http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ en Copyright 2008 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:59:41 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:57:26 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 The Romney campaign is better at dismantling than mantling. They're better at taking opponents apart than building a compelling candidate of their own. They do not seem capable of deepening his meaning, making his stands and statements more textured and interesting. He comes across like a businessman who studied the data and came up with the formula that will make the deal.A particular problem is that he betrays little indignation at any of our problems and their causes. He's always sunny, pleasant, untouched by anger. This leaves people thinking, "Excuse me, but we are in...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/low_turnout_and_the_big_tune-out_273293.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203824904577212832724317096.htmlhttp://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?mid=1&CALL_URL=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203824904577212832724317096.html 100273293 Early Morning Update Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal 123816 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:57:52 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Rick Santorum’s three-state sweep this week has revived speculation that the Republican primary season will end without a candidate securing the magic number of delegates needed for a first ballot nomination, resulting in a deadlocked convention in Tampa, Fla., this summer. (“Deadlocked,” and not “brokered,” is the proper description for this scenario, as Jonathan Bernstein recently explained.)On CNN this morning, Sen. Jim DeMint said that the GOP race “could very well go to the convention,” while former RNC Chairman...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/the_deadlock_scenario_273300.htmlhttp://www.salon.com/2012/02/09/the_deadlock_scenario/http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.salon.com/2012/02/09/the_deadlock_scenario/ 100273300 Early Morning Update Steve Kornacki, Salon 115483 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:54:14 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 At the National Prayer Breakfast last week, seeking theological underpinning for his drive to raise taxes on the rich, President Obama invoked the highest possible authority. His policy, he testified “as a Christian,” “coincides with Jesus’s teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.’ ”Now, I’m no theologian, but I’m fairly certain that neither Jesus nor his rabbinic forebears, when speaking of giving, meant some obligation to the state. You tithe the priest, not the...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/the_gospel_according_to_obama_273291.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gospel-according-to-obama/2012/02/09/gIQAngvW2Q_story.html 100273291 Early Morning Update Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post 123063 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:55:06 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Lately inequality has re-entered the national conversation. Occupy Wall Street gave the issue visibility, while the Congressional Budget Office supplied hard data on the widening income gap. And the myth of a classless society has been exposed: Among rich countries, America stands out as the place where economic and social status is most likely to be inherited.So you knew what was going to happen next. Suddenly, conservatives are telling us that it’s not really about money; it’s about morals. Never mind wage stagnation and all that, the real problem is the collapse of...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/inequality_is_about_money_not_morals_273296.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/opinion/krugman-money-and-morals.htmlhttp://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/opinion/krugman-money-and-morals.xml 100273296 Early Morning Update Paul Krugman, New York Times 117979 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:58:20 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 The articulate utility executive is nervous at the beginning of the conversation. He is groping for words -- not a common occurrence for the practiced provocateur. After all, Fritz Vahrenholt, 62, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, has been a rebel throughout his life. "Perhaps it's just part of my generation," he says.He is typical of someone who came of age during the student protest movement of the late 1960s, and who fought against the chemical industry's toxic manufacturing plants in the 1970s.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/quoti_feel_duped_on_climate_changequot_273268.htmlhttp://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,813814,00.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,813814,00.html 100273268 Early Morning Update Fritz Vahrenholt, Der Spiegel 24447 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:19:35 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 At last year's CPAC gathering, the mere sight of a Sarah Palin impersonator was enough to throw some attendees into a star-struck frenzy.Such was Palin's clout among conservative activists in February 2011, just a few months after she played a critical role in the 2010 midterms and when she was stoking speculation about her own presidential ambitions.This year, CPAC attendees won't have to settle on a doppelganger, as the former Alaska governor is slated to deliver the event's keynote address on Saturday.But, with the Michigan and Arizona primaries looming at the end of...