News Nuggets 1199

DAYLEE PICTURE:  A white tiger at Six Flags in Valego, California.  

From Eldad Hagar of Hope for Paws.   

The Scars of the U.S. War in Iraq (Robert Nolan) from US News and World Report
"Insiders note the report offers a scathing criticism of CIA interrogation programs like those portrayed in the film Zero Dark Thirty revealing a pattern of failure to disclose details or grossly distorting the success of the program. If Zero Dark Thirty's performance at the Oscars is any indication—it was nominated but failed to win in any major categories—the American public doesn't care much to discuss the uncomfortable lessons of our involvement in Iraq over the past decade."

Using Magic to Turn Russia Into a Superpower (Alexander Golts) from the Moscow Times [of Russia in English]
"The only real way to fulfill Putin's order is if the Defense Ministry fudged the numbers. That would explain why the ministry reacted favorably to the announcement by several college presidents that they agree to let students do a three-month stint in the army without interrupting their studies. Putin's other requirements for the military would also take a miracle to fulfill."

U.S. Need for Foreign Oil Falls Dramatically from the International Institute for Strategic Studies
"Over the last seven years, the United States has dramatically reduced its dependence on oil imports. From their peak in 2006, imports have fallen 40% as a result of declining demand (see Figure 1) and strong growth in domestic production of liquid fuels, leading to predictions that the US could reach oil self-sufficiency within 15-20 years."

The Market Speaks (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"Even a casual trawl through the headlines of [2009] turns up one dire pronouncement after another [about Obama's economic policies]. ... So what the bad predictions tell us is that we are, in effect, dealing with priests who demand human sacrifices to appease their angry gods — but who actually have no insight whatsoever into what those gods actually want, and are simply projecting their own preferences onto the alleged mind of the market. What, then, are the markets actually telling us?"

Gay Marriage and Christian Imagination (Peter J. Leithart) from First Things
This sounds like it was a real great debate!
"Andrew Sullivan demanded that Wilson defend his position with secular, civil arguments, not theocratic ones, and in this demand Sullivan has the support of liberal polity. Sullivan’s is a rigid standard for public discourse that leaves biblically-grounded Christians with little to say. ... Whatever the political needs of the moment, the longer-term response to gay marriage requires a renaissance of Christian imagination. Because the only arguments we have are theological ones, and only people whose imaginations are formed by Scripture will find them cogent."

It’s Not Just Dinner: Why Obama’s Meetups Really Matter in Washington (Eleanor Clift) from the Daily Beast
"A sudden flurry in casual meetings with Republican leaders was unthinkable at this White House. But this week’s sitdowns could open a whole new chapter for this president."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/08/it-s-not-just-dinner-why-obama-s-meetups-really-matter-in-washington.html
"At this White House ..."  Clift (like so many) forgets that during his first months in office, Obama was doing exactly what he's doing now -- and got only contempt from the GOP and its media minions.  I think Eleanor is being very "old school" in her views here.  There is a part of me that wishes that she was right and that personal relationships could actually overcome the deep partisanship that has gripped Washington.  I'm quite skeptical.  The following item I think is more grounded in the current reality.

Dems Settle in for War of Attrition Against GOP (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Democrats are increasingly pessimistic about forcing real concessions from Republicans in the near term — for example, by using the threat of a government shutdown to force them back to the table — and are instead settling in for what will amount to a months-long war of attrition in hopes of ultimately getting Republicans to cave on new revenues."

The Moral and Economic Benefits of Compassionate Conservatism (Matt K. Lewis) from The Week
"I have already presented several reasons to explain the trend toward a more libertarian brand of conservatism, but there is an obvious if simpler explanation: Conservatives are reflexively seeking to become the opposite of Barack Obama.  If Obama wants collectivism, then the opposite of that isn't responsible and voluntary communitarianism, but radical individualism. If Obama wants to redistribute wealth via government, then the opposite of that isn't to encourage private charity, but to flaunt the virtues of selfishness."

The Brewing GOP Civil War Over National Security (Ryu Spaeth) from The Week
"A day after Rand Paul spoke out against drones, two of his Republican colleagues smack him down."

Rand Paul’s Drone Filibuster Sparks GOP Civil War from Talking Points Memo
"Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) epic 13-hour filibuster of John Brennan for CIA director finally came to an amicable resolution Thursday, but not before sparking a battle within the Republican Party hierarchy — the latest in a series of internal struggles the party has faced since the election."

How Is the GOP Out of Touch? Let Me Count the Ways (Brad Bannon) from US News and World Report
"At the surrender ceremony after the British defeat at Yorktown in 1781, the British band played “The World Turned Upside Down.” Republicans, like the British, will realize that America has changed only after they lost the battle and the war. A new generation of selfless voters, the
millennials have replaced the baby boomers as the focus of American politics but Republicans are stuck in a time warp in the 1980s."

PRES-2016: Hispanic Voters Vastly Prefer Hillary Clinton Over Marco Rubio (Dan Amira) from New York Magazine
"According to a (caveat: very, very early) Quinnipiac poll, 60 percent of Hispanic voters would support Clinton in 2016, compared to a mere 24 percent for Rubio."

GOV-2014: Governorships a Big Opportunity for Democrats in 2014 (Stuart Rothenberg) from Roll Call
"Republicans like to point out that while they lost the presidency and seats in both chambers of Congress in 2012, their party continues to hold governorships in 30 states, including nine of the country’s 12 largest states. But most of those governors — 23 to be exact — were elected in 2010, a great GOP year that doesn’t reflect the nation’s (or many states’) political fundamentals."

HOLLYWOOD PHOTO NUGGET!!
Before it was Tinseltown: Vintage Pictures from 100 Years Ago Show the Sleepy Town of Hollywood Before it Became the Centre of the Showbiz Universe from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Before the film industry took root in Southern California, the area that would became known as Tinseltown was nothing more than a village outside the growing city of Los Angeles."

IRREVERENT CATHOLIC NUGGET!!
Some may find this video parody to be offensive.  I find it pretty funny! 
The Vatican as the TV Show Dallas (Video) from YouTube via AmericaBlog

PREHISTORIC NUGGET!!
Pictures: Extinct Species That Could Be Brought Back from National Geographic
""People were painting pictures of woolly mammoths in caves in France 35,000 years ago, so we have this amazing history with them," Poinar said."

ANOTHER PREHISTORIC NUGGET!!
Species Revival: Should We Bring Back Extinct Animals? from National Geographic
"Scientists are debating whether to bring back vanished species."

