The Reaction in review (July 17, 2009)

By Carol Gee

A week's Reactions that deserve a second look:

Friday

By J. Thomas Duffy: "And that's the way he was...Walter Cronkite passes away" -- Concluding with Cronkite on the cover of Time Magazine, Duffy brings us a wonderful compilation of good pictures, important videos, other bloggers' impressions, and several more good links, etc.

By Capt. Fogg: "Hypocrisy house" -- Fogg's well written and insightful post reveals much useful information about the right wing Washington D.C. "C Street" boarding house run by The Fellowship, or more commonly known as "The Family."


Thursday

By Carl: "You talk a lot. . ." -- This terrific post, comparing and contrasting the Senators and the Supreme Court nominee, concludes with this succinct truth: "The rigid, dogmatic thinking, logic and ice cold, of the past 233 years must be changed to incorporate our new understanding of humanity and humankind. This is what I think Sotomayor brings to the court."

By Mustang Bobby: "Sarah vs. Sonia" -- This great post lays bare the bones of Republican opposition to affirmative action and makes clear which of the women really wants a free ride and which earned her place, achievement by achievement. See also, Creature's "Scared white men."


Wednesday

By Carol Gee: "What is behind all this hide and seek?" -- To quote from this post on the emerging information about secret programs, torture and the rule of law in the Bush administration, "So, as we are now finding out, the Vice President, not the President, was apparently in the lead of the administration's efforts to run secret operations that were more often than not, outside of the rule of law." See also Michael's "Cheney's secret assassination program."

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "So where was Mark Sanford? Who knew?" -- Michael's well done post clarifies how best to make the distinction between what was the South Carolina public's business and what was Governor Sanford's business, regarding his trip to Argentina, and whether it should now result in his resignation from office.

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Positive reaction to the House Democrats' health-care plan" -- Michael's post is a very useful and helpful first look, that includes Paul Krugman's thoughts, on how well the U.S. House is doing regarding its health reform legislation. See also Creature's "160," the number of Republican amendments in the Senate HELP committee bill.


Tuesday

By Carl: "A welcome breath of carbon-neutral air" -- As is very often the case with complicated issues, Carl manages to clarify and explain the financial intricacies of the proposed energy cap-and-trade system, using Sarah Palin's energy reality-distortions as his foil.

By Mustang Bobby: "How not to be a conscientious objector" -- Bobby, a conscientious objector, shares his thoughts and insights about the flawed reasoning of Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook's objection to deploying to Afghanistan. See also the court's reaction posted by Capt. Fogg: "Hell no, he won't go!"

By Capt. Fogg: "Guys like us" -- Fogg's wonderfully edgy post is a great read to understand why the overt bigotry in the questions of some Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members made us so uncomfortable, as we watched the Sotomayor SCOTUS confrimation hearings. See also Fogg on Pat Buchannan, "Funny man."

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Sotomayor and Whitehouse" -- Michael's lovely post celebrates the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, along with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's brilliant and memorable opening statement pointing out that the real differences between judicial activists is not their liberal or conservative views.


Monday

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Benjamin is no Gupta (and that's a very good thing)" -- Michael, a Canadian who is watching the U.S. health care reform movement with great concern and interest, is glad Dr. Regina Benjamin is President Obama's nominee for Surgeon General.

By Carl: "Ice Age Meltdown" -- This is a very interesting analysis of what could be happening to the Republican party today, why it was so successful in the past, and what might be its future.

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Will Holder investigate Bush's torture regime? If so, how far will he go? (Likely not far enough.) -- Michael's important post is an thorough analysis (not very optimistic) of the Obama administration's dilemma about whether to proceed with an investigation of the Bush administration's "brutal interrogation practices." See also Creature's post on AG Holder's view, and Michael's on Cheney's abuse of secrecy.

(Cross-posted at Behind the Links.)