Saturday round-up, domestic edition. Yeah, there's lots going on in the streets of Egypt. More (opinion) on that here:
It takes some hubris to write about events unfolding as fast as the protests in Egypt, especially when it’s clear that nobody saw this coming. Mubarak is preparing to address the nation, and it's unclear what will follow. Here are five points that American observers should keep in mind whatever comes next, while consuming the blog posts, Tweets, and TV coverage of their choice.
Tobin Harshaw:
On Tuesday night, we heard these stirring words from the boss: "Let us be clear: the United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people."
More recently from his No. 2, we get, well, this: "Time has come for President Mubarak to begin to move in the direction of being more responsive to some of the needs of the people out there ..."
Guardian:
Philip Pullman's call to defend libraries resounds around web
A passionate speech delivered by author Philip Pullman to two or three hundred people at an Oxfordshire library campaigners' meeting earlier this month has become a viral sensation through the influence of social networking.
Gail Collins:
Is Michele Bachmann the new Sarah Palin?
And do we really need a new Sarah Palin? Shouldn’t the first one be made to go away before we start considering replacements?
LA Times:
Although dozens of Republicans sailed into office with the help of the tea party movement last year, finding a self-identified "Tea Party Republican" on Capitol Hill is harder than you'd think.
The first meeting of the Senate tea party caucus on Thursday attracted just four senators — out of a possible 47 GOP members — willing to describe themselves as members. The event was as notable for who wasn't there, than who was.
Morco Rubio, e.g. is not a member. It's all just more GOP "use 'em and lose 'em" - see Religious Right.
WaPo:
As state legislatures convene this month, lawmakers across the country who had vowed to copy Arizona's strict measure cracking down on illegal immigrants are facing a new reality.
The reality is that states cannot afford the law. Such efforts are not only misguided, they are fiscally irresponsible.
TPMDC:
Another bright spot for Obama in the new year is that support for repealing his signature legislative accomplishment, the health care overhaul, is finally ebbing. Republicans seized on their midterm victory as proof that the nation wanted them to repeal "Obamacare." Yet polls have shown enthusiasm for repealing the law drying up since the first provisions went into effect January 1.
Some polls this month have found that a plurality of Americans actually want to keep the law, like a CBS survey in which 48% of respondents said the law should remain in place, while only about one in five wanted to see the whole thing thrown out. What's more, both a Marist and an AP/GFK poll found that a plurality of Americans even wanted to expand the law.
Obama is doing so well lately that, despite the midterm shellacking and the notion that it was a referendum on the President, Americans would rather see the country go in the direction Obama wants than in the direction Congressional Republicans want.
Tom Jensen/PPP:
Romney has a Southern problem- trails Huck, Palin, Gingrich in last 3 states we've polled there: http://tinyurl.com/...