest in life. Savor them. Role model No. 1 for our pro-vacation credo: President Barack Obama. ... A recent New York Times Magazine highlighted the perils of "decision fatigue": "No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you can't make decision after decision without paying a biological price," reporter John Tierney wrote."

US WAR VETERANS NUGGET!!
Could U.S. Sailors Finally be Returned Home from Libya 200 YEARS After They Died in 'To The Shores Of Tripoli' War? from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"They’ve been buried for more than 200 years around 5,000 miles away from home - but it could finally be time for 13 U.S. sailors to come back."

WORLD WAR TWO SOVIET ART NUGGET!!
Calling All Comrades! The Long-lost Propaganda Posters that Rallied the Soviets Against Hitler from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Discovered in 1997, deep in a storage area in the Art Institute of Chicago, these monumental posters -- some up to 10 feet tall -- are now on display at that museum."