 A Tasmanian Tiger, extinct since the early 20th century.

News Nuggets 1198

DAYLEE PICTURE: The Solheimajokul Glacier in Iceland.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

UP-FRONT IRAQ WAR NUGGET!!
Govt Report: We Wasted a Ton of Money in Iraq from the Associated Press via Talking Points Memo
"Ten years and $60 billion in American taxpayer funds later, Iraq is still so unstable and broken that even its leaders question whether U.S. efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation were worth the cost. In his final report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen’s conclusion was all too clear: Since the invasion a decade ago this month, the U.S. has spent too much money in Iraq for too few results."

The Real Radicals of the Iraq War: Its Proponents (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
"Compare a huge anti-war rally with a few "Bush = Hitler" signs to what mainstream conservative writers were saying."

Why Being So Right Feels So Bad on Iraq (Peter Van Buren) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Why did it take the State Department 10 years and billions of dollars to figure out that Iraq reconstruction was a massive failure?"

Jobs to Fill, Employers Wait for Perfection from the New York Times  
"American employers have a variety of job vacancies, piles of cash and countless well-qualified candidates. But despite a slowly improving economy, many companies remain reluctant to actually hire, stringing job applicants along for weeks or months before they make a decision. If they ever do."

GOP Antics Will Not Damage Obama One Bit (Jonathan Bernstein) from Salon  
"Partisan shots and mini-controversies rarely make a dent. To hurt Obama, the GOP will need a lot more than that."

A Great Day for the Filibuster, and for Filibuster Reform (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"I wish filibuster reform would occur as part of a calm, bipartisan effort to fix the Senate. But I think the likelier process looks like what’s happened over these last few days — but on steroids."

GOP Smackdown: Wonks vs. Pols from Politico
"The latest front in the battle for the future of the Republican Party: the wonks versus the pols. Conservative thinkers are increasingly agitated that, four months after a second straight presidential drubbing, GOP officeholders are not taking bold steps to bring a 1980s-style Republican platform into the 21st century.""

Politicians Massively Overestimate Conservatism Of Constituents: Study from the Huffington Post
"Politicians, especially conservative ones, massively overestimate the conservatism of their constituents on the issues of gay marriage and universal health care, an academic paper published Sunday has found."

Do Conservatives Actually Want to Win Elections? (Ramesh Ponnuru) from Bloomberg News Service
"People who want to see American politics take a turn to the right, and a few who don’t, have been giving a lot of advice to conservatives lately. Move this way on the social issues; move that way on economics; get more technology-savvy. You’ve heard it all, sometimes from me. Maybe all this advice is based on a false premise. We’ve been assuming that conservatives want to start winning political and policy victories again. But a few news items from last week suggest that many of them have different priorities."

The Politics of Purity: As Republicans Argue About 2012’s Primaries, They are Really Debating their Future from the Economist [of the UK]
"There is breathless talk of civil war as each side blames the other for losing races that were in the party’s grasp. Actually, it is worse than that. The warring factions (mostly) agree that losing is bad. Their big dispute is over the Republicans who win elections."

Are Republicans the New Democrats? (Andrew Romano) from the Daily Beast 
"Who would have guessed last year that the GOP would be endorsing a litany of previously unthinkable positions? Elections have consequences, and this time, an identity crisis seems to be one of them."

Radical-right Wing Groups Reach All Time High (Alex Seitz-Wald) from Salon 
"There are now more conspiracy-minded Patriot groups than at the height of the militia movement in the 1990s."

What the Washington Post Didn't Tell You About the Daily Caller's Senate Sex Story (Adam Weinstein) from Mother Jones Magazine
"In its November story, the Caller reported that the two women were represented by attorney Melanio Figueroa, but provided no details about this lawyer. And the Washington Post report did not mention him by name. Yet Figueroa does have a public profile. He was once an aide to a former president of the Dominican Republic whom Menendez had publicly criticized. This raises an obvious question: Was the Caller drawn into an a politically motivated scheme?"

Welcome to Life as a Potential Presidential Candidate! (Chuck Todd) from NBC News
"Here’s something to remember about Bush: He hasn’t run a race since 2002 (before Facebook, Twitter, and more partisan media). And the backlash he’s received in the past 24 hours could either convince him that he doesn’t have the stomach for a run, or it could steel him for what to expect over the next three and a half years."

The Mighty Jeb Bush Comes Down to Earth (Beth Reinhard) from the National Journal
"Bush's waffling on immigration has stunned reformers, frustrated his friends, and left Democrats relishing the PR disaster."

FL-GOV: Anger and Kudos as Florida Governor Tacks Left from New York Times
"Facing stubbornly low approval ratings, Mr. Scott has crisscrossed the state advertising his enthusiasm for education, state workers, highways, commuter rails, early voting, the disabled, environmental protection and jobs."

KENNEDY NUGGET!!
Camelot in Tokyo: Can Caroline Kennedy Shake Up Japan’s Sexist Politics? (Coco Masters) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The buzz surrounding the nomination is still largely speculative. But with Bloomberg having set the pace, Japanese news media from MSN Sankei News to NHK now have a catalyst for contemplation. One headline reads: "Is Kennedy's Daughter a Japanophile?" The rumor does raise interesting questions about what Kennedy -- as a global celebrity, the first woman in the role, and an education advocate -- could signify for Japan."

News Nuggets 1197

DAYLEE PICTURE: Moonrise over trees in Colorado.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT ON-THE-MONEY PUNDIT NUGGET!!
Why the GOP Must Come to Terms with George W. Bush's Disastrous Presidency (Samuel Goldman) from The Week
"... these plans are a misleading point of departure for GOP renewal. That's because their authors remain in denial about the cause of Republicans' unpopularity: the catastrophic failure of the Bush
presidency. Start with foreign policy."

The Taliban Peacemakers (Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai) from the Daily Beast
"In a dramatic reversal, the Afghan insurgents now want to make friends with the U.S."

Health Care Will be an Obama Legacy (Julian Zelizer) from CNN
"The politics of health care is changing fast. President Barack Obama's Affordable Health Care Act was vulnerable during his first term when Republicans demanded repeal of the law. Even after the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality, there were still many voices who objected to it. However, with each passing day, it appears that the program is in good shape, slowly becoming part of the fabric of American government."

The 6 Species of Secretaries That Will Define Obama's Term (Matthew Cooper) from National Journal
"The president has picked most of his cabinet. Here's how they all fit into his second term."