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/10/sarah_palin_set_to_re-emerge_at_cpac_113085.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/10/sarah_palin_set_to_re-emerge_at_cpac_113085.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/10/sarah_palin_set_to_re-emerge_at_cpac_113085.html 200273299 Early Morning Update Scott Conroy, RealClearPolitics 123808 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:04:43 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Last March, I argued that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), facing major opposition to his wide-reaching budgetary changes, was losing ground because he focused on number-crunching rather than presenting a vision. With nine months to go until Election Day, the entire Republican Party risks falling prey to the same dynamic. The GOP could lose a winnable presidential race and fail to gain control of the Senate because of a timid message: “The other guys are worse than us.”]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/romney_struggling_to_find_vision_to_beat_obama_273174.htmlhttp://nationaljournal.com/columns/against-the-grain/revisiting-that-vision-thing--20120207?print=truehttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://nationaljournal.com/columns/against-the-grain/revisiting-that-vision-thing--20120207?print=true 100273174 PM Update Josh Kraushaar, NJ 123551 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:05:49 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Mitt Romney wants to be the next president of a country in need of serious and sweeping economic reform. And here are the first two points in his 59-point economic plan:1. Maintain current tax rates on personal income2. Maintain current tax rates on interest, dividends, and capital gainsNow imagine private-equity boss Romney back at Bain Capital sitting down to read his team’s 59-point turnaround plan for some troubled widget maker. And imagine if the first two action items started with the phrase “Maintain current ….”]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/how_romney_can_energize_conservatives_273272.htmlhttp://blog.american.com/2012/02/how-romney-can-start-to-energize-conservatives/http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://blog.american.com/2012/02/how-romney-can-start-to-energize-conservatives/ 100273272 PM Update James Pethokoukis, American 123781 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:06:18 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 The firestorm over the Obama Administration requiring religiously affiliated institutions to provide employees with health benefits that cover birth control rages on, as Catholic leaders mobilize the faithful and pundits warn that this may cost Obama the Catholic vote. The battle has been framed as one of religious freedom versus reproductive rights. But it also illustrates two troubling phenomena unrelated to religion: intrusive micromanagement of insurance options under the new federal health care law, and the redefinition of contraception as a public good rather than a personal choice.The...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/obama_has_picked_the_wrong_fight_113075.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/obama_has_picked_the_wrong_fight_113075.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/obama_has_picked_the_wrong_fight_113075.html 200273284 PM Update Cathy Young, RCP 123782 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:07:09 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 In public relations, 'spin' is the term people use when they would like a topic or story covered in a specific manner, in a certain light. In the realm of politics, unfortunately, some elected officials and their mouthpieces like to apply the same tactics while masking the truth from everyone. Case in point: contraception and the Catholic Church. Before falling victim to the hype, let's get one thing clear, this issue isn't about religious freedom or the federal government; it is about the rights of women all across this country to have access to appropriate care.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/contraception_is_a_woman039s_right_273269.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-al-sharpton/contraception-obama-administration_b_1265878.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-al-sharpton/contraception-obama-administration_b_1265878.html 100273269 PM Update Al Sharpton, Huffington Post 123394 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:14:03 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 The GOP will win the current contraceptive-abortifacient battle going away, because the average American understands the essence of religious freedom: government cannot force people to do things that violate their religious beliefs. The administration may try to frame this as a defense of women’s rights, but that’s pure sophistry. As I wrote yesterday, if the administration’s decision is reversed, women will still be perfectly free to use contraceptives, to seek abortions, and to do whatever else their beliefs permit. They just...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/obama039s_losing_battle_vs_religious_freedom_273264.htmlhttp://www.cato-at-liberty.org/obamacares-coercive-essence/http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/obamacares-coercive-essence/ 100273264 PM Update Roger Pilon, Cato @ Liberty 122737 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:15:08 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Cracking down on contraception was never the way for Mitt Romney to ingratiate himself with voters in Massachusetts, even the Roman Catholics who mostly see it as a moral neutral. Now that that position is coming back to haunt Romney like the ghost of Christmas past, he’s taking cover with the religious right. And after last night’s surprising three-state sweep by social conservative Rick Santorum he’ll need all the cover he can get. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/on_birth_control_romney_mirrored_obama_273267.htmlhttp://www.salon.com/2012/02/09/on_birth_control_romney_mirrored_obama/singletonhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.salon.com/2012/02/09/on_birth_control_romney_mirrored_obama/ 100273267 PM Update Patrick Tracey, Salon 123368 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:16:12 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 It seems like every time I declare Mitt Romney to be in the catbird seat, he does everything in his power to disprove me. But last night, the former Massachusetts governor outdid himself, having been swept by Rick Santorum in contests in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado. And it isn’t simply the fact that Romney lost; it’s the magnitude of his losses. Governor Romney finished third in Minnesota with 17 percent of the vote total, behind both Ron Paul (27 percent) and Santorum (45 percent). In Missouri, Romney lost to Santorum by a staggering 30 points (55 percent v. 25...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/odds_still_in_romney039s_favor_273256.htmlhttp://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/08/gop-primary-odds-romney/http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/08/gop-primary-odds-romney/ 100273256 PM Update Peter Wehner, Commentary 123783 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:17:08 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Texas Gov. Rick Perry offered a bold vision for America with oratorical fireworks and a crowd of conservatives that grew more excited with his every sentence.You’d never know he wasn’t running for president anymore.Perry was something of a rock star at CPAC this afternoon, praising the “foot soldiers in the revolution” and reaping hearty ovations from the same. He quipped that he had been running for the White House, but “the people of New Hampshire had a different idea.”Texas A&M Aggies, he said, referring to his alma mater,...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/perry_to_cpac_quotyou_don039t_have_to_settlequot_273287.htmlhttp://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/02/09/perry-to-cpac-you-dont-have-to-settle/http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/02/09/perry-to-cpac-you-dont-have-to-settle/ 100273287 PM Update Bridget Johnson, PJ Media 123784 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:18:05 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 It is a testimony to the relative powerlessness of American policymakers that much of what has already been accomplished to force the end of Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic rule in Syria—ongoing demonstrations; the growing defections within the ranks of a Syrian army that has already killed at least 5,000 protesters; the punishing international sanctions against Damascus; the Arab League’s expelling of Syria from its ranks, and its subsequent call for international intervention; powerful economic sanctions implemented by European Union, Turkey and the Arab...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/it039s_time_to_arm_the_syrian_opposition_273285.htmlhttp://www.realclearworld.com/http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.realclearworld.com/ 100273285 PM Update Daniel Drezner, The New Republic 123743 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:18:50 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Through 11 presidential elections, beginning with the Democrats' nomination of George McGovern in 1972, Republicans have enjoyed a presumption of superiority regarding national security. This year, however, events and their rhetoric are dissipating their advantage.Hours "” not months, not weeks, hours "” after the last U.S. troops left Iraq, vicious political factionalism and sectarian violence intensified. Many Republicans say Barack Obama's withdrawal "” accompanied by his administration's foolish praise of Iraq's...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/murky_gop_rhetoric_on_defense_273211.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-need-more-than-rhetoric-on-defense/2012/02/07/gIQA5SF1zQ_story.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-need-more-than-rhetoric-on-defense/2012/02/07/gIQA5SF1zQ_story.html 100273211 PM Update George Will, New Hampshire Union Leader 60886 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:05:40 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 So what have we learned? Six weeks into a roller-coaster election year, the 2012 presidential race has defied history, expectations and easy predictions. After eight states have voted, the Republican contest hasn't settled down; it was roiled again Tuesday by Rick Santorum's sweep over Mitt Romney in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/the_2012_republican_race_6_weeks_6_lessons_273218.htmlhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-02-07/2012-election-lessons/53014842/1http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-02-07/2012-election-lessons/53014842/1 100273218 AM Update Susan Page, USA Today 123714 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:57:49 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 A funny thing happened to Mitt Romney on the way to his coronation as the inevitable Republican candidate for President of the United States. Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado happened. Rick Santorum beat him in all three states on the same day -- and beat him by huge margins in two of those states, as well as upsetting him in Colorado, where the Mormon vote was expected to give Romney a victory.The Republican establishment, which has lined up heavily behind Romney, has tried to depict him as the "electable," if not invincible, candidate in the general election this November. But it...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/the_anti-romney_vote_113066.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/the_anti-romney_vote_113066.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/the_anti-romney_vote_113066.html 200273207 AM Update Thomas Sowell, Investor's Business Daily 123546 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:58:34 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Maybe Republicans in their anti-Romney desperation have inadvertently stumbled on an artful new way to fuse religion and politics—every presidential long-shot gets not one but two resurrections. Rick Santorum is officially back from the crypt, and his period in limbo has done him well. For the first time during the 2012 campaign cycle, it actually seems sensible to take Santorum seriously for the long haul. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/santorum_not_going_away_anytime_soon_273216.htmlhttp://www.tnr.com/article/politics/100572/shapiro-why-santorum%E2%80%99s-not-going-away-anytime-soonhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/100572/shapiro-why-santorum%E2%80%99s-not-going-away-anytime-soon 100273216 AM Update Walter Shapiro, New Repubic 123715 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:23:42 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 For many conservative Republicans, the dream outcome of the primary season is a brokered convention. Disappointed in the four remaining choices, they hope to change horses in August, and draft their preferred candidate, be it Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, or Paul Ryan.I've been adamant that such an outcome is extremely unlikely. For a brokered convention to occur, there has to be an almost perfect storm of events; the GOP elites can't just declare shenanigans on the primary season and select a new nominee. Instead, something has to prevent any of the current candidates...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/path_to_a_brokered_gop_convention_emerges_113063.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/path_to_a_brokered_gop_convention_emerges_113063.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/path_to_a_brokered_gop_convention_emerges_113063.html 200273217 AM Update Sean Trende, RealClearPolitics 123617 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:59:38 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Pope John Paul II, surveying from his seat in the eternal hereafter the battle between the American Catholic Church and the Obama administration over mandated contraception services, must be permitting himself a sad smile. The pope knew more than most about the innate tensions between the state and its citizens.The Obamaites will object that it is unfair to liken their government to the Communist Party of Poland. That is not the point. What the former Karol Wojtyla knew is that any state will claim benevolence on behalf of doing whatever it thinks it needs to do in pursuit of its goals.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/the_church_amp_obama039s_quottransformativequot_rules_273213.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577211280758375336.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577211280758375336.html 100273213 AM Update Daniel Henninger, WSJ 123270 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:30:21 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 This is a really old story, but let me tell you anyway. When I was first married, my mother-in-law sat down at her kitchen table and told me about the day she went to confession and told the priest that she and her husband were using birth control. She had several young children, times were difficult "” really, she could have produced a list of reasons longer than your arm."You're no better than a whore on the street," said the priest.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/tales_from_the_kitchen_table_273210.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/opinion/collins-tales-from-the-kitchen-table.htmlhttp://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/opinion/collins-tales-from-the-kitchen-table.xml 100273210 AM Update Gail Collins, New York Times 104829 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:06:12 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 There are two indisputable facts about politics.The first is that every modern president in the fourth year of his presidency resorts to the cheap political stunts, broken promises and truth-fudging it takes to win reelection in what has been and will be a 50-50 nation. The reason is simple: Politics is not clean-living; it's survival.The second is that Barack Obama, for all his talk of moving beyond conventional political tricks, is doing just that, which wouldn't be so glaring had it not been for his incessant call for a newer, cleaner and more transparent paradigm for American...