Tag: Politics

“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.

Robert Reich: Mitt Romney’s Wet-Noodle Economics

Mitt Romney is smart enough not to join Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin in using the proposed mosque at Ground Zero to launch a presidential bid. While Gingrich is busy comparing Muslims to Nazis (“Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the holocaust museum in Washington”), and Palin is calling on New Yorkers to “refudiate” the plan (she subsequently corrected her word choice), Romney is offering an economic plan.

That’s a wise choice. Mitt knows Americans don’t care about mosques in Manhattan. They care about money in their own mitts.

Romney is intent on selling himself to America as the businessman who can turn the country around (sad to say, unemployment is likely to remain high all the way through November, 2012). Unlike Palin and Gingrich, Romney did, after all, run a business (yes, it was a firm that bought and sold companies and laid off lots of people along the way but, hey, that’s business).

Mitt Romney: Grow jobs and shrink government

IT’S NOT happening the way President Obama had planned. Unemployment blew past his 8 percent ceiling and hasn’t looked back. Private sector investment in new jobs and capital has languished. Even the head of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, has resigned.

Almost every action the president has taken has deepened and lengthened the downturn. The private sector has retreated, frightened by his agenda and paralyzed by the uncertainty, lack of predictability, and outright hostility he has engendered.

His policies are anti-investment, anti-jobs, and anti-growth. Raising taxes – with a 15 percent hike on certain small business corporations, new taxes to pay for ObamaCare, and an increase on the dividend tax from 15 percent to nearly 40 percent – depresses new investment throughout the economy. Promoting an open-ended cap-and-trade tax dissuades expansion by employers in the energy sector. Bowing to the demands of unions to tilt the table in their favor – with proposals for card check and mandatory arbitration as well as the installation of a labor stooge at the National Labor Relations Board – chills new hiring.

“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.

Glenn Greenwald: What political courage looks like

The toxic right-wing campaign to impose a Muslim-free zone around Ground Zero intensified today, while Democrats — following in the cowardly footsteps of Senate Majority “Leader” Harry Reid, whose book is one of the most ironically titled in history — ran faster and faster away from the controversy.  New York Governor David Paterson made it known  that he wants to meet with Park 51’s developers to encourage them to move to a new site.  One Democratic official, Rep. Michael Arcuri of New York, actually attacked his GOP challenger, Richard Hanna, for having bravely broken with his own party to support the project; Arcuri’s Gingrich-replicating attacks caused Hannah, one of the few Republicans in the nation to have defended Park 51, to reverse position by arguing today that it should move.  And it is hard to imagine anyone surpassing Rep. Anthony Weiner in the cowardice department after the unbelievably vapid, incoherent letter he issued, ostensibly setting forth his views on this matter (stringing together words randomly chosen from the dictionary would likely create more meaningful sentences than the ones Weiner wrote).

Aside from Michael Bloomberg’s impassioned, principled speech  in defense of Park 51 — and, if one wants to be generous about it, Barack Obama’s initial, voluntary defense of the religious freedom values at stake — there have been very few commendable acts in this dispute.  Until now.

Joan Walsh: Dr. Laura’s pity party

The angry radio quitter is another right-winger who misunderstands the First Amendment and loves playing victim

So Dr. Laura Schlessinger told CNN’s Larry King Tuesday night that she’s giving up her radio show, after being criticized for an on-air flameout in which she abused a black caller and used the word “nigger” 11 times. “I want to regain my First Amendment rights,” she told King. “I want to be able to say what’s on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors. I’m sort of done with that.”