Capitol Hill Showdown Over Obama’s Judicial Nominees Comes to a Head (Eleanor Clift) from the Daily Beast
"The Republicans have kept nearly half the president’s picks off the bench. Eleanor Clift on the latest attempt to filibuster a female nominee—blocked two years ago and coming up for a vote Wednesday."

Boehner Explains the GOP's 'Vote No, Hope Yes' Legislative Strategy (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"The basic idea of Vote No, Hope Yes is that many Republicans realize that they can't stand in the way of must-pass legislation like the fiscal cliff deal, VAWA or Hurricane Sandy. At the same time, they can't bring themselves to support it, so they try to split the difference by allowing the legislation to come up, and then voting against it while simultaneously hoping it will pass."

The 2012 Blame Game: Will it Ever End? from Politico
"With fault to go around for allowing a president mired in a weak economy to handily win reelection, the finger-pointing and blame-shifting from various corners are showing no sign of abating. The next shot at the White House is years away, the Senate is firmly in Democratic hands and Rove is no longer the universally respected strategic hand he once was. That’s all left the Republicans — who, like Democrats, have seen their central party infrastructure weaken — without a consensus figure to interpret what the election meant."

Lipstick on an Elephant (Frank Rich) from New York Magazine
"Deep behind a tangle of denial and rebranding initiatives, a GOP resuscitation plan emerges."

Conservative Media Struggles For Credibility, Amid Coverage Of Hookers, Hamas And Hagel (Michael Calderone) from the Huffington Post
"while outlets like The Daily Caller, Breitbart News and the Washington Free Beacon have sprouted and, in some cases, prospered during President Barack Obama's administration, concern is mounting that they and others in the conservative media universe are shedding their credibility by focusing more on supposed scandals than reporting the basics of who, what, when, where, why and how."

Daily Caller Sticks with Menendez Claims; ABC News Discredits Them (Hunter) from Daily Kos
"So the Daily Caller explanation hinges upon there being two separate groups running around making the exact same claims at the same time, and everyone but them just happens to be talking to the wrong one."

Can Texas Turn Blue? 'The GOP in Texas is Spoiled' from National Journal 
"San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro talks about the economic turnaround in his city--and the emerging political changes in Texas."

PRES-2016: Jeb Bush Quietly Lays Campaign Groundwork Through Foundation from Buzzfeed
"It is common practice for undeclared presidential candidates to build a campaign infrastructure under the guise of a political action committee, but Bush appears to be laying the groundwork for a potential campaign through his foundation, multiple Florida political strategists told BuzzFeed."

News Nuggets 1196

DAYLEE PICTURE: Lake Mary outside of Flagtstaff, Arizona.  From the Smithsonian Magazine.

UP-FRONT POLITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE NUGGET!!
Conservatism and the Demise of Human Events (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"It was Ronald Reagan's favorite newspaper. Now Human Events, a conservative stalwart publication for decades, has hit the skids. It will maintain an online "presence," as the saying goes, but no more print. Is it an omen of a larger conservative failure, or, to put it more precisely, the collapse, not just of moderate Republicans, but also the traditional establishment right?"
While this may seem like a small thing (print media has been tanking for years) but the dirty little secret about most of these publications (Weekly Standard, American Conservative, National Review, etc.) is that they have almost always operated at a loss; they rarely if ever have been profitable.  They were always sustained by conservative fat cats or right-wing foundations that were willing to cover the losses.  What's different now is that those fat cats and foundations have (seemingly) decided that these media outlets are no longer worth the expense.

The Emancipation of Barack Obama (Ta-Nehisi Coates) from the Atlantic 
"Why the reelection of the first black president matters even more than his election."

ObamaCare is No Longer Radioactive (Taegan Goddard) from The Week  
""Well, I think the ObamaCare attractiveness and feature was something we underestimated in a — particularly among lower incomes. And we just didn't do as — as good a job at connecting with that audience as we should have." It's an extraordinary admission because Republicans spent years trying to scare voters into believing that the law would wreck the country."
Bill Clinton predicted that it would go this way.  The irony is that over the next two years are when the most irksome (and most essential) elements of the program will actually kick in.

Jeb Bush Book: Undocumented Immigrants Should Be Ineligible For Citizenship (Elise Foley) from the Huffington Post
"It is absolutely vital to the integrity of our immigration system that actions have consequences -- in this case, that those who violated the law can remain but cannot obtain the cherished fruits of citizenship," Bush and lawyer Clint Bolick argue in a new book, Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution. "To do otherwise would signal once again that people who circumvent the system can still obtain the full benefits of American citizenship."
So much for Bush having some appeal to Hispanics in 2016.  This position is such a hyper-moralizing non-starter!

Need some evidence?
Jeb Bush’s Immigration Flip Flop Stuns Reformers from Talking Points Memo 
"The news stunned immigration activists and aides working on a bill and who have long insisted that anything short of citizenship is a dealbreaker for reform — especially given that Bush was decisively in the pro-citizenship camp just months ago. It also was a head scratcher for political observers, giving Bush an unexpected opening in 2016 to attack not only Rubio, but several possible presidential candidates, as overly liberal on immigration reform."

Republican Consultants Plot New Tech-Savvy Infrastructure (Michael Scherer) from Time Magazine
"...the day before the start of RootsCamp, an annual conference for Democratic digital, data and grassroots strategists that is held by a liberal non-profit group called the New Organizing Institute. What he found at the event came as a sort of revelation: A vast liberal brain trust bursting with young talent who had advanced far beyond Republicans in the art and science of using data, analytics and voter outreach. ... The first part of that ecosystem, for which incorporation papers were filed last week, will be called the Empower Action Group. It is envisioned as a conservative answer to the New Organizing Institute, a place for training and connecting young conservative talent." 
Markos Moulitsas at Daily Kos is contemptuous of what the GOP is planning.  Here's his response.

Escort Says Menendez Prostitution Claims were Made Up from the Washington Post
"An escort who appeared on a video claiming Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) paid her for sex has told Dominican Republic police that she was instead paid to make up the claims in a tape recording and has never met or seen the senator before, according to court documents and two people briefed on her claim."
Curiouser and curiouser!  We'll have to see how this plays out.  The conservative outlet, The Daily Caller, originally broke the story on these prostitutes (5 days before the election).  They are under a LOT of heat today to substantiate the original story and they have reacted accordingly.

GOP Sniping Over 2012 Still Going Strong from Politico
"Four months after taking an electoral pounding, Republicans can’t agree on what went wrong in 2012 — let alone on a path to recovery. Each week brings a new diagnosis of the party’s woes."

