Month: February 2010
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Twitter roundup
Here are some of the latest items from my Twitter feed (follow it!): -CJR’s Greg Marx joins the call for reporters to acknowledge role of economy in political outcomes -GWU’s John Sides illustrates how trust in government is closely linked to the state of the economy -The bad economy/low trust combination is again bringing forward
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Geraldo Rivera joins anti-dissent caucus
Geoffrey Dickens at Newsbusters catches Fox News host Geraldo Rivera accusing former Vice President Dick Cheney of “giving aid and comfort to the enemy” and “encouraging another attack” by criticizing President Obama’s foreign policy. During an interview Sunday with conservative pundit Ann Coulter, Rivera said the following (MP3 audio): But don’t you think when the
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Attacks on dissent against President Obama
October 2009: Time’s Joe Klein suggests that some Fox News content “borders on sedition” and consists of “seditious lies.” DNC spokesperson Brad Woodhouse states that “The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists – the Taliban and Hamas this morning – in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize,” adding
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GOP double standard on hiring and firing
In the Washington Post, Ezra Klein points out that GOP obstruction of the confirmation process is making it more difficult for President Obama to fire his appointees because they can’t be easily replaced. It’s worth noting the irony of this result. In the past, Republicans have argued against labor market regulations that would reduce firms’
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The Obama tax cut misperception
Via Steve Benen, Stephanie Condon at CBSNews.com highlights a widespread misperception about changes in taxes under President Obama: Of all the very information that came out of the recent CBS News/New York Times poll, one question stuck out, that of taxes. Here’s the poll question: “In general, do you think the Obama Administration has increased
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The Democratic success counterfactual
Matthew Yglesias imagines a counterfactual in which the Democrats enjoyed more legislative success during Obama’s first year in office: If congress had committed itself to expeditiously enacting administration proposals on stimulus, on health care, on climate, and on financial regulatory reform the economy would be in better shape, Obama would be more popular, and congressional
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Hypocrisy alert on Brennan smears
Talking Points Memo’s Eric Kleefeld catches Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) reversing his position on smears designed to silence critics of the government’s foreign policy. During the Bush years, Lieberman repeatedly suggested that criticism of the President and his foreign policy aided Al Qaeda and endangered the country. However, after Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan smeared
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Twitter roundup
Here are some of the latest items from my Twitter feed (follow it!): -Via Matthew Yglesias, Mark Schmitt has a nice take on how Harold Ford’s campaign is the latest independent/third party fantasy (see also my previous posts on the subject) -My friend and former grad student colleague Kevin Morrison is featured in a Slate
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White House stands by Brennan’s smear of GOP
Senator Kit Bond of Missouri has called for the resignation of Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan after the publication of a USA Today op-ed in which Brennan smeared Republican critics of the President as “serv[ing] the goals of al-Qaeda.” It was the second time he had made such a claim — back in January, Brennan
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Wisconsin Public Radio interview
It looks like I’ll be talking about President Obama’s approval rating on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “At Issue with Ben Merens” today from 5:07-6:00 PM EST. You can listen live here on WPR’s Ideas Network. Update 2/11 4:40 PM: Never mind — it’s off.