Only if You’re A Republican

Transcript available here

CREW: DELAY MUST ANSWER FOR HIS CRIMES

“It’s a sad day for America when one of the most corrupt members to ever walk the halls of Congress gets a free pass. As we continue the work of building a Washington that is worthy of the American people, the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute Mr. DeLay for his actions sends exactly the wrong message to current and future members. The fact that Jack Abramoff, Bob Ney (R-OH) and former Interior official J. Steven Griles are the only three people who went to prison for one of the worst corruption scandals in congressional history is shocking. The Hammer belongs in the slammer. Mr. DeLay still has crimes to answer for in Texas – generally not considered the best place to be a criminal defendant.”

h/t Crooks & Liars

I am really getting disgusted with the cowardice and bigotry that is being demonstrated by our politicians and news media. This exchange on CNN between news anchor, Don Lemon and Eboo Patel, Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Corps revealed the media bias against the American Muslim community.

   Lemon: Don’t you think it’s a bit different considering what happened on 9/11? And the people have said there’s a need for it in Lower Manhattan, so that’s why it’s being built there. What about 10, 20 blocks . . . Midtown Manhattan, considering the circumstances behind this? That’s not understandable?

   Patel: In America, we don’t tell people based on their race or religion or ethnicity that they are free in this place, but not in that place —

   Lemon: [interrupting] I understand that, but there’s always context, Mr. Patel . . . this is an extraordinary circumstance. You understand that this is very heated. Many people lost their loved ones on 9/11 —

   Patel: Including Muslim Americans who lost their loved ones. . . .

   Lemon: Consider the context here. That’s what I’m talking about.

   Patel: I have to tell you that this seems a little like telling black people 50 years ago: you can sit anywhere on the bus you like – just not in the front.

   Lemon: I think that’s apples and oranges – I don’t think that black people were behind a Terrorist plot to kill people and drive planes into a building. That’s a completely different circumstance.

   Patel: And American Muslims were not behind the terrorist plot either.

more

“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.

Eugene Robinson: Jefferson Would be Ashamed of Republican Mosque Panderers

Lies, distortions, jingoism, xenophobia-another day, another campaign issue that Republicans can use to bash President Barack Obama and the Democrats. First it was illegal immigration. Now it’s the so-called “Ground Zero mosque,” which is not at all what its opponents claim.

First, it’s not at Ground Zero. The site in question is two blocks north of the former World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan; an existing mosque is just a few hundred feet more distant from the site of the collapsed towers. Second, while the planned building will indeed house a place of worship, it is designed to be more of a community center along the lines of a YMCA. Plans include a fitness center, swimming pool, basketball court, bookstore, performing arts center and food court. Kebabs do not threaten our way of life.

Most important, organizers have made clear that the whole point of the project is to provide a high-profile platform for mainstream, moderate Islam-and to stridently reject the warped, radical, jihadist worldview that produced the atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001.

William Saletan: Islam Is Ground Zero

Why we should build the proposed Islamic center in Lower Manhattan.

Are we at war with Islam?

That’s the central question now in the debate over the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero. On Friday, President Obama entered the debate, defending the right of Muslim-Americans to worship where they choose. He was then chastised by Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and other Republican leaders. Yes, they conceded, the project’s sponsors can legally build it at the planned site, two blocks from Ground Zero. But that isn’t the issue. The issue, they argue, is propriety. As Palin puts it: “We all know that they have the right to do it, but should they?”

Confronted by that question on Saturday, Obama ducked it. “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there,” he said. “I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have.”

“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.

The Guardian Editorial: US midterms: Change without hope

One would have thought that the Obama of Hope and Change would have had little difficulty in defining his presidency

Here’s a depressing thought: the first half of Barack Obama’s presidential term, is as good it’s likely to get. The latest skirmish in America’s culture war – whether to build an Islamic complex two blocks from New York’s ground zero – encapsulates everything that he and the Democrats are labouring under as they trudge towards the midterm elections.

On Friday, Mr Obama said the right thing, not only as a constitutional lawyer, but as president: that Muslims had the same right to practice their religion as anyone else. Uproar in the Republican blogosphere followed. For John Boehner, the House minority leader, it was not an issue of religious freedom, but respect (How? More Muslims have been killed, as apostates, by al-Qaida than members of any other faith). Sarah Palin said it was as if Serbs were trying to build a church in Srebrenica. The Democrats wobbled. On Saturday, Mr Obama beat the retreat: he had not, apparently, commented on the wisdom of putting the mosque there, but the principle that the law should treat all equally.