Newt Gingrich Faces Reality, Admits Conservatives Were Out of Touch (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"No more ripping gotcha questions—Gingrich now admits conservatives were ‘kidding themselves’ to think they’d beat Obama, while Ann Romney blames the press. Howard Kurtz on who’s out of touch."

Gingrich: “In the Real World We Were Kidding Ourselves” (Steve Kornacki) from Salon 
"Newt Gingrich talks to Salon about why he and his party were so wrong about the election and the future of the GOP."

Michelle Derangement Syndrome (Ari Rabin-Havt) from the Philadelphia Inquirer
"Is there a point where one’s political dislike becomes so engrained it seeps into a personal hatred that borders on psychosis? The first lady has endured four years of attacks not on political positions -- where criticism would be completely in-bounds -- but on her style, her weight, and her butt. The reaction to her appearance, by video, at last night’s Oscars ceremony demonstrates the depth of conservative delusion."

News Nuggets 1195

DAYLEE PICTURE: Trees in the ice hanging on the shore of Lake Ontario.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Obama Plans to Pick Up the Pace on Judges (Kevin Drum) from Mother Jones Magazine
"Sure, Republicans in the Senate have been obstructionist, but Obama himself has nominated many fewer judges than other presidents have during their first years in office. Apparently that's about to change."

Obama Pushing to Diversify Federal Judiciary Amid GOP Delays from the Washington Post
"In Florida, President Obama has nominated the first openly gay black man to sit on a federal district court. In New York, he has nominated the first Asian American lesbian. And his pick for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit? The first South Asian. Reelected with strong support from women, ethnic minorities and gays, Obama is moving quickly to change the face of the federal judiciary by the end of his second term, setting the stage for another series of drawn-out confrontations with Republicans in Congress."

Deal to Avert Government Shutdown Likely, Officials Say from the Washington Post
"The House plans to vote Thursday on a spending measure that would keep the government running after its current funding mechanism elapses March 27. It would provide funding through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, allowing new flexibility to the Pentagon to manage the $40 billion hit the military took Friday but otherwise locking in the sequester’s lower spending levels."

'Peak Oil' Doomsayers Proved Wrong (David Frum) from CNN
A provocative piece from Mr. Frum.
"Predictions that the world would imminently "run out of oil" have been worrying oil consumers since at least the 1920s. They always prove wrong, for reasons explained by the great oil economist M.A. Adelman after the last "oil shortage" in the 1970s: Oil reserves, Adelman writes, "are no gift of nature. They (are) a growth of knowledge, paid for by heavy investment." For all practical purposes, the world's supply of oil is not finite."

Republicans and Their Faulty Moral Arithmetic (Arthur Brooks) from the Wall Street Journal
"... only 33% of Americans said that Mitt Romney "cares about people like me." Only 38% said he cared about the poor. Conservatives rightly complain that this perception was inflamed by President Obama's class-warfare campaign theme. But perception is political reality, and over the decades many Americans have become convinced that conservatives care only about the rich and powerful. Perhaps it doesn't matter. If Republicans and conservatives double down on the promotion of economic growth, job creation and traditional values, Americans might turn away from softheaded concerns about "caring." Right? Wrong."

Voting is No ‘Racial Entitlement,’ Justice Scalia (Melissa Harris-Perry) from MSNBC
"Some of those same states–more than 150 years later–are still trying to pass laws that would deny the vote to the very people the Voting Rights Act, and Section 5 in particular, were meant to protect. So excuse me, Antonin, if I am a little dismayed that you now describe the rights of citizenship as a “racial entitlement.”"

Voting Rights Act Not a ‘Racial Entitlement’ (Leonard Pitts) from the Miami Herald
"Yes, the South has changed — largely because of the law Shelby County seeks to gut. Even so, attempts to dilute the black vote have hardly abated. We’ve just traded poll taxes and literacy tests for gerrymandering and Voter ID laws. So we can ill afford to be as naïve as a top court conservative at the prospect of softening federal protection of African-American voting rights. “Trust us,” says the South. And the whole weight of history demands a simple question in response. Why?"

The Elusive Soul of the Nation (Stanley Crouch) from the New York Daily News
"This is what I was thinking about as Parks and Marsalis spoke at Joe’s Pub last week. Our challenges are many, enshrouded as we are by polluting factoids. But be confident that the American character will always prevail, troubled or not — and that the whole world knows it."

This is Why Obama Can’t Make a Deal with Republicans (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"The question my column left open was whether improving the lines of communication would actually change anything. Chait’s view is no, it wouldn’t. He begins by quoting Upton Sinclair’s famous line: “It is impossible to make a man understand something if his livelihood depends on not understanding it.”"

The Story of Romney’s Career: “What I Said Is Not What I Believe” (Daniel Larison) from the American Conservative
"Earlier today, Mitt Romney addressed his well-known 47% remarks and said this: 'What I said is not what I believe.' The funny thing about this quote is how often his defenders and supporters would use this same argument during the election to protect him against criticism. Romney supporters often relied on his record as a famously unprincipled political weather-vane to defend him against any substantive criticism of what he said during the campaign on the grounds that he didn’t or couldn’t “really” believe it."

Fox News Interview Shows Mitt Romney Still Doesn’t Get Why He Lost (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"Nearly four months after he blamed his loss on Obama’s ‘gifts’ to minorities, Romney returned for a Fox interview to prove he’s still clueless about why he came up empty on Election Day."

Pres-2016: Jeb Bush Won’t Rule Out 2016 Presidential Bid from The Hill
"Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said Monday he would consider running for president in 2016. Speaking on NBC’s “The Today Show,” Bush was asked directly if he could rule out a bid in the next cycle. “I won’t [rule it out] but I’m not going to declare today either,” Bush said."

Inside Nature's Subway: The Stunning Zion Natural Park Subway that Only 80 People Can See a Day from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A stunningly beautiful canyon in Utah's Zion National Park has become so popular that park officials have instituted a lottery for hikers who want to discover its untouched natural beauty. Down between two peaks called the North and South Guardian Angels, the Subway's low light is the perfect place for algae to grow in vibrant and rich greens."
STUNNING is right!!

News Nuggets 1194

DAYLEE PICTURE: Red-banded Poison Dart Frog in Cauca, Columbia.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

How to Win a Cyberwar with China (Dan Blumenthal) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"It's time for the Obama administration to start playing offense, or it might soon have a real war on its hands."

Euro Zone Unemployment Rises to Record (David Jolly) from the New York Times
"The unemployment rate in the euro zone edged up in January to a new record, official data showed Friday, as the ailing European economy continued to weigh on the job market."

