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POPSThe absurd debate over President Obama's Nobel Prize More: The problem for the addlebrained Obama-rejectionists is that the president, as far as they are concerned, couldn't possibly do anything right and thus is unworthy of any conceivable recognition. If Obama ended all hunger in the world, they'd accuse him of promoting obesity. If he solved global warming, they'd complain it was getting chilly. If he got Mahmoud Abbas and Binyamin Netanyahu to join him around the campfire in a chorus of "Kumbaya," the rejectionists would claim that his singing was out of tune.
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POPSPaul Krugman: The politics of spite More: How did one of our great political parties become so ruthless, so willing to embrace scorched-earth tactics even if so doing undermines the ability of any future administration to govern? The key point is that ever since the Reagan years, the Republican Party has been dominated by radicals — ideologues and/or apparatchiks who, at a fundamental level, do not accept anyone else’s right to govern. Anyone surprised by the venomous, over-the-top opposition to Mr. Obama must have forgotten the Clinton years. Remember when Rush Limbaugh suggested that Hillary Clinton was a party to murder? When Newt Gingrich shut down the federal government in an attempt to bully Bill Clinton into accepting those Medicare cuts? And let’s not even talk about the impeachment saga.… It’s an ugly picture. But it’s the truth. And it’s a truth anyone trying to find solutions to America’s real problems has to understand.
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POPSBirthers' new claim about Obama's birth: his grandmother was really his mother! Too bad for their argument that if that actually were the case, it would render invalid their claims about him not being a citizen due to having been born in Kenya. Bear in mind: the person or people making a claim are the ones who need to provide evidence to support their claim, not the other way around. If Jan says "Pat has sexual relations with sheep!" the burden is on Jan to provide evidence of this; the burden is not on Pat to defend against a ludicrous, unsupported claim. Remember, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence .
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POPSWhy Obama's popularity rating is not that big a deal More: Where will the primary challenge to Obama come from? Would any significant element of the Democratic Party be likely to lend support to such a rebellion? He won by a larger margin than any Democrat since LBJ, and mobilized electoral blocs that are key to the future of the party. Where is the ascendant trend for the GOP, when they are the ones losing the "growing" constituencies -- young people, Latinos and the West -- and they are the ones whose policies created the mess Obama inherited? …As to the economy, everyone's guess is as good as the next person's. Approval ratings won't matter much if we never get out of the current bind, as even Obama himself in a moment of surprising honesty has admitted. But if things get even moderately better, it is hard to imagine, short of scandal or war, that this nation will turn its back on the choice for change it so decisively made last November.
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POPSBillions in aid go to... mostly the same places as usual
No evidence that it's being steered to Obama-voting areas. More: About a third of the $17 billion, or $5.5 billion, in contracts that the federal government has signed for projects ranging from repaving runways to cleaning up nuclear waste has gone overwhelmingly to counties that supported McCain. Jake Wiens, an investigator with the non-profit Project on Government Oversight, says it's too soon to draw meaningful conclusions about whether the type of aid in the stimulus favors Obama's constituents. But, he says, "it will be important to pay close attention as the data come in to ensure that political favoritism plays no role." The imbalance didn't start with the stimulus. From 2005 through 2007, the counties that later voted for Obama collected about 50% more government aid than those that supported McCain, according to spending reports from the U.S. Census Bureau. USA TODAY's review did not include Alaska, which does not report its election results by county.[/quote
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POPSBarack Obama: The Audacity of Hoops More: When he became the first African-American elected to head the Harvard Law Review, he won a 19th-ballot victory largely because conservative and liberal factions both believed he'd give them a fair hearing. At least a few fellow students had taken his measure on the court. "He was a passer despite the fact he could score," remembers classmate Andrew Feldstein. " Inclusive is the best way to describe him."… Last summer McLachlin, Obama's high school coach, asked an AP reporter to relay a message to the candidate: In 40 years of coaching he'd learned that there's no such thing as the perfect coach, but there is such a thing as a perfect staff if you surround yourself with people who are good at what you're not. "People seem to agree he's done an amazing job of putting together a Cabinet," says the old coach. "It says a lot about why so many people latched on to him as a dream-giver. Because he's honest about his shortcomings, he can reach for the stars."
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POPSObama's choice of Warren "tone-deaf" and "on the wrong side of history" More: By the historical standards of presidential hubris, Obama’s disingenuous defense of his tone-deaf invitation to Warren is nonetheless a relatively tiny infraction. It’s no Bay of Pigs. But it does add an asterisk to the joyous inaugural of our first black president. It’s bizarre that Obama, of all people, would allow himself to be on the wrong side of this history.
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POPSTSA employees may get union representation & protection To quote Billy Bragg: There is power in a factory, power in the land Power in the hands of the workers But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand There is power in a union! The union forever, defending our rights Down with the blackleg , all workers unite! With our brothers and our sisters, together we shall stand There is power in a union!
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POPSA 2008 post-election promise More: No presidential candidate in my lifetime has inspired me as much as has our new President-Elect, Barack Obama. On election night, in the spirit of unity and conciliation, he asked us to “resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics”. He asked us to remember the values we all share, and he promised that he would be the leader of all Americans, not just the ones whose support he already has. In this same spirit, I wish to refrain, at this historical moment, from pointing out that your first major prediction for the post-Obama world — that angry coloreds would riot in the streets — has utterly failed to come true. Now is not the time for blame. Now is the time to put one another at ease, not to put one another on edge.
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POPSBarack Obama Is Irish! "O'Leary, O'Reiley, O'Hare, & O'Hara There's no one as Irish as Barack O'bama From the old Blarney Stone to the green hills of Tara There's no one as Irish as Barack O'bama!"
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POPSMC Yogi: Obama '08 - Vote for Hope Funky, retro, East-Coast hip-hop from a Northern California yoga teacher & musician. Definitely going to be checking his website to see if he's playing anywhere near us soon!
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POPSElection talking point recap Clipped from my friend Tongodeon 's Livejournal. I don't always agree with him, but he's a smart, clear-eyed, level-headed guy. More from the post: Disgusted with McCain but can't vote for Obama? Perhaps I can interest you in Bob Barr. Also, vote no on Prop 8 because straight marriage is not threatened ( not by that, anyway ) even though same-sex marriage will be . Prop 8 is stupid evil because it won't even accomplish what they think it will accomplish .
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POPSas one ages, one becomes more realistic I've been voting for 20 years, and have come to realize that EVERY politician will be a disappointment. I no longer hope for the perfect representative, just for the least bad.
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