All-you-can-eat U.S. politics buffet.

Fabulists

Prof. Brad DeLong, after establishing what a Ponzi scheme exactly is and is not, hosts Perry-filleting party. (Brad DeLong) 

Dubya credits himself with bin Laden capture. (Ben Armbruster, TruthProgress) Related: Dorothy credits Wicked Witch of the East for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," a surprise to Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. TruthProgress reminds us how Bush famously let bin Laden flee in late 2001, was later lackadaisial in seeking his capture, and on one ill-advised occasion allowed he didn't care about capturing bin Laden. (Which, true, if like me you believe that he like having bin Laden at loose to justify his permanent-wartime presidency.) 

 
Along the same lines, Cheney,'s memoir, a "love letter to himself," confirms the man still lives in an alternate reality. (Paul Begala, Daily Beast) Begula says the Dick should be grateful to Aaron Burr, otherwise Cheney would be regarded by historians not only as the worst but most dangerous veep in history. (I love reviewers who don't hold back.)

The jobs speech

Krugman approves. I'll repeat that, Krugman approves. (Must have gotten up on the right side of bed.) (NYT)

So, mostly, does Robert Reich. (RobertReich.com)

So does MacroAdvisors, which goes into irrefutable but understandable detail. (MacroAdvsors.com)

Obama in better shape for 2012 than you think. (Andrew Hacker, New York Review of Books)

Voters still side with Dem agenda. (Steven Benen, Washington Monthly)

Booming Hispanic population could decide close races in 2012. (Amy Bingham, ABC) Yes, outside of diehard Miami anti-Castro sect, Hispancs still mostly vote Dem.

 
Obama, sporting purple tie, addresses Congress last Thursday. (Toronto Star)

Dems, starting with Obama, sporting mix-party purple neckwear. (Dana Flavelle, Toronto Star)

What the left doesn't get about Obama. (Jonathan Chait, NYT) Mostly that his admittedly disheartening compromises have nonetheless advanced the progessive cause, and he would have done more without persistent GOP obstructionism. I'd add that Mr. O. has mostly been out there on his own since taking the oath, absent the crowds of supporters for each progressive initiative he warned would meet fierce opposition and require lots of help. Well, the help went on a siesta, and the Tea Partiers took over, and whose fault is that? Maybe I'll post on what the left doesn't get about itself, chiefly that it's lazy, backbiting (Al Gore and Matt Taibbi currently are beating up on Obama, the latest to do so among disaffected libs) and preferring an empty "moral victory" to half a loaf. (Much less than the 1/16th of a loaf Ted Kennedy was famously said to settle for, knowing he'd have another crack at it now that at least part of what he sought was established in law.)  

Ailing eurozone

Few options left to save a eurozone hanging by a thread. (Edward Harrison, Naked Capitalism)

Elsewhere

China's one-child policy causing labor shortages, hence higher-priced exports, hence bid to rapidly move up "value chain" which so far, not so rapid. (Kevin Hamlin, Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

 

Comments

[wascally wabbit]

A rhetorical question here David - I don't think anyone has the answer - YET!
Why is it that progressives - and I count myself amongst their throng - do not get that they can have more than half a loaf if they put aside their minimal differences and all row in the same direction?
I confess that I have been critical of Obama from time to time - and have been even more a pain in the tush to Liberal leaders - but part of their trouble is their followers seem to think their party (and the NDP are no better) is a club to belong to - and the badge is precious - rather than a movement of like minded folks with a largely common agenda - who could achieve it if they formed a common front?

[Darwin O'Connor]

I'm not very good with rhetorical question, so here is a comprehensive answer:

The reason the right isn't critical of their leaders is because most of them are authoritarian followers. http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/ The trust people who they see as authorities and believe them even when what they say makes no sense. They aren't the kind of people who will question their leaders.

Most of the people on the left tend to think for themselves a lot more and sometimes come to different conclusions then their leaders, so they argue with them.

"I'd add that Mr. O. has mostly been out there on his own since taking the oath, absent the crowds of supporters for each progressive initiative he warned would meet fierce opposition and require lots of help. Well, the help went on a siesta"

The articles argues that supporters did appear for things like Medicare reform, but after a few too many failures people start to give up.