The Jobs Picture Is Far Worse Than It Looks (Mort Zuckerman) from US News & World Report
"As in the Great Depression, millions are suffering unemployed—but this time they're invisible. ... the predicament of our times is worse than that, and worse in its way than the 1930s figures might suggest. Employers are either shortening the workweek or asking employees to take unpaid leave in unprecedented numbers. ... Altogether, the broadest measure of unemployment today is approximately 14.5 percent, way above the 7.9 percent headline number you read about."
I think Zuckerman is spot-on with his clear-eyed economic assessment here -- and he is someone I rarely agree with on anything.

How the Aging of America is Hurting the Republican Party (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"Frum’s critique, put simply, is that demographics are destiny for political parties. A party made up of old people will have trouble cutting Medicare, and lo and behold, today’s Republican Party, despite believing Medicare the key cause of our budgetary troubles, is even more protective of its near-term spending than the Democrats. A party so reliant on elderly voters could hardly be otherwise. But demographics don’t just drive political parties. They also drive policy. And what’s striking about Voegeli’s agenda is its distance from the demographic realities driving American policy."

Want to Work in the White House? (Rosa Brooks) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The unofficial guide to getting a job in the Obama administration."

Beltway Brain Fever: People Who Agree With Obama But Have to Pretend Otherwise (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"Respectable centrist position agrees with Obama’s position. But to agree with one party is not a respectable centrist thing to do. And so a wide stream of coverage and commentary on this issue is dedicated to actively misleading Americans about what the two sides are proposing."
I suspect Chait is on-the-money here with the way the sequester has been covered in the MSM.

Stymied by a GOP House, Obama Looks Ahead to 2014 to Cement his Legacy from the Washington Post
"President Obama, now facing the consequences of automatic spending cuts and the complications they raise for his broader domestic agenda, is taking the most specific steps of his administration in an attempt to ensure the election of a Democratic­controlled Congress in two years."
I saw this pretty clearly shortly after the election.  Obama has concluded (sadly but correctly I think) that his No. 1 priority between now and the end of 2014 has to be taking down the GOP's power in the House.  On the one hand, this is a high risk strategy.  Many Presidents have tried to use their bully pulpit to curb the power of the opposition and to deliver serious electoral damage to them.  Such efforts usually fail.  In addition, the country has SO MANY things that need to be dealt with right now, Obama is taking a high risk that strangely mirrors the position taken by the GOP in early 2009 when Republican lawmakers decided that they would not work with Obama on anything and that their highest priority was to defeat him in 2012.  History does have its examples, though, (Harry Truman).  Moreover, as Jonathan Chait noted some weeks ago, we really have not seen in recent history a party that is chewed up as badly as the GOP was at the polls -- and yet come away choosing to double down on the same strategy and issue set that just lost them the election.  

GOP Creamed in Budget Polls (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"In a Washington Post/ABC poll, 67 percent disapprove of the way that Republicans are handling federal spending. Obama’s 52 percent disapproval rating looks better only by comparison. But here’s the killer for the GOP: Fifty-one percent of Republicans deliver a negative verdict on their party’s handling of the spending issue. In an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, just 29 percent say they agree with what the Republicans want to do in Congress, compared with 45 percent who agree with Obama’s agenda. As for divisiveness, 22 percent say the GOP is trying to unify the country, compared with 48 percent who say that of Obama and 37 percent who hold that view of the Democratic Party." 

Press Corps to Woodward: Really? (Dylan Byers) from Politico
"Since POLITICO published the full email exchange between Woodward and Sperling, journalists from across the political spectrum have voiced skepticism over Woodward's decision to paint himself as the victim of White House pressure."

Chait gets a two-fer today!
What the Hell Happened to Bob Woodward? [Updated] (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"To reconcile Woodward’s journalistic reputation with the weird pettiness of his current role, one has to grasp the distinction between his abilities as a reporter and his abilities as an analyst. Woodward was, and remains, an elite gatherer of facts. But anybody who has seen him commit acts of political commentary on television has witnessed a painful spectacle."
One thing that Chait and other Woodward critics have failed to mention is that Woodward had his political roots as a Republican back in the 1960s -- and, as Chait notes, Woodward, while gathering loads of interesting newsy nuggets in his books on Bush and the Iraq War and Obama and the budget war of 2011, largely missed MANY larger truths about those events.

In Closed-Door Meeting, Cantor Warned of ‘Civil War’ (Katrina Trinko) from National Review
"House majority leader Eric Cantor is increasingly frustrated with a group of House Republicans who are working against the leadership, and he’s not afraid of voicing his dismay. In a closed-door conference meeting on Wednesday, Cantor told one GOP member that if they blocked the
Senate-passed Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) from coming to the floor, they’d cause “civil war” in the ranks."

Has Ted Cruz Hit The Tipping Point? (Michael Falcone) from ABC News 
"“Ted’s always been ambitious, he’s always been arrogant,” said one Republican strategist who has known Cruz since before coming to Washington. “I think the honest truth is, he’s doing exactly what he’s said he was going to do when he campaigned.” But keeping his promise has also earned him his share of criticism — and not just from those on the other side of the aisle — from prominent fellow Republicans too."
Ah!  The next Rick Perry!  Got presidential ambitions?  Go for it!!  He'll be just the right ingredient for the 2016 GOP primaries to inflict maximum damage on the likes of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and Marco Rubio.

Ann Romney Has Not Gotten Over Losing the Election (Ryu Spaeth) from The Week
""She feels the pain and the what-ifs and the hurt more than" Mitt does, says Fox News host Chris Wallace."

BRITISH MONARCHY NUGGET!!
Forensic Exam of King Richard the Lionheart Reveals Embalming Practices from Scientific American
"An analysis of Richard I's heart shows that Christians in the Middle Ages practiced embalming, which the Church has tried to downplay due to its pagan origins."

GARDEN PHOTOS NUGGET!!
From Misty Mountains in China and Crater Lake of Oregon to Britain's Green and Pleasant Lands: Dazzling Images in International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition Go on Display from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
These images are amazing!!  Here are just a few.

News Nuggets 1193

DAYLEE PICTURE: A mother and baby Sperm Whale in the Caribbean near Dominica.  Form the Daily Mail of the UK.

A Political DUI (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"We have a political system that is the equivalent of a drunk driver. The primary culprits are the House Republicans. They are so intoxicated with their own ideology that they are ready to drive the nation’s car off the road."

