Clinton Returns From North Korea With Journalists After Delivering Apology to Kim Jong Il

August 5, 2009

The White House calls it a “solely private mission,” but indications are that State had already secured the release prior to Clinton’s visit. “Though analysts said Clinton must have coordinated closely with the administration, Gibbs denied a report in state media that said Clinton conveyed a verbal message to Kim from President Obama.”

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Starbucks Becomes More Fast-Food Than Ever Before

August 4, 2009

“Lean” techniques are the new key to Starbucks’ successful comeback: “If Starbucks can reduce the time each employee spends making a drink, he says, the company could make more drinks with the same number of workers or have fewer workers.” Would you like fries with that?

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Plaxico Burress Really Should Have Considered That Plea Deal

August 4, 2009

When the Mayor and DA make you priority number one, it’s wise to avoid trial. “Former New York Giants star Plaxico Burress was indicted by a grand jury on weapons charges for shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub and faces a minimum prison sentence of 3.5 years if convicted.”

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McCain to Vote Against Sotomayor, Signaling a Break With Senate Tradition

August 4, 2009

What did Sotomayor do wrong? This will be the first time that Republican Senators McConnell, Hatch, Grassley, or McCain have ever voted against a SCOTUS nominee, marking a distinct break with Senate tradition of bowing to a President’s wishes on the highest court when the vote comes, barring truly extreme issues or disqualification.

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Ben Bernanke and the Fallacy of the Perfect Financial Storm

August 4, 2009

“Calling what has happened over the past two years a ‘perfect storm’ treats problems in financial markets as if they were imposed from outside by a force of nature… [casting] the Fed chairman at the helm of a frail craft in a yellow slicker, trying to bring us home against odds stacked by wrathful gods.”

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Post-American Iraq Could Prove More Challenging as Ethnic Conflicts Continue

August 4, 2009

Reihan Salam on the new difficulties presented by a post-American Iraq: “The parallels to the former Yugoslavia and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians are distressingly clear: The Kurds want to undo a grave historical injustice, the Arabs want to hold on to the only homes they’ve known for decades.”

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Evaluating the 2010 Senate Races: Republicans Improve From Bad to Average Position

August 4, 2009

Rothenberg goes over the ground: “Fifteen months before the midterms, Democrats have major problems in two states – Illinois and Connecticut – while a third, Nevada, remains a potential headache. Republicans, on the other hand, have serious vulnerabilities in four states – Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire and Ohio – and potential problems in two others.”

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Bill Clinton Arrives in North Korea, Attempting to Get Al Gore's Journalists Released

August 4, 2009

Sending Bill to do what Hillary can’t? It just might work: “The journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, were seized near the Chinese border while working on a story, and they immediately became pawns in a rapidly detoriating relationship between Washington and Pyongyang. They were sentenced in June to to 12 years of hard labor.”

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Is He Going Off-Message Again? Geithner Attacks Bernanke in Expletive Laced Tirade

August 4, 2009

Is he lashing out in frustration, or setting the stage for a blamestorming session? Treasury Secretary Geithner lays into Ben Bernanke, SEC chairman Mary Schapiro, CFTC chairman Gary Gensler, the FDIC chairman and Comptroller of the Currency, and others at a briefing. We’ve always believed the best kind of lace is the expletive kind.

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Headed Back to Their Districts, Are Democrats in for an August Slaughter?

August 4, 2009

Democrats wrote the book on defeating reforms during the Social Security fight: “The goal of the opposition — of Freedom Works and Americans for Prosperity — isn’t to change minds; their activists know what they believe already: it’s to make noise. Making noise scares members of Congress. And Democrats are vulnerable to panics.”

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