given trajectory of Ebola-in-US, appears govt/public health authorities may have handled somewhat more effectively than advertised
— @JohnJHarwood
Either Ron Klain is a super genius or we didn't really need an "ebola czar" and people were freaking out for bad reasons
— @AdamSerwer
Matthew Dickinson:
From a political perspective, then, Obama is hoping that Klain’s appointment will help quell some of the Republican-stoked concerns regarding the Obama administration’s managerial competence – at least for the next two weeks! But it’s not clear how much of an impact Klain’s appointment will have in this regard, since so many Democrat incumbents have decided they want no part of the President in the closing days of the campaign. Instead, they are running on a record of local constituency service and personal biography. This has clearly been Shaheen’s strategy so far. So, while it appears at this early date that Klain is properly decked out to fulfill his coordinating role, when it comes to influencing the midterms the Czar’s garments may still be a bit threadbare.
Philip Klein with a conservative take on John Kasich and Medicaid/Obamacare:
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the Republican governor and possible 2016 contender, had a dust-up this week when the Associated Press reported pro-Obamacare comments he made. In reality, he subsequently said, he was only praising the Medicaid expansion — which he’s trying to argue is totally separate.
I’ve already written about why this is a dishonest distinction, but his office has decided to dig in further. In a statement released on Twitter on Tuesday, his press department attempted to trick conservatives by using several cynical strategies often employed by Republicans trying to explain their big government policies
More politics and policy below the fold.
It's hard for #highered scandals to shock me, but the UNC academic scandal is even more insane than I'd realized.
http://t.co/...
— @libbyanelson
Libby Nelson explains UNC's academic scandal:
For 18 years, thousands of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took classes with no assigned reading or problem sets, with no weekly meetings, and with no faculty member involved. These classes had just one requirement: a final paper that no one ever read.
The academic fraud in the university's African-American studies department was first revealed three years ago. But a new investigation shows that the fake classes were even more common than previously thought, and that athletes in particular benefited from the classes, in some cases at the behest of their academic counselors. Previous investigations had found no ties to campus athletics.
This is an incredible resignation letter from reporter
Dave McKinney, late of the Chicago Sun-Times:
Days later, the newspaper reversed its three-year, no-endorsement policy and unequivocally embraced the very campaign that had unleashed what Sun-Times management had declared a defamatory attack on me.
Readers of the Sun-Times need to be able to trust the paper. They need to know a wall exists between owners and the newsroom to preserve the integrity of what is published. A breach in that wall exists at the Sun-Times.
It’s had a chilling effect in the newsroom. While I don’t speak for my colleagues, I’m aware that many share my concern. I’m convinced this newspaper no longer has the backs of reporters like me.
Read the whole thing.
Bruce Bartlett:
According to exit polls in 2008, Obama ended up with 20 percent of the conservative vote. Even in 2012, after four years of relentless conservative attacks, he still got 17 percent of the conservative vote, with 11 percent of Tea Party supporters saying they cast their ballots for Obama.
They were not wrong. In my opinion, Obama has governed as a moderate conservative—essentially as what used to be called a liberal Republican before all such people disappeared from the GOP. He has been conservative to exactly the same degree that Richard Nixon basically governed as a moderate liberal, something no conservative would deny today. (Ultra-leftist Noam Chomsky recently called Nixon “the last liberal president.”)
Follow up to the
Nancy Snyderman controversy:
Just in: quarantine over, @DrNancyNBCNEWS will be taking some time off -- will return to work next month -- according to internal memo.
— @brianstelter
Re: Nancy & her crew: "We have encouraged them – and they have agreed – to take some time off... help restore some normalcy to their lives"
— @brianstelter
Not unexpected (see above link).
Global Post:
How labor unions can help beat Ebola
Commentary: Rubber tappers in Liberia are helping with prevention and detection, representing an effective new approach.
TIME:
“What we’re seeing is that the public health infrastructure and systems that we are now putting in place across the board around the country should give the American people confidence that we’re going to be in a position to deal with any additional cases of Ebola that might crop up without it turning into an outbreak,” Obama said, reiterating that “the prospect of an outbreak here is extremely low.”
“If people want to make sure that, as we go into the holiday season, their families are safe, the very best thing they can do is make sure that everybody in their family is getting a flu shot, because we know that tens of thousands of people will be affected by the flu this season, as is true every season,” Obama said.
Never so happy to hear boring stuff about Ebola. But keep in mind the crisis is still in W Africa and we have to do more.