The Hollywood Liberal

Pawlenty camp cuts ‘pantsing’ anecdote

Former Minnesota governor and Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty liked a profile published by the Des Moines Register so much, his campaign staff blasted it out to reporters Friday. Most of it, that is.

The Register article began with former Minnesota House speaker Steve Sviggum recounting a decade-old incident that occurred during the annual House-Senate softball game. According to Sviggum, while he stood at the plate, Pawlenty — then a state legislator — snuck up behind his friend and yanked down Sviggum’s pants.

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Obama’s role in debt talks scrutinized

The White House was knee-deep in budget negotiations with Republican lawmakers one May afternoon when Senate Democrats boarded buses for a short ride down Pennsylvania Avenue for a face-to-face session with President Obama.

Seated in an auditorium, the senators pressed Obama on their key concern as talks heated up over raising the nation’s debt ceiling: How would he stand up to tea party Republicans?

To the dismay of many in the audience, Obama conceded that he probably couldn’t — and probably wouldn’t — push too hard because he was unwilling to risk a U.S. government default.

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Will Obama be reelected? The economy could hold the answer

Will Barack Obama’s fate be written in the numbers?

A 513-point plunge for the Dow, followed a day later by a drop in the nation’s credit rating.

Home values worth one-third less than they were five years ago.

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Far Worse Than a Failure to Communicate
Peggy Noonan, WSJ
There was drama at the White House this week when a man tried to hurl himself over the fence. But the Secret Service intervened and talked the president into going back inside and finishing his term.That's from Conan O'Brien's monologue the other night. It captures the moment pretty well. Mr. Obama's poll numbers continue to fall, his position in the battleground states to deteriorate. From Politico: “Obama emerges from the months-long [debt ceiling] fracas weaker—and facing much deeper and more durable political obstacles—than his own advisers…

Alienation Threatens Both Parties
Ronald Brownstein, National Journal
In the shadow of the bitterly fought agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling, the independent voters who usually hold the balance of power in American politics are expressing astronomical levels of discontent with President Obama, Congress, and the Washington system itself.This towering wave of alienation presages more volatility for a political system that has seen the public turn from Republicans in 2004 toward Democrats in 2006 and 2008, only to snap back toward the GOP with near-record force in 2010. Now, on several key measures, the public’s assessment of Congress is even…

Of Development and Dictators in China

President Flunks Leadership Test
Richard Benedetto, Washington Times
In the government and politics classes I teach, we discuss and debate the multiple roles of the American president. They range from commander in chief to political party leader. One key role on that list is that of morale booster – the continuing need to help make the American people feel better and build public confidence when things aren’t going so well; providing a needed shot of optimism to the national psyche when it is down.It is a role Americans have come to expect from their presidents, starting with George Washington. It is a role that President Obama has yet to master.