GOP Divisions Throw Wrench In Sequester Alternatives from Talking Points Memo
"It’s well known that Republicans are divided over whether they should drag out a sequestration fight with President Obama, or meet him part way by agreeing to new tax revenues. But the divisions actually run deeper than that."


Republicans are Losing the Spending Argument (Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake) from the Washington Post
"For the past several years, congressional Republicans have focused relentlessly on a single message: Washington — led by President Obama — is spending too much money, and it needs to stop. But according to new Washington Post-ABC News polling, that laser-like focus isn’t helping Republicans win the argument over federal spending — with 67 percent of those tested disapproving of the “way Republicans in Congress are handling federal spending.”"

Sequester Poll Gives GOP Low Marks On Federal Spending from the Huffington Post
"Both parties give their rivals low marks, but troublingly for the GOP, its approval rating among its own is only nominally higher than Obama's overall rating. Just 44 percent of Republicans said they approved of their party's approach, compared to 51 percent who disapproved, and Republicans were more likely than Democrats or independents to say they disapproved of both sides of the debate."

Cuts Will Turn Off Voters GOP is Courting (Maria Cardona) from CNN 
"Instead of trying to find a way to avoid these steep cuts, and to keep faith with their newfound concern for the middle class, Republicans are doubling down on the "my way or the highway" mentality that put them in an electoral hole to begin with."

Moderate, Conservative Republican Groups Call Each Other ‘Cancer,’ ‘RINO’ Ahead of 2014 (Patrick Howley) from the Daily Caller
"Former Ohio Republican congressman and Republican Main Street Partnership head Steve LaTourette on Wednesday blasted a new effort by the conservative organization Club for Growth to field primary challengers for moderate Republican congressmen, calling the organization a “Cancer” on the Republican Party. Club for Growth quickly shot back, calling LaTourette a “liberal RINO.” The feud between the two organizations highlights the growing conflict within the GOP as the party prepares for the 2014 midterm elections."

Why Asian-Americans Have Turned Their Backs on the Republican Party (Lloyd Green) from the Daily Beast
"As recently as the 1990s, the fast-growing group leaned right. Lloyd Green on what changed."

Hillary the Field-Clearer: When it Comes to Non-incumbent White House Candidates, She Really Could Break the Mold if She Runs (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"...as one who has actively promoted Clinton’s field-clearing potential, I’d argue that an even closer examination of the history of modern presidential nominating contests suggests the former secretary of state could potentially enjoy an easier path to the nomination than any non-incumbent who’s run."

No, Hillary Clinton is Not Too Old to be President (Joan Walsh) from Salon 
"Even some Democrats suggest she can't win the White House at 69. Here's why that's silly -- and maybe sexist."

Dems 2016: Will Hillary Clinton Clear the Field? from Politico
"The ranks of Democratic governors are filled with ambitious politicians boasting records that would probably play well with primary voters in 2016. But even as they eye a move from the statehouse to the White House, there’s broad recognition among the chief executives that the next generation of Democrats may have to wait longer than four more years to take their place as President Barack Obama’s heir."

PPP: Russ Feingold Poised For Comeback, Could Top Scott Walker Next Year from Talking Points Memo
"The poll indicated that Feingold could get the last laugh on the Republican who ousted him in the 2010 midterms. In a hypothetical 2016 Senate matchup, 52 percent said they would vote for Feingold over Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who picked up 42 percent support."

Why the GOP Doesn’t Love Chris Christie (David Freedlander) from the Daily Beast
Christie’s snub by CPAC underscores that many on the right still distrust the New Jersey governor over his Obama embrace, attacks on Republican lawmakers over Sandy aid—and because they don’t think he’s much of a conservative."

A NEW HOPE-FOR-PAWS DOG RESCUE NUGGET!!
Tessa's Rescue and Rehab - A Blind Dog Who Couldn't Walk from Hope-for Paws and the Bill Foundation

 

News Nuggets 1192

DAYLEE PICTURE:A Rough Green Snake in a maple tree in Japan.  From National Geographic.

China Has Its Own Debt Bomb (Ruchir Sharma) from the Wall Street Journal 
"Not unlike the U.S. in 2008, China is at the end of a credit binge that won't end well."

Revanchist China (John Lee) from Project Syndicate
"As Obama and Abe forge a common strategy aimed at helping to manage China’s rise peacefully, they must understand that China’s conception of renewal seeks to resurrect a glorious past, and that this implies revision, not affirmation, of the existing regional order. This means that they will have to limit China’s strategic and military options, even if they cannot constrain its ambitions."

Italy’s Political Mess: Why the Euro Debt Crisis Never Ended (Michael Schuman) from Time Magazine
"The political upheaval in the euro zone’s third-largest economy in the wake of this week’s national election shows us just how troubled the euro zone really is, and how dangerous its debt crisis remains to the global economy."

Overturning The Voting Rights Act Would Be Seminal Moment For Conservative Legal Movement from Talking Points Memo
"The case carries important implications, not merely for voting rights in the mostly southern regions targeted by Section 5 but also for the conservative legal movement’s longstanding efforts to limit the scope of federal power."

Trust and Society (Bruce Schneier) from the Montréal Review
"In today’s society, we need to trust not only people, but institutions and systems. It’s not so much that I trusted the particular pilot who flew my plane this morning, but the airline that produces well-trained and well-rested pilots according to some schedule. And it’s not so much that I trusted the particular taxi driver, but instead the taxi licensing system and overall police system that produced him. Similarly, when I used an ATM this morning — another interesting exercise in trust — it’s less that I trusted that particular machine, bank, and service company — but instead that I trusted the national banking system to debit the proper amount from my bank account back home."

Poll: Republicans 'Out of Touch' from Politico
"Sixty-two percent of adults say the GOP is out of touch with the American people, 56 percent say it’s not open to change and 52 percent say it’s too extreme, according to a Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday. ... “Opinions about the Democratic Party are mixed, but the party is viewed more positively than the GOP in every dimension tested except one,” the Pew survey states. “Somewhat more say the Republican Party than the Democratic Party has strong principles (63 percent vs. 57 percent).”"

Why Republican Governors Hate the Republican Congress (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
"The party's stars in the states have stayed popular by showing they can govern -- unlike their counterparts on Capitol Hill."

A Day in the Life of the Republican Party’s Search for Newness (Mark Halperin) from Time Magazine
"In the internal divisions over how to handle the end of the endgame on the sequester PR fight, the GOP is oh-so divided on what kind of legislation to offer.  Lindsey Graham and a few others are suddenly born-again tax raisers. John McCain is affronted by the notion of turning spending decisions fully over to the President.  And there remains a deep, subterranean fear that the White House would win the hearts-and-mind battle (big) if the current cuts kick in."

