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10 Congressmen Who Should Be Fired (The Daily Beast)
Thursday, July 29, 2010 9:47:00 PM CST
The Daily Beast - They tried to build a Bridge to Nowhere, fretted about "killing Grandma," and stiffed the IRS. John Avlon presents a rogue's gallery of House members who should be bounced come November, from Joe Wilson to Alan Grayson.
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5 Best Friday Columns (The Atlantic Wire)
Friday, July 30, 2010 3:04:16 AM CST
The Atlantic Wire - Paul Krugman on Obama's Tentative Centrism While the current President
rode into office on a "wave of progressive enthusiasm," the New York Times columnist writes he has since been
far "more centrist and conventional than his fervent supporters
imagined." This isn't necessarily a good thing, argues The New York
Times opinion columnist, and Obama's choices can't always be blamed on
Republican obstructionism. He concludes: "The point is that Mr. Obamaâs
attempts to avoid confrontation have been counterproductive. His
opponents remain filled with a passionate intensity, while his
supporters, having received no respect, lack all conviction. And in a
midterm election...[that] could spell catastrophe."Peggy Noonan
on the Competent Chris Christie In what has recently become a trend
among conservative pundits, the Wall Street Journal columnist gives a
ringing endorsement for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie saying that,
"He's going to break through in a big way." While the Democrats are
campaigning against the GOP's "populist spirit" (the Tea Party) in the
lead up to the November midterms, their biggest worry should be worried
about Christie's courageous and, more importantly, competent style of
governance. She enthuses, "But Mr. Christie's way is also closer than
most national Republicans have comeâor Democrats will comeâto satisfying
the public desire that someone step forward, define the problem, apply
common sense, devise a way through, do what's needed."David
Brooks on the Long Slow Decade The New York Times columnist fears the
impact of the recession will be felt for years to come. "What we have is
not just a cycle but a condition," writes Brooks. "We could look back
on the period between 1980 and 2006 as the long boom and the period
between 2007 and 2014 or so as the nasty crawl." So, how to the spur
economic growth? Brooks sees good plans on both sides of the aisle. For
Democrats, it's what Brooks calls the "Moon Shot Approach"--an economy
buoyed by a strong infrastructure and tax breaks for key sectors.
Republicans see hope in the "Unleash America" school of thinking--it's
defined by "a free-market and entrepreneurial vision of their country."
Both approaches, Brooks says, are better than the inevitable "nativist
and antiglobalist visions that will be arising" in coming years.Patrick
Kennedy on a Brain Disorders Battle Writing in the Boston Globe, the
Rhode Island congressman says the recent 20th anniversary of the
Americans With Disabilities Act should inspire politicians to demand the
same protections for those with brain disorders. "Approximately 100
million Americans have some form of traumatic brain injury," writes
Kennedy. "Millions more suffer from Alzheimerâs, autism, Parkinsonâs,
and epilepsy." Yet only 5 percent of the NIH budget is spent researching
neuroscience. Kennedy argues America must respond to the rise in brain
disorders with "the same kind of urgency...as we did with AIDS."Steven
Pearlstein on the New Division of Labor "The only surprise is that
anyone is surprised by the lack of private-sector hiring," concludes the Washington Post columnist. "It is only in the world of Chamber of
Commerce propaganda that businesses exist to create jobs." Writing in
response to the recent news that corporate profits have soared while
little new job opportunities have been created, Pearlstein isn't
optimistic that most employers will soon be adding full-time employees.
"There are lots of theories why this is happening," he writes. "With
consumers cutting back on debt-financed spending, cutting expenses has
been the most obvious way for businesses to increase their profits." In
effect, the profits are addition by subtraction.
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Op-Ed: Securing Medicare's future (Exclusive to Yahoo! News)
Thursday, July 29, 2010 7:57:57 PM CST
Exclusive to Yahoo! News - Forty-five years ago today, the creation of Medicare transformed our health-care system and our nation. It helped to make us a stronger and more prosperous country by freeing older Americans from the fear that sickness or injury would cost them their lifetime savings and security.
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Obama on 'The View': Canny Decision or Unpresidential? (The Atlantic Wire)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 6:04:44 AM CST
The Atlantic Wire -
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Is the Intelligence Community Unmanageable? (RealClearPolitics.com)
Thursday, July 29, 2010 11:00:00 PM CST
RealClearPolitics.com - Beginning with the Washington Post's "Top Secret America" series last week, the media are creating a narrative aimed at cutting down to size what the Post called the American intelligence community: a system so big and unwieldy that its effectiveness is impossible to determine. Our intelligence community, according to the Post series, has become ungovernable in the way the media used to characterize New York City.
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Do Guantanamo media restrictions also prevent open trials? (McClatchy Newspapers)
Thursday, July 29, 2010 3:44:00 PM CST
McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — Reporters covering trials of accused terrorists at Guantanamo on Monday will have their first-ever face-to-face chance to air their complaints about the U.S government's restrictive rules, which journalists say make it nearly impossible for the public to follow the proceedings.
