Obama Too Wedded To Bush? The controversy (what else?) rages on the left and right. For a cross section go HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.
Public Opinion On Torture: Is it being distorted in debates?
Nancy Pelosi’s Positives Nosedive — and she’s now actually in the deficits, as Andrew Sullivan notes. Sullivan also notes her press conference. I also missed it but from what you see on You Tube it was mind-boggling that this was coming from a professional politician. Here’s a tiny taste of it:
There are two main problems here for Pelosi. One is the content — the accuracy of her side of the story. A lot of that debate is happening through partisan and ideological prisms (you can generally but not always tell what someone or some site is going to say on this once you see a name). But the other — perhaps larger problem — is how poorly she came across on TV. One can imagine that being under fire would make her upset, even if her version was correct, but seeming to be so flustered gave off a perception of weakness (and, to her critics, a sign of guilt) — that won’t be lost on her Republican foes and Democratic rivals. Look for her to become an increasing target since she came across on the tube as being so patently vulnerable and not confident.
And To Those Who Don’t Trust Pelosi just take a look at Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who was so vehemently against filibustering when GWB was President. But now? You guessed it…
Was Obama’s Decision On The Torture Photos The Wrong One? This is a huge question on Internet new and old media sites. Dick Polman has one of the more interesting takes which begins:
President Obama’s eleventh-hour flip-flop on the prisoner abuse photos – now you see them, now you don’t – is wrong for a number of factual reasons. For instance, in his new embrace of the Bush administration’s secrecy stance, he says there’s no need to release the photos because the bad apples have already been punished; in reality, however, the Senate Armed Services Committee has stated, in a bipartisan report, that the truly culpable parties are “senior officials in the United States government”…in other words, top Bush people who have yet to be held accountable.
But rather than recap all of Obama’s specious rationales for keeping the photos under wraps, I’m going to focus solely on his contention that the release would “put our troops in greater danger.” There has been much debate during the past 36 hours about the validity of that claim, but one key point has been largely overlooked:
Two federal courts have already considered the risk-to-troops argument, and have ruled nevertheless that the photos should be released.
Read it in its entirety (it is sure to spark more debate…)
A Checklist For GOPers Complaining About RINOs In Their Party (of elephants being asked to march to the right) is offered at Red State.
Be Skeptical Of What You Hear On Twitter since it could be a rumor. And Is Twitter A Sign That some people are all blogged out?
Newspapers Continue To Make Big Mistakes When It Comes To The Internet and Kos gives us one.
Republicans Are Happier Than Democrats according to a new study (then why do Rush, Sean and Michael S seem so angry all the time?)
Michelle Obama And Corporations: Are they on the same page for working familes?
The Craigslist Controversy: Craigslist CEO has some questions about South Carolina..
Is Waterboarding Just A Little Bit Of Water On Someone’s Face? A GOPer insists it is (file this in your what people will do or say in the interests of protecting their political party file).
Grading Washington’s Legislative Products: Can it meet the Cheerios Standard?
Swine Flu: Perhaps the news overplayed it a bit..
Who Should Obama Appoint To The Supreme Court? How about HER..
Do You Have Hair Volumizing Problems? If so, try Blogohair.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.