An interesting perspective on the Reclining Buddha in Thailand. From National Geographic.Various Reactions from Contributors from the Daily Beast
Here's Andrew Sullivan, for example:
"It was rooted in patriotism; it was framed to portray Obama as the pragmatic centrist he actually is. And it was not dishonest - these are the choices, short-term and long-term, that we have to make. And we should not be required to wait for another year and a half for action."
Obama’s Jobs Speech: Good Plan, Good Vision, Good Politics (Harold Meyerson) from the Washington Post
"That was an enlivened President Obama we saw earlier this evening -- impassioned, indignant, non-professorial. And enlivened he should have been, because the American economy trembles on the brink of a double-dip recession, and the Republican opposition has been seized by an ideology that would erode what remains of the once-great American middle class. Not to mention, Obama’s own political future and that of his party are on the line as well."
Obama Puts Passion Into Jobs Speech Rarely Seen In His Presidency (Howard Fineman) from the Washington Post
"Harry Truman in 1948, the "Give 'Em Hell Harry" who challenged Congress to tackle with the post-war nation's problems and castigated the Republican Congress for its obstinate failure to do so. Addresses to joint sessions of Congress are supposed to be august, stately and somber affairs, but the president turned it into a raucous and lively mixture of a campaign stump speech and a college-style debate on the floor of the British House of Commons."
On the Tone and Structure of the Obama Jobs Speech (James Fallows) from the Atlantic
"On both politics and substance, the President positioned himself in the only tenable way for the next months' deliberations with the Congress and next year's election campaign. Instead of asking vaguely for "consensus" or seeming resentfully resigned to the dysfunction of politics, he's made his case and said clearly and confidently what he is for. That is a big improvement from the passive-defeatist tone and reality of the debt-ceiling era."
The Atlantic's Clive Good's response is HERE.
Obama's Cunning Speech (David Frum) from the Frum Forum
"First reactions to the president’s big jobs speech: 1) Qua speech, it was excellent – clear, focused, unrhetorical. ..."
The Fighting Bipartisan: Has Obama Finally Found a Solution for Republican Obstructionism? (Mark Schmitt) from the New Republic
"Contrary to all recommendations from Paul Krugman, The American Prospect or DailyKos, this non-populist, not-very-partisan president again refused to don the cloak of partisanship or populism. And they loved it anyway, the critics from the left, in tone as well as content. That’s because, at least for the moment, Obama solved a persistent, deadly problem in his basic theory of politics: There was no Plan B."
Other news stories:
So Far, So Pretty Good in Libya from the Economist [of London]
"Amid trepidation, the new regime is making a remarkably hopeful start."
No Green Tea: What Americans Think About Climate Change by Political Allegiance from the Economist [of London]
"Tea Partiers, unsurprisingly, tend not to believe in the phenomenon (the 53% who don't believe in global warming ...) and are the most strongly opposed to all sorts of government action on the issue ... They also distinguish themselves in their assessment of their knowledgeability, with 30% considering themselves very well informed on the issue and a majority happy that it needs no more information on the subject."
BREATH-TAKING!! Here's the chart.
Obama’s New Semester (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"In fact,the great conundrum of Obama’s presidency is that he has accomplished a hell of a lot–preventing a depression with his stimulus package, passing a plausible universal health care plan, fighting the good fight on financial regulatory reform, saving the auto companies–but it has worked to his political disadvantage. Dowd is correct about one of the reasons for this: the President simply isn’t a top-draw politician."
Despite Obama's Worst Month, He Can Still Win (Jason Johnson) from The Root
"The president will want to forget August, but he's still likely to get re-elected."
Why Talking About Race Is Pointless (John McWhorter) from The Root
"The issues are more complicated than our "conversation" will concede."
The Mother of all Unforced Errors (Jamie McFadden) from the Frum Forum
"Perhaps not since George McGovern’s annihilation at the hands of Richard Nixon in 1972 has a candidate’s Primary base been so alienated from the center of American political thought as the Tea Party is today. Make no mistake: no candidate who doesn’t convincingly throw the red meat to the Tea Party audiences will have a sliver of a chance of getting nominated."
Rick Perry Campaign Refuses To Rule Out Ending Social Security from Talking Points Memo
"Make no mistake about it: Rick Perry is running against Social Security. Last night in the debate, Perry stood by his oft-repeated claims that the popular government retirement program is a Ponzi Scheme and a “failure.” And after the debate, Team Perry refused to rule out ending the program all together under a Perry presidency."
Rick Perry's Social Security Comments Are A Hit With Conservative Groups from the Huffington Post
"Rick Perry didn't lose any voters," he said. "He instead gained voters and energized his base with a healthy dose of straight talk.""
WOW! No wonder some folks in the Obama camp WANT Perry to be the nominee.
Press Reaction: Rick Perry, Shallow Thinker (Matt Browner Hamlin) from Americablog
"Reading some of the reviews of last night's Republican presidential primary debate, I can't help but praise the Washington press corps for the various, creative ways they say Rick Perry makes George W. Bush look like a strong candidate for the Fields Medal. Here's a sampling: "
My sense of it is best captured here:
Rick Perry the Likely Nominee (John B. Judis) from the New Republic
"Romney is the Nelson Rockefeller of today’s Republican party.... He has tried to recreate himself as a conservative Republican, but it simply has not worked. He could be the candidate by default against someone like Michele Bachmann, because most of the Republican electorate does understand that she is unelectable, but someone like Perry takes all the air out of his candidacy."
Most Amazing Animal Friendships (PHOTOS) from Discovery News
If you like cute baby animal photos, these are quite charming.
BIG CRITTERS NUGGET!!
Top 10 Real Life Monsters from Time Magazine
"From the massive 2,370 pound crocodile caught this week in the Philippines, to the most toxic jelly fish in the world, a look at the creepiest creatures in the world."
JFK-MLK NUGGET!!
Jackie Kennedy Onassis Not a Fan of Martin Luther King Jr. from Politico
"Jacqueline Kennedy loathed civil rights icon Martin Luther King, saying on newly released tape recordings that she couldn’t look at a picture of him “without thinking…that man’s terrible.” Kennedy also called King a “phony” and “tricky” during hours of chatty interviews with the historian Arthur Schlesinger that he tape recorded. The never-before-revealed interviews took place in 1963, shortly after Kennedy had been assassinated."
Very interesting -- and not surprising. MLK and his team never had a high opinion of JFK (while he was president) and it is no surprise that the feelings were reciprocated from the Kennedy side. One of the most interesting aspects of the Kennedy white house (when you consider how wildly popular Kennedy was among Democratic voters) is how UNPOPULAR -- even hated -- the Kennedys were within key Democratic Party power centers: LBJ's office, Congress, African American leaders, etc.
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