The Reaction in review (July 31, 2009)

A week's Reactions that deserve a second look:

Friday

By J. Thomas Duffy: "Must Read! ... 'A Beer with Obama'" -- Duffy highlights a funny piece by John Kenney at The New Yorker.

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Life on the Island" -- As regular readers know, MJWS is a great writer, of things political and of things personal, making his delightful Prince Edward Island vacation piece a must read.


Thursday

By Edward Copeland: "Obama, taking off the gloves - against your own party" -- Copeland's wonderfully written post, about why Congress needs strong presidential leadership, points out that there are "very few lawmakers on Capitol Hill [who] have any principles beyond their own re-elections and goodies."

By Creature: "Progressives get loud over conservative compromise on healthcare reform" -- Creature speaks passionately for all committed Progressives who demand a robust public plan vs. the Blue Dog Democratic deal in the Senate Finance Committee, with no public plan.

By J. Thomas Duffy: "Are the Brewster Sisters running the GOP?" -- Duffy is reminded of "Arsenic and Old Lace" as he hears the current Republican insanity (of Reps Louie Gomert and Virginia Foxx) about the Democrats' health care plan being a threat to the lives of the nation's entire elderly population. Great bonus links.


Wednesday

By Carl: "World's dumbest op-ed" -- Carl effectively and point by point debunks a Wall Street Journal piece on the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates as misguided and ignorant of the facts of the case.

By Capt. Fogg: "Regulation is bad for business" -- Fogg's argument regarding the FDA is well put: "Perhaps there's some truth to that, but the store window where the idea is sold doesn't contain a display of all the poisoned, sickened and fleeced consumers waiting to be redeemed or resurrected while the market forces grind on in the darkness of unregulated capitalism."

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Sign of the Apocalypse #66: The one and only Kim Kardashian, celebutante" -- Michael's insightful lament: ". . . we're getting ever closer to the Apocalypse, of which her being a star, for nothing at all really, is a bright, blinking neon sign made brighter, and blinkier, by the vapid culture that put her on the pedestal in the first place and that keeps her there for the rest of us apparently to drool over."


Tuesday

By Creature: "The best healthcare a lobbyist can buy" -- This is Creature's take on the health care bill coming out of Senator Max Baucus' Finance Committee.


Monday

By Carl: "Bad news, worse news" -- Carl is once again helpful to his readers by explaining a complex and confusing issue, this time a recently released study of CO2 and its effect on global warming.

By Capt. Fogg: "Angertainment" -- Fogg finally defines what is so insidious about the likes of Britt Hume and Fox News: "Their sole purpose is to select, modify, slant and sometimes create stories to make you angry at people or things selected by their owners and sponsors."


Sunday

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Dead fish: Sarah Palin, the future of the Republican Party, leaves office without an iota of credibility" -- Michael would be perfectly happy if Sarah Palin eventually became the GOP's next nominee for President, as there is "no way Republicans will win with Palin at the helm."

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "(Misleading) Headline of the Day (Obama-Gates-Crowley-Congress edition)" -- Michael insightfully discusses an anti-Obama resolution introduced by Rep. Thadeus McCotter, "who is obviously hoping to use the whole Gates-Crowley incident to score political points against Obama."


Saturday

By Creature: "A dying screed" -- Creature correctly and optimistically observes that those on the Right who feel unduly burdened by race, are a dying breed.

By (O)CT(O)PUS: "Join the call to oust Lou Dobbs" -- Spurred by the "Birther" movement, the author reports on an effort to remove commentator Lou Dobbs from CNN, that includes the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with a specific name and address where you can mail a letter calling for Dobbs' dismissal.