“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.
John Nichols: Obama’s ‘One Nation’ Speech: A Little FDR, A Little Reagan, A Lot Like Ike
President Obama used his second State of the Union Address to deliver a muscular defense of Social Security, the crown jewel program of the New Deal that progressives had feared was under threat as the president triangulated to the right following November, 2010, election setbacks for Democrats.
Explicitly acknowledging his disagreement with key recommendations made by his own bipartisan Fiscal Commission, Obama told the assembled members of Congress that it was necessary to “find a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security for future generations. And we must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans’ guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market.”
Obama’s defense of Social Security – along his willingness to outline plans for at least some new stimulus spending — represents a victory of sorts for progressives who campaigned ardently in recent weeks to avert a sharp turn to the right by a president who was shaken by November, 2010, election setbacks for Democrats.
Dana Milbank: Michele Bachmann’s alternate universe
The president was lofty.
“We will move forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics,” he said in his State of the Union address.
The official Republican response, too, aimed high.
“Americans are skeptical of both political parties, and that skepticism is justified – especially when it comes to spending,” said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. “So hold all of us accountable.”
And then there was Michele Bachmann.
As the leader of the Tea Party Caucus in the House, the Minnesota Republican gave her own, unauthorized response to the State of the Union, live from the National Press Club, filmed by Fox News, broadcast live on CNN and telecast by the Tea Party Express. It had all the altitude of a punch to the gut.
Laura Flanders: No Solutions at State of the Union
We know what the problem is: Jobs. 15 million still unemployed. A National Journal piece last week noted that the Great Recession wiped out what amounts to every U.S. job created in the 21st century. And jobs had already been leaving — for three decades.
That’s a bipartisan problem-remember who passed NAFTA, which first opened the floodgates. As a commentator with the hardly radical Hoover Institute told the Journal — Instead of reinvesting the gains of globalization in improved plants or a higher quality of life work in the US, private companies privatized the profits and hired abroad. Driving down wages for them, and us.
Katrina vanden Heuvel: Can New York Be Model for Democracy Reform?
Cuomo’s Reform Moment
With the Citizens United ruling one year ago, Chief Justice Roberts and the Koch Brothers’ allies on the Supreme Court made an already lousy US campaign finance system much worse. In the 2010 midterms, we saw the floodgates open to unlimited corporate funding of candidates, and the facts on issues-as well as the voices of ordinary Americans-were often drowned out by record-breaking covert and corporate money. Bill Moyers got it right when he said this Big special interest money “is a dagger directed at the heart of our democracy.? . . . . .
This dramatic assault on American democracy makes the positive signals on campaign finance reform coming out of New York State all the more striking. In his State of the State address, newly elected Governor Andrew Cuomo said plainly, “We need public financing of campaigns. We must once again become the progressive capitol of the nation.” The Governor also included public finance as part of an “ethics package” in the official agenda his Administration is pursuing.
For Governor Cuomo, this is a moment when he can clearly establish his reform credentials with activists and elected officials nationwide.
Peter Rothberg: Time to End the War in Afghanistan
We won’t likely hear too much about Afghanistan from President Obama during the SOTU. But don’t forget that we’re currently fighting the longest war in US history with no real prospect of victory.
With violence in the country still worsening a year after the military push into Marjah–the start of what some call “Obama’s War”–it seems clear military solutions won’t work. Brave New Foundation’s documentary series, Rethinking Afghanistan, has offered strong reasons for ending the war: There’s the likelihood that military action can’t succeed, the fears that the war is de-stabilizing a nuclear Pakistan, the staggering financial costs of the conflict, the civilian casualties and the questionable assumption that a US military victory would liberate women.
Amanda Marcotte: The Rhetoric of Fear Feeds Terror
An attempted bombing, likely by the far right, is hardly reported – a sign of how far liberals have been silenced after Tucson.
t should have been a national story with heavy coverage. The hook, on its face, seems tailor-made for breathless coverage: last week in Spokane, Washington state, a suspected rightwing terrorist attempts to murder multiple parade-goers who are out to celebrate the life of an American hero killed by a rightwing terrorist 43 years ago. The talking heads would have an endless series of important-sounding questions to ask – with “political vitriol” and “hate”, no doubt, figuring highly. Experts in counterterrorism, hate groups and racial politics could be brought on as guests, alongside shocked near-victims of this thwarted bombing, which FBI officials have described as sophisticated and potentially able to kill numerous people.
Other attempts, which had far less chance of going off, receive heavy coverage, so why did the national news media give the attempted bombing at the Spokane MLK Day parade such cursory amount of coverage?
Ari Melber Obama, You Had Me At ‘Doubling Our Exports by 2014’
He hit his usual bipartisan notes, crediting Republicans for their midterm mandate, but he also urged them to cooperate on divisive issues like immigration reform and clean energy. At times, Obama got loose, joking about TSA pat-downs, tweaking Joe Biden’s Scranton roots, and explaining his education plan, “Race to the Top,” by quoting Jerry Maguire. (“If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement,” he told state governments, “we’ll show you the money.”)
At several points, Obama got down, dirty and boring, wading into the weeds to outline goals like “doubling our exports by 2014,” and shifting “80 percent of America’s electricity” by 2035.
Daphne Eviatar: Ghailani Trial and Sentence Affirms US Federal Court System
Before Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1998 bombings of two US Embassies in East Africa today, 11 victims of those bombings were allowed to speak to the packed courtroom.
Each one stood at the front of the gallery, speaking into a microphone facing the judge. Each had a horrible story to tell — about losing a husband or wife in the bombing, or losing a child or brother or sister. Many had been in the bombings themselves, and described not only the deafening blasts and sight of dismembered body parts that still haunt their nightmares, but also their own continuing psychological trauma and physical disabilities that persist today.
The federal sentencing guidelines allow victims to address the court at a sentencing hearing.
But in addition to noting their own pain and anger, victims also praised the federal court judge, Lewis Kaplan, and the United States justice system for bringing Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani to justice in a public courtroom following a fair trial.
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