Punting the Pundits

“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”

E.J. Dionne, Jr.: What Wisconsin Democrats can teach Washington Democrats

Consider the contrast between two groups of Democrats, in Wisconsin and in the nation’s capital.

Washington Democrats, including President Obama, have allowed conservative Republicans to dominate the budget debate so far. As long as the argument is over who will cut more from federal spending, conservatives win. Voters may think the GOP is going too far, but when it comes to dollar amounts, they know Republicans will always cut more.

In Wisconsin, by contrast, 14 Democrats in the state Senate defined the political argument on their own terms – and they are winning it.

By leaving Madison rather than providing a quorum to pass Gov. Scott Walker’s assault on collective bargaining for public employees, the Wisconsin 14 took a big risk. Yet to the surprise of establishment politicians, voters have sided with the itinerant senators and the unions against a Republican governor who has been successfully portrayed as an inflexible ideologue. And in using questionable tactics to force the antiunion provision through the Senate on Wednesday, Republicans may win a procedural round but lose further ground in public opinion.

Robert Reich: The Birth of the People’s Party

Look at the outrage in Madison, Wisconsin. Look at the crowds in DesMoines, Iowa. Look at the demonstrations in Indiana and Ohio and elswhere around America.

Hear what they’re saying: Stop attacking unions. Stop making scapegoats out of public employees. Stop protecting the super-rich from paying their fair share of the taxes needed to keep our schools running.

Stop gutting the working middle class.

Noam Chomsky: The Cairo-Madison Connection

On Feb. 20, Kamal Abbas, Egyptian union leader and prominent figure in the Jan. 25 movement, sent a message to the “workers of Wisconsin”: “We stand with you as you stood with us.”

Egyptian workers have long fought for fundamental rights denied by the U.S.-backed Hosni Mubarak regime. Kamal is right to invoke the solidarity that has long been the driving force of the labor movement worldwide, and to compare their struggles for labor rights and democracy.

The two are closely intertwined. Labor movements have been in the forefront of protecting democracy and human rights and expanding their domains, a primary reason why they are the bane of systems of power, both state and private.

The trajectories of labor struggles in Egypt in the U.S. are heading in opposite directions: toward gaining rights in Egypt, and defending rights under harsh attack in the U.S.

Richard (RJ) Eskow: The Ministry of Truth: New Fronts in the War on Social Security

The phrase “Moment of Truth” first appeared in English in Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon. It was originally a Spanish expression for the final sword-thrust in a bull-fight, the one that finishes off the bull after the matador is done taunting and tormenting him.

Remember that whenever you hear about “The Moment of Truth Project,” the latest public relations venture from the Social Security-slashing Pete Peterson crowd. It could be el momento de verdad for your future financial security.

Gail Collins: School of Glock

It’s been nearly nine weeks since that tragic shooting in Tucson, and you may be wondering whether there’s been any gun legislation proposed in the aftermath.

Well, in Florida, a state representative has introduced a bill that would impose fines of up to $5 million on any doctor who asks a patient whether he or she owns a gun. This is certainly a new and interesting concept, but I don’t think we can classify it as a response to Tucson. Jason Brodeur, the Republican who thought it up, says it’s a response to the health care reform act.

A sizable chunk of this country seems to feel as though there is nothing so secure that it can’t be endangered by Obamacare. It’s only a matter of time before somebody discovers that giving everyone access to health insurance poses a terrible threat to the armed forces, or the soybean crop, or poodles.

Mary Sanchez: Planned Parenthood – one man’s view

This column comes with a warning:

Men may cringe for their private parts; women may applaud a new ally.

Congressional efforts to defund Planned Parenthood sparked a perspective only a man could add. It’s a rarely articulated view.

Cutting funding is about opposition to abortion. I wrote recently of my tempered support for the organization, despite my opposition to abortion. My reasoning is that by ensuring women access to contraception, Planned Parenthood probably keeps abortion rates down by preventing unwanted pregnancies.

Jeff Munzinger e-mailed of his life-changing encounter with Planned Parenthood – emphasis on life.

Gregory Rodriguez: The Loyalty Dance

The U.S. has a history of forcing minorities to try to prove their patriotism, something almost impossible to do. Yet, Rep. Peter T. King is about to begin such a dog-and-pony show with American Muslims.

Dance, monkey, dance.

That’s what the United States has long shouted at immigrants and ethnic groups suspected of being disloyal. The nation asks its newcomers to perform in meaningless ways to “prove” they belong here.

The dancers change, but not the dance. Because the U.S. is continually incorporating immigrants, the perceived threat of betrayal is constant. This week, Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) will call the tune on Capitol Hill, with hearings meant to test the loyalty of American Muslims.

But proving loyalty in the affirmative is not so easy. The primary proof is in what people don’t do: The loyal ones are those who don’t stab you in the back, don’t sell you out.

Michael Kinsley: See Mitt Romney Flip-Flop

His convenient and implausibly explained reversals on issues say all we need to know about his character. He will do or say anything to become president.

We’re all for transparency these days, and if anything is transparently clear about American politics, it is that Mitt Romney will do or say anything to become president. The best guess is that at heart he is an old-fashioned moderate, business-oriented Republican (just about the last one standing). But there’s no knowing for sure. He may have no sincere beliefs at all.

There was a piece about Romney on the front page of the New York Times on Sunday, and what amazes me is the deadpan frankness with which the article exposed him as a phony, and then went on to discuss what Romney might do to solve this problem.

He was criticized last time for being a stiff, so this time he is not wearing a tie. Ever. Even on occasions when every other male is wearing one. Problem solved, as Romney sees it.