 |
|||
|
Mila Kunis is for Dior.[Telegraph] Beauty on-the-go: 67% of British women apply their make-up on their way to work! Do you? [Daily Mail] Nordstrom has a thrift store? Yes, and apparently, it’s fabulous. [SHEfinds] Miss the out-of-this-world episode of Project Runway All Stars? I’ve got you covered! [The Cut]
Appetizer: Anti-incumbent sentiment is at an all-time high. If you took high school civics, you know that incumbents have a 90+% re-election rate. In 2012, however, nearly 50% say they would vote out their congressman, and Congress’ approval rating is 9% (I bet Gaddafi had a higher approval rating). We won’t see turnover like that, of course, but there’s fear on Capitol Hill of a “Vote Them All Out” groundswell propagated by someone like Donald Trump. What do House Republicans have going for them, even though they could give back the congressional majority they won on the Tea Party wave in 2010? We’ve found Nancy Pelosi’s unfavorability numbers are 15 points higher than John Boehner’s. Not that people are pleased with Boehner, but tell them that Pelosi may become Speaker again, and they shudder. Look for a recycling of the anti-Pelosi videos and images from the best ads of 2010. Read the rest of…
The short answer is that they don’t and often don’t try. At worst, most of the right fears that communitarian rhetoric is a cover for imposing an elite set of values over theirs, and for redistributionist tax and spend policies. To the extent there are conservative sympathizers (a Ross Douthat comes to mind), theirs is an enthusiasm for a localized brand of community, that relies on the vigor of private associations and faith based institutions. It’s a long way from the canvass Mario Cuomo was painting about a national “family”, or Obama’s contemporary efforts to draw from the unifying experience of the military or the mobilization of resources to build our national infrastructure. On one hand, the conservative skepticism makes perfect sense. At a visceral level, the political right realizes that the cohesiveness liberals are invoking has pretty one-sided policy aims: realigning the tax burden, reaffirming the vitality of entitlements, and growing government’s reach into the economy, from capital markets to health-care to the energy sector. Conservatives also sense that liberals are not exactly agnostic in their viewpoints about the social values of a national “community”—it’s a pro-choice, pro gay marriage sensibility that openly distrusts any argument that incorporates, references, or elevates tradition or overt faith. Conservatives are quick to puncture the contradiction of embracing community while rolling eyeballs over some of its most conventional elements. Read the rest of…
You know what I mean? You feel you can related to a song without having any idea what the meaning is? I speculated it could be stuck in the middle of life or middle of an important metaphorical dilemma or just stuck and waiting for some existential meaning or spiritual breakthough and learning to make the most of it (and grateful to have the person next to you to help make the journey worthwhile, a sort of Waiting for Godot) Well, turns out the lyrics are based on an actual negotiation at a restaurant where the singer/songwriter was stuck between two others who were part of the negotiation. Much like the video. Oh well. I can relate to that too. Was just hoping the song, and my life, had more profound meaning that this. But the older I get, the more I’m beginning to realize it may not. And that I better enjoy the music, the good food, the conversation with the joker and the clown. And even the annoying negotations.
On the fourth day, after a public outcry and the loss of at least six national sponsorships due to BoycottRush.organd similar efforts, Mr. Limbaugh now regrets his choice of words. This was too little, way too late. Especially since Mr. Limbaugh has a long history of offensive and vulgar comments. No business should associate itself with such a pattern of repeated, reckless, personal abuse. If Rush wants to continue to have the opportunity to demean women in the future, that is his right. Good companies have many opportunities to promote their businesses without having to subsidize the denigration of women. Sandra Fluke wasn’t the first woman to be smeared by Rush Limbaugh, but she needs to be the last. (Cross-posted, with permission of the author, from The Huffington Post) Check out CNN’s profile on the surprisingly shy Jonathan Safran Foer, the author of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. [CNN]
“What does that make her (Fluke)? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute,” he said. “She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception.” As if that wasn’t enough, he had to insult the most powerful woman in the legislative branch and Sandra’s parents: “Can you imagine if you’re her parents how proud of Sandra Fluke you would be?” he said. “Your daughter goes up to a congressional hearing conducted by the Botox-filled Nancy Pelosi and testifies she’s having so much sex she can’t afford her own birth control pills and she agrees that Obama should provide them, or the Pope.” Read the rest of…
Click here to read the full article from The Huffington Post James Fallows, my favorite national journalist, as well as a long time analyst of the presidency, offers some fascinating insight in his latest cover story for The Atlantic on what makes our President tick, and what this means for the future of his presidency:
Click here to read the full piece from The Atlantic. |
| ||
| Copyright © 2026 The Recovering Politician - All Rights Reserved | |||