The GOP vs The Pentagon? (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Dish
"The trouble is: whichever of these positions the GOP takes will hurt them.  The president’s proposals for debt reduction are simply much more reasonable and pragmatic and doable than the GOP’s – and he has far higher favorable ratings than the Congressional Republicans."

If Spending is Cut, GOP Will Get the Blame (Julian Zelizer) from CNN 
"Although many Republicans are standing firm, insisting that their party will be fine if the cuts go through, there are many reasons for the GOP, through a sober eye, to see the dangers that lay ahead. The cuts could push congressional politics in a liberal direction and establish the foundation for solid Democratic gains in 2014."

How the Sequester Will Harm Republican States (Daniel Gross) from the Daily Beast
"Republicans cheering for the sequester to kick in this week may find that their big-government states will suffer the most. Daniel Gross on the budget's poetic justice."

The GOP Rage Machine and Its Mainstream Apologists (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"How the credulousness of mainstream media figures like Bob Woodward and Ron Fournier enables Republican extremism. By Michael Tomasky."

PRES-2016: Christie Not on CPAC's Guest List from CNN
"It’s considered a key speaking engagement for any Republican considering a bid for president, but one potential 2016 candidate didn’t get an invitation to this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference."
It's amusing how quickly the list of "hot GOP talent" for the nomination in 2016 is already being winnowed down.  The list seems so rich with viable prospects: Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and on.  But I think one can take this as a harbinger of what awaits Gov. Christie.  He's barely even cleared his throat and he's already toast. 

And what about that Bobby Jindal?
LA-GOV: Bobby Jindal Faces Deepening Troubles In Louisiana from the Huffington Post
"... recent polls suggest that Jindal's once-formidable job performance rating has fallen below 50 percent just over a year after he was re-elected without serious opposition. "He's got a large number of people in Louisiana who just do not like him," said Baton Rouge-based pollster Bernie Pinsonat, not usually a Jindal critic."

TECHNOLOGY NUGGET [of a sort]!!
The Robot Will See You Now (Jonathan Cohn) from the Atlantic
"IBM's Watson—the same machine that beat Ken Jennings at Jeopardy—is now churning through case histories at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, learning to make diagnoses and treatment recommendations. This is one in a series of developments suggesting that technology may be about to disrupt health care in the same way it has disrupted so many other industries. Are doctors necessary? Just how far might the automation of medicine go?"

News Nuggets 1191

DAYLEE PICTURE:  A very small frog on the head of a match in Jakarta, Indonesia.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Deterrence After the Cold War (Paul R. Pillar) from the National Interest 
"Why did we unlearn strategic lessons so quickly?"

The Coming Atlantic Century (Anne-Marie Slaughter) from Project Syndicate 
"Western fortunes are rising, slowly but surely. Together, Europe and the US account for more than 50% of global GDP, have the largest military force in the world by many multiples, and control a growing proportion of global energy reserves. They also have a formidable diplomatic and development-assistance capacity, representing a peaceful community of democracies that share a common commitment to the rights, dignity, and potential of all human beings."

The Skeletons in Benedict's Closet (Elias Groll) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"A guide to the sex abuse scandals under Pope Benedict XVI's watch."

Vatican Denies Gay Blackmail Rumors (Andre Tarta) from New York Magazine 
"While the Vatican initially kept quiet on the story, a spokesman now says that it's "misinformation," not to mention "gossip," "slander," and "calumny." "
In the days of Woodward & Bernstein, this would clearly be labelled a "non-denial denial."  These are fairly transparent wiggle terms -- what is missing is the phrase "completely false," and I suspect it is no accident that it is missing. 

Thoughts on the Vatican's 'Gay Lobby' (John L. Allen) from the National Catholic Reporter
"Among many cardinals, it's become a fixed point of faith that the Vatican is long overdue for a serious housecleaning, and certainly the furor unleashed by the La Repubblica piece is likely to strengthen that
conviction."

A World Without Work (Ross Douthat) from the New York Times
"Our jobless future may be more sustainable than we imagine."

How Many Ph.D.'s Actually Get to Become College Professors? (Jordan Weissmann) from the Atlantic
"... long term, if you graduated in the class of 2011, your chances of living the academic dream appear to have been pretty slim.  ... With tenure relatively rarer than it was 30 years ago, it's fair to assume that an even larger portion of tomorrow's full professors will come from the Ph.D.'s who land academic jobs off the bat. And as we've seen, that group is getting pretty small."

GOP Blame Game Self-Destructs (Jonathan Bernstein) from Salon
"Party's attempt to pin looming, across-the-board cuts on Obama makes striking a deal virtually impossible."

Woodward Misses The Mark from Talking Points Memo
"...the entire purpose of an enforcement mechanism is to make sure that the enforcement mechanism is never triggered. The key question is what action it was designed to compel. And on that score, the Budget Control Act is unambiguous."

Battered GOP Governors Change Tune Ahead of 2014 from Politico 
"They stormed into office two years ago willing to knock heads and make enemies. But now several Republican governors are suddenly in a fix – up for reelection next year in states that Barack Obama carried in November, and with dangerously low approval ratings."

Court Finds No Right to Conceal a Firearm from the New York Times
"A federal judge in 2011 tossed out Mr. Peterson’s lawsuit filed against Denver and Colorado’s Department of Public Safety. He claimed that being denied a concealed-weapons permit because he was not a Colorado resident violated his Second Amendment rights to bear firearms. According to gun rights groups, Colorado is one of about two dozen states that do not honor concealed weapons permits from Washington State."

"Hubris": New Documentary Reexamines the Iraq War "Hoax" (David Corn) from Mother Jones Magazine
"An MSNBC film, hosted by Rachel Maddow and based on Michael Isikoff and David Corn's book, finds new evidence that Bush scammed the nation into war."

HOPE-FOR-PAWS DOG RESCUE VIDEO NUGGET!!
Dog Rescue: Roadie, an abandoned pitbull from Hope for Paws

CIVIL WAR PHOTO NUGGET!!
The Grim Reality of the Civil War in Color: Painstaking Photoshopping of Classic Images Brings the Past to Vivid Life from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Imagine if the great historic photographs of the Civil War had been taken using modern cameras which could have captured the detail and the depth of the historic occasion in vivid color rather than black and white. Now you can after modern day photographer John C. Guntzelman employed Photoshop to accurately colorize a series of classic images by the most celebrated photographers of the civil war era including Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner."

