» Was Obama’s point valid? It sounded like a pretty good gaffe to some, but Slate’s Dave Weigel thinks that the nuances of the point might’ve been lost on folks looking for a soundbite. As Weigel notes, the public sector at the state level has lost 600,000 jobs under Obama — which, by the way, the GOP is OK with, because they want to see the government shrink anyway. And as public sector and private sector unemployment are counted in the unemployment rate, it’s ultimately part of the reason the unemployment rate has stayed high. “It’s easier to pretend that the president doesn’t care about the private sector, and unemployment,” Weigel notes, “and hope that the media runs with the zinger instead of explaining some pretty rudimentary macroeconomics.”
Follow ShortFormBlog • Find us on Twitter & Facebook
My theory … is that there has been a rarely-admitted fatigue with the Republican House, and its inability to get anything done unless there’s last-minute stop-the-clock brinkmanship. Yes, Republican voters blame Barack Obama for most of this. But if being a Tea Party candidate in November 2010 meant taking Barack Obama’s power away, in 2011, it started to mean that you were part of Washington machinery that was creaking and belching acrid smoke. Bachmann, a very good local politician, never strayed from her “record” of “leading the fight” against various Obama evils. But the evils passed. And “leading” didn’t seem to improve anything in 2011.
Key part of the commentary in italics. Fact of the matter is, she’s part of the least-popular part of the federal government, and as one of the most-vocal members, that rubs off on her. Weigel also points out what Politico’s Maggie Haberman had to say on the matter, which is that incompetence showed very quickly after she won the straw poll in Iowa.
Adair [PolitiFact Editor Bill Adair] goes on for a while, but I don’t think he puts back many of the eggshell fragments. The issue, as everyone else sees it: “PolitiFact should verify actual facts, because God knows politicians make a lot of stuff up on the fly.” The issue as Adair sees it: “Shut up, critics of PolitiFact.David Weigel, PolitiFact Weirdly Unable to Discuss Facts (via brooklynmutt)
More on Herman Cain’s morning: Here’s what he faced before he got in the AEI thing this morning, via Dave Weigel. Nothing like a bunch of reporters hounding a scandal to make you feel better about yourself.
If the Republicans would have been blamed for a shutdown, it follows that they get credit for a shutdown being avoided.Dave Weigel • Saying the winner of today’s budget situation is, of course, the GOP. However, he does it with a little snark in his headline: “Boehner Wins, Austerity Wins, and the Social Conservatives Go Home With A ‘Participant’ Trophy.”
At the end of the process, if there is a deal, it’s likely that Democrats will trade even more cuts for the removal of the Planned Parenthood rider. That rider only cuts $300 million —Democrats could cut five to ten times as much.Overall awesome guy Dave Weigel • Suggesting that protecting womens’ rights might mean another $1.5 to $3 billion in additional budget cuts. Dude’s chillin’ in the White House now.
We like Dave Weigel, but we’re not sure if we agree with this sentiment. See, the big difference for us is that O’Keefe’s results in the past have been spotty and selectively edited – which left just enough room for O’Keefe to hang himself - whereas the Walker thing was unedited and didn’t require any of that, a credit to the Buffalo Beast. If O’Keefe used methods that didn’t leave room for doubt, it’d be much easier to get behind this point. The fact that his group released the full video this time is probably smart. Agree? Disagree? (EDIT: Jeff Miller has a good point that we’ll concede.)
jeffmiller asks: What are your favorite (non-Tumblr) websites for news. (Or rather, what news websites do you read on a daily basis?)
» We say: Outside of our staple news sites (Reuters, CNN, the NYT and such), my personal favorite site is Mediaite, which I think strikes the perfect balance between news and commentary, and I can guarantee to generally have its finger on the pulse. (The aftertaste is also a little better than Politico, generally.) I also like a lot of The Atlantic’s stable, including The Atlantic Wire, which is a bit of an unsung hero among news commentary sites. I also greatly adore Hacker News, where you can usually find something generally awesome going on, be it a cool startup or interesting technical debate, and have been a faithful reader of Pitchfork, Slashdot and Fark since the late ’90s. Gawker Media’s stuff is staple food for me, and I’ve been a huge fan of Dave Weigel especially since he moved over to Slate. As for news outlets that never get their fair shake, the Christian Science Monitor always has stuff well-suited to SFB articles. And there’s a lot to like about The Awl. (It’s our Office Hours! Ask us stuff!)
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
