Robert Kuttner on how Obama can fight Republican efforts to conjure an "entitlement crisis":
If Barack Obama is elected president, he will inherit not just the most serious financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. He will face an obstructionist orthodoxy about government spending that will make recovery even more difficult to achieve. The nature of our economic, social, and fiscal problems and the boundaries of the politically possible have been defined by conservatives who have often skillfully co-opted moderate liberals. Nowhere is this more the case than in the received wisdom that there is an "entitlement crisis" and that the federal budget needs to be balanced.
And Paul Waldman reflects on the Olympics:
In other words, even for those who profess their love of America in the loudest voices, who can't wait for the next opportunity to chant "USA! USA!", patriotism may be a little more complex than it seems.The Olympics certainly have made me well with pride in America. But it wasn't the gold medals that did it; it was something else entirely. It started with the opening ceremonies. As each country's athletes walked around the track, one couldn't help but marvel at the diversity of the human race and our variety of cultures and languages. Nonetheless, there was something different about the American team: they didn't all look alike.
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—The Editors