At EPA, Obama Should Look for Another Like Lisa Jackson
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on January 10th, 2013 12:08 am by HL
At EPA, Obama Should Look for Another Like Lisa Jackson
Here We Go Again
Ruth Marcus, Washington Post
Last week, I described the “fiscal cliff” deal as a pathetic punt. In light of later developments, I am worried that characterization was overly optimistic.The punt part stands: The expiration of the Bush tax cuts, and Republican desire to continue them in perpetuity, represented a point of maximum leverage to obtain a grand-enough bargain on tax revenue and entitlement reform. That moment was squandered, perhaps irretrievably. “We should never, ever, ever try another grand bargain, at least until the president is willing to lay all his cards on the…
Why Gov. Christie Is Presidential Timber
Ron Fournier, National Journal
If you want to understand the difference between a functioning democracy and Washington, listen to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: “I wake up every morning knowing that even though I think I'm right,” the GOP governor said today, “I'm not going to get everything I want.”In Washington, compromise has become a dirty word. With gridlock the norm, Congress's approval rating is below 10 percent and the public has lost faith in its national leadership. The Republican Party emerged from the November elections with a particularly intense image problem.
The Radical Visions of St. Francis of Assisi
Joan Acocella, The New Yorker
"Why you?" a man asked Francesco di Bernardone, known to us now as St. Francis of Assisi. Francis (1181/2-1226) was scrawny and plain-looking. He wore a filthy tunic, with a piece of rope as a belt, and no shoes. While preaching, he often would dance, weep, make animal sounds, strip to his underwear, or play the zither. His black eyes sparkled. Many people regarded him as mad, or dangerous. They threw dirt at him. Women locked themselves in their houses.Francis accepted all this serenely, and the qualities that at the beginning had marked him as an eccentric eventually made…