Heh. “Technically Staten Island is a part of NYC”?

“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.

Dana Milbank: On education policy, Obama is like Bush

The Education Department kicked off its first ever “Bullying Summit” this week with a speech by Secretary Arne Duncan about the need “to break the cycle of bullying.”

But if Duncan really wants to stop the biggest bully in America’s schools right now, he’ll have to confront his boss, President Obama. In federal education policy, the president and his education secretary have been the neighborhood toughs — bullying teachers, civil rights groups, even Obama’s revered community organizers.

Frank Rich: Angels in America

Courage and a sense of fundamental fairness sometimes flower in our country in the most unexpected quarters, even as the angrier voices dominate the debate.

TO appreciate how much and how unexpectedly our country can change, look no further than the life and times of Judith Dunnington Peabody, who died on July 25 at 80 in her apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York.

snip

But to quote Tracy Lord, the socialite played by Katharine Hepburn in the classic high-society movie comedy “The Philadelphia Story,” “The time to make up your mind about people is never.” In 1985, Judith Peabody, a frequent contributor to the traditional good causes favored by those of her class, did the unthinkable by volunteering to work as a hands-on caregiver to AIDS patients and their loved ones.

“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.

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with Christiane Amanpour:

This week Ms Amanpour’s guest are Banking Committee member Republican Senator Bob Corker, former New Jersey Governor and former Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine, member of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Laura D’Andrea Tyson, and Martin Regalia of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They will discuss the failing economy and how to get it back in track.

She will host a roundtable with ABC’s Cokie Roberts, political strategist Matthew Dowd, Chrystia Freeland of Reuters and David Ignatius  of the Washington Post will discuss the crisis in Pakistan, how Russia’s severe drought and wildfires are triggering a global food crisis, Iran’s nuclear program, the winners and the losers in this week’s primaries, and all the week’s politics.

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer:

Mr. Scheiffer’s guest will be Tim Kaine, DNC Chairman, Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., Ed Gillespie, Former RNC Chairman, Ed Rollins, Republican Strategist, Karen Tumulty, Washington Post and John Harris, Politico.

Chris Matthews:

Mr. Matthews will host discussions with Howard Fineman, Newsweek

Senior Washington Correspondent, Norah O’Donnell, MSNBC, Chief Washington Correspondent, Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News, Capitol Hill Correspondent and John Heilemann, New York Magazine, National Political Correspondent. The questions that they will discuss:

Will Barack Obama’s Luck in His Weak GOP Opposition Hold for 2012?

What Investigations Would Top the GOP’s List if it Won Control of the House This Fall?

State of the Union with Candy Crowley:

This Sunday on State of the Union, Ms. Crowley is joined by DCCC Chair, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to talk 2010 politics.

Her roundtable will discuss the state of the economy with Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post and Jeanne Cummings of Politico.

Finally, she will talk about the “wacky weather” Climatologist Heidi Cullen and NASA scientist Tom Wagner.

Fareed Zakaris: GPS:

Mr. Zakariah will discus the troubled economy with Jeffrey Sachs, the man the NY Times has called “the most important Economist in the World”.

A panel of experts, including Mr. Sachs, will talk about climate and the flooding in Pakistan and Europe and the fires in Russia.

Also

What IS the state of Islam – in America and also around the world? What are its problems? What are the solutions to those problems? Fareed talks to a former Muslim and Muslim reformer.

And finally French criminals find themselves facing the short arm of the law.

If you thought that Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin were off the wall and out of the ball park with inane ideas, catch this interview with GOP Congressman Louis Gohmert (R-TX) by Anderson Cooper (full transcript below):