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Time's 'horrific' cover: Honesty or sensationalism? (The Week)
Friday, July 30, 2010 10:40:00 AM CST
The Week - Time's latest cover may shock you — and that's exactly the point. The haunting image shows an 18-year-old Afghan woman — her name is Aisha — whose nose and ears were cut off by the Taliban after she tried to escape her abusive in-laws. The accompanying article, "What happens if we leave Afghanistan," details the gruesome dangers women will face if the fundamentalist Islamic movement regains control of the country. "I'm acutely aware that this image will be seen by children," writes Time's managing editor Richard Stengel, but I would rather people know the reality "as they make up their minds about what the U.S. and its allies should do in Afghanistan." Did Stengel make a responsible choice?
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Celebrating Paul Rudd's Hysterical Body of Work (The Atlantic Wire)
Friday, July 30, 2010 12:36:07 PM CST
The Atlantic Wire - Splashed on the covers of magazines, all over the late night circuit and now starring in this weekend's summer blockbuster Dinner for Schmucks: Paul Rudd is everywhere. Though not everyone's optimistic about his new film, the New Jersey-born funnyman is a critics' favorite. Across the Web, writers are paying homage to his body of work:From the Beginning, a Classically Trained Comic, writes Sam Adams at Salon: "Allow us to make a modest proposal: Paul Rudd is one of the great comic leading men of his generation. With his boyish charm and unassuming good looks, he could easily have ended up as a romantic-comedy lightweight, following the template laid out by his breakthrough role in 'Clueless.' But instead, he's spent much of the last decade surrounding himself with stand-ups and sketch comics, matching wits with Steve Carell and Seth Rogen in 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' and guesting as an oily Lamaze instructor on 'Reno 911.' Although he studied Jacobean drama at Oxford, Rudd's classical background hasn't prevented him from improvising alongside club-hardened comics, a talent that serves him mightily well in 'Dinner for Schmucks.'"You Can't Beat 'Wet Hot American Summer', writes an adoring Elbert Ventura at Slate: Rudd's comic talent first became apparent in 2001's Wet Hot American Summer. Made by the folks behind the MTV sketch comedy show The State, the movie affectionately spoofs '80s pop culture... [Rudd] stole every scene he was in as Andy, the sleazeball camp counselor. In Rudd's hands, Andy becomes the biggest asshole you knew in high school, fearlessly amped up to 11. Playing the guy who gets the hot girlâand who throws her away just because he canâRudd pushes past believability into hysterical hyperbole, the obnoxious bad boy in quotes. In the middle of a make-out session, Andy suddenly pulls away and accuses the girl of 'suffocating' himâthen goes on to scratch his behind extravagantly. ('My butt itches,' he remarks, peevishly.) Making out with another girl, he breaks off, sneering, 'You taste like a burger. I don't like you anymore.' But it's his aria of exasperation, a temper tantrum in the camp cafeteria, that has become one of the movie's best-remembered scenes:
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Will Opposing Dems Be Enough for GOP This Year? (RealClearPolitics.com)
Monday, July 26, 2010 11:00:00 PM CST
RealClearPolitics.com - Beltway insiders have asked for months whether Republicans must do more than oppose Democrats to win back power.
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Divorce is costly. The settlement need not be. (The Christian Science Monitor)
Friday, July 30, 2010 11:28:27 AM CST
The Christian Science Monitor - A new wave of legislation aimed at rectifying perceived injustices in divorce cases is rolling into state legislatures. For example, in Massachusetts, a controversial âfatherâs rightsâ bill would create a presumption of joint child custody, and proposed changes to alimony statutes would limit the duration of spousal support. All of these proposals will probably face stiff opposition.
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The Farmer in the Dell (The Nation)
Thursday, July 29, 2010 11:29:02 AM CST
The Nation - The Nation -- Good morning, dear pupils! Please settle down, take your seats. Today's class will be another exciting lesson in our infinite series of teachable moments. Hush now, stop the giggling. This is important, and we're never going to graduate until we master the basics of how to read and write. We will begin with a nice little fairy tale that I'd like you to read aloud:
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Is Charlie St. Cloud This Summer's 'Notebook'? (The Atlantic Wire)
Saturday, July 31, 2010 6:23:59 AM CST
The Atlantic Wire - The latest such film, Charlie St. Cloud, stars Zach Efron as a sailing prodigy who loses his younger brother in a horrific car accident and eventually begins to communicate with his brother's ghost. Reviewers have declared it an episodic and sappy melodrama akin, in some respects, to The Sixth Sense. And while the harsh buzz may doom St. Cloud, Efron isn't giving up anytime soon on becoming the leading man in a romance film: he's signed on to play a soldier in The Lucky One. A movie adaptation of a book, you may recall, that was written by Nicholas Sparks. Critics weigh in:
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THE IDIOCRACY FACTOR (Ted Rall)
Friday, July 30, 2010 5:58:01 PM CST
Ted Rall - How U.S. Ignorance Helped Doom the Afghan War
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Democratic Surge? Part II (Huffington Post)
Friday, July 30, 2010 3:51:09 PM CST
Huffington Post - Last week, I argued that a reported “jump” for Democrats in Gallup’s weekly tracking of the national generic U.S.