News Nuggets 1190

DAYLEE PICTURE: A STEEP road on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury in the UK.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

The Cool War (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Cold War technology made war unthinkable. Cool War technology makes it irresistible."

Revealed: al-Qaeda's 22 Tips for Dodging Drones from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Al-Qaeda's list of 22 tips for dodging drone attacks - including at least one believed to originate with Osama bin Laden - has been found hidden inside a manila envelope in a building abandoned by Islamists in Mali."

Did a Secret Vatican Report on Gay Sex and Blackmail Bring Down the Pope? from the Atlantic
"... according to the major Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the real reason he resigned is because he did not want to deal the repercussions of a secret 300-page Vatican dossier that allegedly found, among other things, an underground network of high-ranking gay clergy, complete with sex parties and shady dealings with the already scandal-ridden Vatican bank. Here's what we know:"

Infused with New Confidence, Obama Takes No Prisoners (Gerardo Morina) from the Corriere Del Ticino [of Switzerland in English]
"His re-election for a second term has infused Barack Obama with confidence. In less than four years, the president leaves the White House. He could from now on adopt the gait of a lame duck. After all, he never has to win the consent of the voters again. ... But his agenda is ambitious, and Obama will defend it with the air of one who has decided to attack and is able to look beyond the politics of the moment."

For Obama Team, Calm, Not Crisis, in Latest Fiscal Battle from the New York Times
"President Obama is just seven days away from the first big test of his second term, as deep spending cuts loom."

Democrats Find Sequester Advantage In GOP Intransigence (Michael McAuliff) from the Huffington Post 
"In a memo sent Friday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee argued that "Tea Party House Republicans are determined to drive the country over the sequester cliff, and their rigid ideology will not only kill more than a million jobs, but will do even more damage to an already imperiled Republican brand.""

Sequester Showdown (Michael Scherer) from Time Magazine
"Talking to Republicans and Democrats drafting strategy, there is a clear difference in morale. Republicans are fighting a battle they never wanted to be fighting, with little momentum, a smaller soap box and the most fragile unity within their own caucus. Obama and the Democrats, by contrast, feel ascendent, buttressed by high polls and a recent ballot box win, and are ready to mark what they will believe to be the next body blow to the Republican no-new-taxes-ever vision of shrink-the-beast governing."

Governors Fall Away in G.O.P. Fight Against More Medicaid from the New York Times
"After vigorous lobbying by the health industry, seven Republican governors are moving to accept federal funds under the health care law to add medical coverage for more low-income people."

GOP Governors Make Peace with Obamacare (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"“It is not a white flag of surrender,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott said. This was technically true: Scott did not wave a banner of any color when he announced Wednesday that he wants Florida to expand Medicaid, a key piece of Obamacare. But make no mistake: Scott, a tea party Republican and outspoken critic of the law, was laying down arms in defeat."

Organizing for Action Targets GOP Lawmakers in First Ad Buy from the Los Angeles Times
"The online ad buy, which cost close to six figures, is the first such campaign by Organizing for Action, the month-old advocacy group formed by top advisors to President Obama to build momentum for his legislative agenda. The ads are going live the same day as the group launches its first national mobilization, a so-called day of action featuring 100 events around the country aimed at demonstrating support for Obama’s gun violence reduction plan."
The Obama people here are engaging in an interesting experimet.  Executive branch targeting of specific lawmakers has a poor track record of producing results -- HOWEVER, given the unprecedented results Team Obama got from these same folks in the last election, I'm paying more attention to see if there is anything substantively different in this effort.  There might be.  At minimum, I suspect that OFA will succeed in cementing the youth vote and other constituencies that OFA's microtargeting were able to tap into in 2012 but that the GOP largely missed.  Thus, at least this approach could easily yield some potential long-term lasting gains at the grassroots level.

Deluded Republican Reformers (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast 
"Conservative pundits’ ideas about fixing the GOP are totally meaningless, says Michael Tomasky, until they deal with the problem of their party’s rage-driven fanaticism."

Texas GOP Chair: State Could Be In Play In 2016 If Hillary Runs from Talking Points Memo
"It's been more than three decades since Texas went blue in a presidential election, but a top Republican there fears that the GOP may not have the state's 38 electoral votes in the bag in 2016 if Hillary Clinton is at the top of the Democratic ticket."

Conservative Group Calls for End of Arpaio Recall. Threatens Lawsuit. Ha Ha Ha! (Mother Maggs) from Daily Kos
"They should be worried, which is why they're pulling out the legal mumbo-jumbo to squelch the recall effort. First they argue that it's unconstitutional to recall Sheriff Arpaio because he hasn't done anything wrong. There are "no valid reasons," they say. I'll let that sink in for a minute. No, nothing wrong. Only crime, cronyism and political vendettas."

American Star Power Still Rules the Globe (Richard Wike) from CNN
"Surveys consistently show that movies – and more broadly, American popular culture – are a strong suit of U.S. soft power. And, while studio executives spend considerably more time thinking about box office returns than public diplomacy, Tinseltown is actually pretty effective at nudging America’s international image in a positive direction. ... And it’s not just Europe – about seven-in-ten of those surveyed in Japan, Brazil, and Mexico, for example, say they enjoy U.S. movies, music, and television. In nearly all countries included in the survey, America’s pop culture is especially attractive to young people. For instance, a stunning 94 percent of Germans under age 30 like it, while just 47 percent of those 50 and older agreed. Huge age gaps are also found in Russia, France, Britain and elsewhere."

Rush Limbaugh Is “Ashamed” Of His Country For The First Time In His Life (Dorsey Shaw) from Buzz Feed
"The conservative radio star blames insults to his intelligence and a “fear and panic” strategy rolled out by Democrats, Republicans and the media in response to proposed spending cuts."
Time for a snide rejoinder: What's good for the goose is good for the gander: you don't like it here, why don't you go and check out some of those small government wonderlands like Somalia or Ethiopia ... or better yet that model of right-wing reconstruction Iraq?  You can send us a podcaste once in a while.

The Most Breathtaking Pictures Yet of Russian Meteorite: Photographer Captured Exploding Space Rock on Camera... Despite Thinking it was Nuclear Bomb That Would Kill Him from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A professional photographer today told of the moment he feared a nuclear bomb had gone off when the Russian meteorite tore through the sky as he took pictures of an idyllic rural scene.

WASHINGTON DC PHOTO NUGGET!!
What the National Mall Looked Like 150 Years Ago (And Now) from the National Journal
"In the days of Lincoln, the capital city was a sparsely adorned swamp."