NYT: India's Eternal Crisis

Column from Saturday's New York Times

"India may have been passive after the Mumbai attacks. But India has not launched wars against either abstract nouns or actual countries that it has no hope of winning or even disengaging from."

War against an abstract noun. How true!

Parker: The GOP's suicide pact

Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker writes about the GOP's so-called "purity test". This is significant because it's usually when party members start calling out their own kind that progress eventually happens. Such was the case of the Democratic Party, which led to the creation of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in the 1980's, whose most prominent members at the time were Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and Tennessee Senator Al Gore (and we know they weren't in those two jobs for long after the creation of the DLC.)

I don't often support most Republican positions but that doesn't mean I never would and never will. Remember, this is the party that started as a movement for the abolition of slavery. In any democracy, there need to be many political parties and in our democracy specifically, there need to be two vibrant ones.

Conservatives of today have forgotten, much like the liberals of the 1970's did, that the purpose of a political party is to get its members elected however possible. If you cast a wide net, you may catch some fish that stink but if you like fish, they'll all be delicious when you put them in the pot together and cook them.

Frank: The Persecution of Sarah Palin - WSJ.com

A particularly funny line in Thomas Frank's column:

"The respect she [Palin] shows history, though, is the kind of respect you show the flag when you soak it in kerosene and touch a match to it."

NYT: The Senate’s Health Care Calculations

Is there anything Nate Silver does not analyze? He's quickly developing a reputation for himself as a person of focused objectivity.

Colbert Report 11/12/2009: BEST SPORT REPORT EVER!!!

Here is the clip from last night's Colbert Report, where his Sport Report (pronounced SPOR ruh-POR) talks about a scandal involving the Indian Cricket team, and its coach's unusual instructions, as well as some good old-fashioned American trash talking with the Canadians over speedskating.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sport Report - Cricket Scandal & Letter-Writing Campaign
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

NYT: America's Defining Choice

Nicholas Kristof's column today had a very telling quote from an OBGYN in Oregon, Dr. Linda Harris, as she talks about a woman that died of cervical cancer and left behind a 13-year old daughter:

"People talk about waiting lines in Canada," Dr. Harris added. "I say, well, at least they have a line to wait in."

Two Columns in Today's Washington Post

Washington Post's progressive columnist, Ruth Marcus, and conservative columnist, Kathleen Parker, both have very good columns in today's paper. Marcus writes about all the lies being presented as facts on the healthcare legislation that passed in the House Saturday night and Parker writes about the heinous ways in which China violates human rights to maintain their one-child policy. Both columns got me thinking and I hope they generate a great deal of thought with you too.

Huffington Post: Jon Stewart Catches Sean Hannity Falsifying Footage To Make GOP Protest Appear Bigger

There are no words to describe this other than ENJOY:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sean Hannity Uses Glenn Beck's Protest Footage
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

NYTimes.com: Krugman: Paranoia Strikes Deep

Paul Krugman writes in this morning's New York Times about the GOP Press Conference at the Capitol last week and makes one very accurate point about the GOP response (or lack thereof):

"What all this shows is that the G.O.P. has been taken over by the people it used to exploit. "

Hi Pot, I'm Kettle. And I'm calling the shots now...

NYT: Chris Christie Confidential

Great column in today's New York Times written by a liberal childhood friend of Chris Christie. Although the line about how Christie tends to see things as black-and-white bothers me because it sounds too much like Dubya, if the rest of the column is true, there is hope for a Christie administration.

'Colbert Report' to sponsor U.S. speedskating

'Colbert Report' to sponsor U.S. speedskating

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Here's the video from colbertnation.com:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sport Report - NYC Marathon & Olympic Speedskating
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Religion