Visual source: Newseum
Jimmy Carter? Rambo? No. Barack Obama. And that's fine, because he did the job. BTW, Obama invited Bush to Ground Zero for tomorrow's appearance. Unity thing, don't you know. Bush said no. Bill Clinton might be there. Might not. And maybe pics later today.
NY Times:
The glow of national pride seemed to rise above partisan politics, as support for the president rose significantly among both Republicans and independents. In all, 57 percent said they now approved of the president’s job performance, up from 46 percent last month.
Another poll (WaPo) for an important policy decision:
Nearly half of all Americans — 46 percent — say they’re more confident in the U.S. mission in Afghanistan as a result of bin Laden’s death.
But this shift — coming as the president’s ratings on handling the situation in Afghanistan have improved — has not prompted a public reevaluation of whether the United States should keep troops there. Some 48 percent of Americans say U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan “as soon as possible,” virtually the same as the 50 percent who said so a month ago.
WaPo:
With Osama bin Laden’s death, the U.S. sees a chance to accelerate negotiations with the Taliban.
NY Times:
As intelligence officials disclosed the trail of evidence that led to the compound in Pakistan where Bin Laden was hiding, a chorus of Bush administration officials claimed vindication for their policy of “enhanced interrogation techniques” like waterboarding...
But a closer look at prisoner interrogations suggests that the harsh techniques played a small role at most in identifying Bin Laden’s trusted courier and exposing his hide-out. One detainee who apparently was subjected to some tough treatment provided a crucial description of the courier, according to current and former officials briefed on the interrogations. But two prisoners who underwent some of the harshest treatment — including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times — repeatedly misled their interrogators about the courier’s identity.
The truth is out there. And the Times sounds like
Joan,
Meteor Blades and
Marcy Wheeler and
Talking Points Memo and - well -
me.
Harold Meyerson:
The death of Osama bin Laden — and the success of President Obama’s roll-the-dice decision to deploy troops to get him — may change the landscape of American politics in one surprising particular. When Obama runs for reelection in 2012, he’ll probably be strong where his Democratic predecessors have been weak — and weak where they were strong.
Jonathan Bernstein:
How much has Osama bin Laden cost the United States in cold hard cash? Ezra Klein had an excellent item this morning assessing the economic cost of Osama bin Laden to the United States, but I think I side more with Kevin Drum’s response, which emphasizes the long-term structural factors involved in U.S. deficit politics, which mainly come down to GOP tax aversion on the one hand and exploding medical costs on the other.
Dana Milbank:
“It is my fervent hope that we can harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront the many challenges that we still face,” [Obama] said.
Right. Good luck with that, sir.
Thirteen hours later, Republicans answered Obama’s plea for bonhomie — with broadsides. “The command-and-control paranoia that we see in this administration is antithetical to everything that we understand about freedom in our country,” Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) declared on the Senate floor as the chamber began its first legislative day after a two-week vacation. “Individual responsibility and individual freedom and free markets and free enterprise: They’re attacking it on every front.”
House leaders emerged from their caucus meeting Tuesday morning with a similar response to the whole unity thing.
It's not that Milbank has a scoop, it's that the death of Osama is causing even the Villagers to see the obvious. In fact, it's not just the DC press that been shaken out of their silliness (though they are the among the most resistant to reality):
Q-poll:
By healthy margins, American voters say they would consider or be enthusiastic about backing former governors Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee for president, but 58 percent would never support Sarah Palin or Donald Trump, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Also, same poll:
Voters back 69 - 28 percent raising taxes on households earning $250,000 or more. They say 60 - 34 percent that Medicare should remain as is, rather than giving seniors money to buy private health insurance beginning in 2022. Gradually raising the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67 by 2033 is a good idea voters say 51 - 46 percent. But moving responsibility for Medicaid to the states is a bad idea, voters say 54 - 38 percent.