memeorandum: A Bad Call on Ozone (New York Times)

6:10 PM ET, September 4, 2011

Top Items:

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

One and Done? — ONE day during the 2008 campaign, as Barack Obama read the foreboding news of the mounting economic and military catastrophes that W. was bequeathing his successor, he dryly remarked to aides: “Maybe I should throw the game.” — On the razor's edge of another recession …

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Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Sen. DeMint: Obama speech to Congress ‘going to be hard for me to watch’ — Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) expressed doubt on Sunday that President Obam can provide any viable economic policies to create jobs and gain bipartisan support. — “Frankly I am so tired of his speeches …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

Academics dub tea partyers devout, racist — Two years after it burst onto the political scene, the tea party is getting a critical eye from political science academics who say the movement generally is populated by knowledgeable and religiously devout voters, but they are hypocritical …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

blogs.telegraph.co.uk:

American Way: Barack Obama, 2008 man of hope and change, becomes 2012 candidate of fear and status quo — So how much trouble is Barack Obama in? Well, it doesn't get much worse. — His approval rating is hovering just above 40 per cent. Unemployment is stuck at 9.1 per cent …

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Washington Examiner:

Barone: Speech fiasco an ‘audacity of weakness’ — I can't remember a more stunning rebuke of a president by a congressional leader than Speaker John Boehner's refusal to agree to Barack Obama's demand — er, request — that he summon a joint session of Congress to hear the president's latest speech …

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Mike Lofgren / truth-out.org:

Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult — Barbara Stanwyck: “We're both rotten!” — Fred MacMurray: “Yeah - only you're a little more rotten.” -"Double Indemnity" (1944) — Those lines of dialogue from a classic film noir sum up the state of the two political parties in contemporary America.

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Jane / You Too, Congress!:

Perry won't be demanding Greek columns — The most reported news out of the Rick Perry event yesterday in NH appears to be his position on a border fence. … I attended that event, stood about 15 feet from where he delivered those remarks and never heard an “angry shout”.

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Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
Perry tells NH ‘no’ to border fence

Discussion: The Other McCain and The Hill

Washington Post:

We read so you don't have to: Michael Moore's ‘Here Comes Trouble’ — Reliable liberal gadfly Michael Moore has denounced the Iraq war in an Oscar speech, campaigned for Ralph Nader, and ambushed General Motors chief executive Roger Smith and President George W. Bushon camera.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Weasel Zippers

Robert B. Reich / New York Times:

The Limping Middle Class — Robert B. Reich is the former secretary of labor, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future.” — THE 5 percent of Americans with the highest incomes now account for 37 percent …

Discussion: The Big Picture and AMERICAN FUTURE

New York Times:

U.S. Is Appealing to Palestinians to Stall U.N. Vote — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has initiated a last-ditch diplomatic campaign to avert a confrontation this month over a plan by Palestinians to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, but it may already be too late …

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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

The media sure does love Mr. One Percent — CBS's “Face the Nation” has two presidential contenders on this morning. One of them is even competitive. … Seeing Huntsman's name on the schedule got me thinking: haven't we seen quite a bit of him lately? — On Friday, Huntsman was on CNBC's “The Kudlow Report.”

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

Gil Ronen / Arutz Sheva:

Report: ‘Clinton Adviser Greenberg is Behind Israeli Protests’ — Press says 100,000 - 400,000 people are taking part. Channel 2 commentator: protest is against policies that favor hareidis and settlers. — Large scale protests / pop concerts dominated by secular Israelis are being held in Tel Aviv …

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New York Times:

A Bad Call on Ozone — President Obama's decision not to proceed with stronger air-quality standards governing ozone is a setback for public health and the environment and a victory for industry and its Republican friends in Congress. — In a terse, three-paragraph statement Friday morning …

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