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- Ezra Klein says all that needs to be said on Obama's "victory" over Senate Republicans in getting them to release holds on 29 administration nominees. Clearly, the threat of a recess appointment was credible, because Republicans knew Obama could, and probably would, issue recess appointments. But they didn't clear every nominee and now with Obama withdrawing his threat, Republicans are free to get back to business as usual: total obstruction. The recess appointment threat could return, however, for the upcoming March 29-April 11 congressional recess, if Obama so chooses.
- The idea, now apparently dead, that there could be some sort of "liberaltarian" political coalition has always struck me as the product of an overactive imagination. For all the common ground to be found between progressives and libertarians on things like war and civil liberties, there's one big, insurmountable difference: economics. There is simply no middle ground between an economic philosophy best described as anarcho-capitalism and a one that seeks to curb the excesses of capitalism via government intervention. It's not as though a tiny and powerless state apparatus and a totally deregulated economy are afterthoughts for libertarians -- they're fundamental.
- Politico's Jim VandeHei and Jonathan Martin spend 1661 words explaining the political media's relationship to the former governor of Alaska, but really the final sentences suffice as a summary: "But to cover her as the chief alternative to Obama and the presumptive front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2012 borders on the dishonest. Yes, she’s good copy and yes she’s good for business. But that doesn’t mean she should be treated as a president-in-waiting." Translation: she's grossly unqualified for the office of the presidency, and covering her every Facebook update is not the best use of serious journalism's time, but her tabloid qualities are good for business. I always assumed this was the case, so I'm glad it's now out in the open.
- Josh Marshall thinks there's a big difference between John Brennan's claim that Republican fear-mongering serves al-Qaeda's interest and the smearing of dissent during the Bush years. His point, I think, is that in the former Brennan is describing the GOP sowing fear about the capabilities of terrorists and doubt in the administration's handling of terrorism whereas the latter is more of a blanket "you're either with us or against us" approach to handling the threat. That distinction strikes me as important, which means I'm not totally on board with Brendan Nyhan's criticism that this is an example of the left "smearing" the right now that they're in power. Discuss!
- In a blog post titled, "The Truth is a Precious Commodity," the profound conservative intellectual Victor Davis Hanson writes, "At some point -- I think it was around mid-January -- the public collectively shrugged and concluded of Obama, 'I don’t trust anything that this guy says.'" This is an excellent opportunity to clarify my theory that conservatives believe in a permanent conservative silent majority in the American public. It's not that the public holds conservative views, per se, it's that they hold views that are consistent with whatever movement conservatives happen to believe at any given moment. At any rate, actual data on public opinion of Obama's trustworthiness tells a different story. For instance, the question, asked in mid-January no less, "Would you say that Barack Obama is honest and trustworthy or not?" garnered "shrugs" from 37 percent of the public at the time. The "collective" hath spoken.
- Remainders: Ramesh Ponnuru has a good response to my earlier critique and clarifies his views on taxes and job creation; Dick Durbin is the third vote in favor of filibuster reform, but Harry Reid loves him some countermajoritarian Senate tradition; the military-industrial complex bids a fond farewell to the late John Murtha; Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) holds the football for Senate Democrats on financial regulation; as of this writing, 11 of the impressive 36 signatures to the "Draft Harold Ford Jr." movement are from outside New York, much like Ford's tax burden; Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) has become the 14th House Democrat to retire in advance of the November elections; Jon Chait takes the time to define "ungovernable" for conservatives; "incumbent" is trickier to define in 2010 than in previous midterm elections; and WTVF-TV Channel 5 Nashville takes you back to the good old days when the TERRORISTS WERE EVERYWHERE.
--Mori Dinauer