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Sen. Cardin: Obama Hasn't Been Transparent On Gitmo, Detainees (Huffington Post)
Friday, July 30, 2010 3:03:30 PM CST
Huffington Post - The inability of the Obama administration to follow through on its promise to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay has largely been attributed to successful Republican (and Democratic) efforts to block funds for an alternate domestic facility.
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War on terror's other cost: undeserved anger at all Muslims (The Christian Science Monitor)
Friday, July 30, 2010 2:25:00 PM CST
The Christian Science Monitor - This September and October, Americans mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the ninth year of war in Afghanistan, respectively. This war has become arguably the longest in our history. Given the jihad-until-doomsday rhetoric of the Islamists, the war on terror will probably stay with us in one form or another for the foreseeable future.
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Rand Paul's Former Campaign Manager Defends Maddow Interview (VIDEO) (Huffington Post)
Friday, July 30, 2010 1:35:20 PM CST
Huffington Post - In a revealing and somewhat endearing short interview with a local blogger, Rand Paul's former campaign manager defended the Kentucky Senate candidate's decision to give that controversial, post-primary interview to Rachel Maddow in which he questioned the reach of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
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House Passes Bill To Crack Down On K Street 'Scofflaws' (Huffington Post)
Friday, July 30, 2010 1:15:46 PM CST
Huffington Post - The House unanimously passed a bill this week to create a task force within the Justice Department to crack down on lobbyists who flake on disclosure laws.
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Best Tweets: Summer Doldrums Edition (The Atlantic Wire)
Friday, July 30, 2010 11:53:24 AM CST
The Atlantic Wire - It's the end of July. The days are hot. The news is slow. And Twitter is growing restless.The AP's Phil Elliott whiled away the hours by playing bookie. .bbpBox19910133241 {background:url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/23882359/grass.jpg) #EBEBEB;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block} Any bets when Blago verdict comes back?less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®PElliottAPPElliottAP
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Did Obama Save Detroit? (The Atlantic Wire)
Friday, July 30, 2010 11:17:48 AM CST
The Atlantic Wire - President Obama swooped into Detroit on Friday to promote his administration's auto bailout a year after the carmaker bankruptcies. Speaking at a Chrysler plant, he criticized the Republicans' opposition to propping up the beleaguered industry. "If some folks had their way, none of this would be happening," he said. "Just want to point that out. Right? This plant and your jobs might not exist." In retrospect, did Obama's policies help the Detroit automakers?The Auto Bailout Saved the Industry, writes Steven Pearlstein in The Washington Post: "A year later, the auto bailout is an unqualified success. The government used its leverage to force the companies to make the painful changes they should have made years before, and then backed off and let the companies run themselves without any noticeable interference... For the first time since 2004, GM and Chrysler, along with Ford, all reported operating profits in their U.S. businesses last quarter. The domestic auto industry added 55,000 jobs last year, ending a decade-long string of declines. Auto sector exports are up 57 percent so far this year and, thanks largely to new government regulations, the industry is moving quickly to introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles. Most surprising of all, GM and Chrysler have already repaid more than $8 billion in government loans, while GM is preparing for an initial stock offering later this year that would allow the government to recoup most, if not all, of its investment" The Jury's Out on Obama's Auto Policies, writes the Detroit News editorial board: "The people here instinctively understand that the vehicles Washington is forcing Detroit to invest its resources in -- teeny, electric-powered sedans -- will not wow the market or produce big profits for Detroit. They get that if Washington maintains its heavy hand in auto manufacturing, the automakers will be on their backs again before long. And they also know how sensitive auto sales are to the bounces of the economy. If Obama's spending addiction, radical environmental intentions and expansion of government's control of the private marketplace lead the country back to economic ruin, the heroic bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler will mean nothing."The President Prevailed, writes Steve Benen in the Washington Monthly: "After Obama intervened to rescue auto manufacturers a year ago, the right insisted it was an example of his purported desire to be a communist dictator. A year later, his efforts look pretty smart, and his detractors' apoplexy looks pretty foolish."Don't Get Cocky, Obama, writes Manny Lopez at the Detroit News: "President Obama did what had to be done to ensure that America's economy didn't spiral into oblivion. But it is neither proof that government intervion works or is worthy. It only proves that he was smart enough to know that GM and Chrysler failing on his watch would be disastrous for hundreds of thousands of families and his future. He ought to temper his self-promotional spin today."