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/the_political_transformation_of_barack_obama_273221.htmlhttp://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=633688EA-6BBD-42FB-94BA-8C7FE3992EDD 100273221 AM Update Jim VandeHei, Politico 123717 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:13:09 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 It’s extraordinarily difficult to be surprised by the mainstream media’s flagrant obeisance to Barack Obama—Jeremiah Wright seems like a decade ago—but I shook my head in disgust earlier this week after the President made an especially arrogant remark during an interview with Today’s Matt Lauer. Obama said, “I deserve a second term but we’re not done.” Apparently the Campaigner-in-Chief is, unlike Mitt Romney or Joe Biden or Newt Gingrich—men who provide a bundle of mirth and derision for political...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/media_blind_to_obama039s_gaffes_273227.htmlhttp://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/obama-is-incapable-of-gaffes-or-so-the-liberal-media-believeshttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/obama-is-incapable-of-gaffes-or-so-the-liberal-media-believes 100273227 AM Update Russ Smith, Splice Today 123470 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:26:35 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 WASHINGTON -- What do Rick Santorum and Clint Eastwood have in common?Sorry Rick, you haven't made it yet as an Eastwood-style make-my-day cultural icon. But in different ways, Santorum and Eastwood have demonstrated the limits of both an entirely negative slant on politics and a pessimistic take on America's future.Santorum's Tuesday sweep of Republican presidential contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado was a sharp rebuke to Mitt Romney, the on-again, off-again "inevitable" GOP nominee who has built his campaign almost entirely on attacks. His primary target...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/clint_rick_and_the_limits_of_pessimism_113071.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/clint_rick_and_the_limits_of_pessimism_113071.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/09/clint_rick_and_the_limits_of_pessimism_113071.html 200273208 AM Update E.J. Dionne, Washington Post 123650 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:19:50 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 As the tents were coming down at McPherson Square, the dead rats and mice being retrieved, the urine and feces and filthy bedding disposed of by District of Columbia employees dressed in hazardous-materials suits like their contemporaries at Fukushima, I thought of the left-wing press. You see, I read the left-wing press. Not the urban throwaway rags, but I read the Nation, the Progressive, the American Prospect, and more -- I read them all. They have been raving for months about the exciting prospect of a great wave of reform coming out of the Occupiers' Movement. It was here to stay,...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/the_delousing_of_a_movement_273233.htmlhttp://spectator.org/archives/2012/02/09/the-delousing-of-a-movementhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://spectator.org/archives/2012/02/09/the-delousing-of-a-movement 100273233 AM Update Emmett Tyrrell, The American Spectator 123718 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:23:23 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 It’s interesting that the White House rolled this one out just after Mitt Romney’s drubbing in three contests yesterday — one that was largely driven by Romney’s inability to connect with social conservatives.At the press briefing just now, White House press secretary Jay Carney twice highlighted the fact that as Governor of Massachusetts, Romney supported a contraception policy that was very similar to the one Obama has now adpoted, to much criticism. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/wh_gives_romney_death_hug_on_social_issues_273228.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/white-house-gives-romney-a-social-issues-death-hug/2012/02/08/gIQAH94PzQ_blog.html 100273228 AM Update Greg Sargent, Wash Post 123721 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:24:19 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Now, I got a note today from somebody trying to be a little funny. They said, "Rush, I know that Romney didn't mean it this way, but the recent Health and Human Services mandate on contraception --" the Catholic Church thing "-- once again shows that, yes, Obamacare is worth getting angry about.  And there's an editorial in the Wall Street Journal today that Romney might be well served to get a little bit more angry about the Health and Human Services thing, although he has condemned it, he's practically called it zany."  That's the...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/romney_flip-flopped_on_catholics_amp_morning_after_pill_273198.htmlhttp://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/02/08/2005_romney_flip_flopped_forced_catholic_hospitals_to_distribute_morning_after_pillhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/02/08/2005_romney_flip_flopped_forced_catholic_hospitals_to_distribute_morning_after_pill 100273198 AM Update Rush Limbaugh 123618 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:24:58 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Newt Gingrich's remarks Saturday night after the Nevada caucuses and on NBC's "Meet the Press" the next morning proved that presidential candidates should talk policy, not process.Proclaiming "We want to get to Georgia, to Alabama, to Tennessee," Mr. Gingrich said primaries in the South would produce "a series of victories" that by the April 4 Texas primary would make him "very, very competitive in the delegate count." ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/newt039s_southern_strategy_won039t_work_273214.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204369404577211091105850680.htmlhttp://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?mid=1&CALL_URL=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204369404577211091105850680.html 100273214 AM Update Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal 123722 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:01:56 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Forget Sparta and Athens. The 2012 presidential race is shaping up to be a battle between Sparta and Sparta.If Mitt Romney is able to overcome Tuesday night's caucus disappointments and win the GOP nod, the Obama/Romney general election match-up will feature two very similar campaign empires"”both flush with cash and stacked with their party's best political operatives"”going to battle with the same instincts, same skill sets, and very similar battle plans.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/in_chicago_amp_boston_machines_prep_for_war_273243.htmlhttp://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppinsandzekemiller/in-chicago-and-boston-machines-prepare-for-warhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppinsandzekemiller/in-chicago-and-boston-machines-prepare-for-war 100273243 AM Update Coppins & Miller, BuzzFeed 123127 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:22:07 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit just ruled that Proposition 8, California’s constitutional marriage amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional. This decision is one of the most radical to come out of a circuit known for fringe rulings. It’s little wonder that this circuit is the nation’s most overturned.The decision presents a clear example of judicial activism, in which you can see the court struggle to find the arguments to substantiate a predetermined decision. Neither law nor fact stood a chance before the...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/the_9th_circuit039s_delusion_273226.htmlhttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/8/9th-circuit-delusion/http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/8/9th-circuit-delusion/ 100273226 AM Update Mario Diaz, Washington Times 123569 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:22:38 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 You may have heard of judicial activism. Also originalism, minimalism and many another judicial "ism." In its decision Tuesday striking down California's ban on same-sex marriage, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals introduces a doctrine of its own: judicial deactivism. This doctrine is calculating, compromising, crass "” and on balance quite a good thing. In 2003, California created civil unions that conveyed all the state trappings of marriage but withheld the formal term. Some gay couples sued, maintaining that denial of the prestigious M-word...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/court039s_gay_marriage_ruling_modest_-_and_clever_273223.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/gay-marriage-ruling-california-politically-shrewd-article-1.1019338http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/gay-marriage-ruling-california-politically-shrewd-article-1.1019338 100273223 AM Update Jonathan Rauch, NYDN 123720 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:33:06 -0600 02/09/2012/00/00/00 Russia's main gas-company, Gazprom, was unable to meet demand last weekend as blizzards swept across Europe, and over three hundred people died. Did anyone even think of deploying our wind turbines to make good the energy shortfall from Russia?Of course not. We all know that windmills are a self-indulgent and sanctimonious luxury whose purpose is to make us feel good. Had Europe genuinely depended on green energy on Friday, by Sunday thousands would be dead from frostbite and exposure, and the EU would have suffered an economic body blow to match that of Japan's tsunami a year ago.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/greens_playing_lethal_games_with_energy_273239.htmlhttp://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-energy-policy-based-on-renewables-will-win-hearts-but-wont-protect-their-owners-from-frostbite-and-death-due-to-exposure-3012098.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-energy-policy-based-on-renewables-will-win-hearts-but-wont-protect-their-owners-from-frostbite-and-death-due-to-exposure-3012098.html 100273239 AM Update Kevin Myers, The Independent 123724 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/wobbly_justice_on_prop_8_273229.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/proposition-8-decision-was-just-but-wobbly/2012/02/08/gIQApOh1zQ_story.html 100273229 Editorials Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:43:35 -0600 Washington Post 123726 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/an_unconscionable_decision_273224.html http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/290603/unconscionable-editors 100273224 Editorials Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:44:48 -0600 National Review 116846 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/greek_tragedy_273230.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/opinion/greek-tragedy.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/opinion/greek-tragedy.xml?_r=1&ref=todayspaper 100273230 Editorials Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:45:25 -0600 New York Times 123728 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/02/09/can039t_live_with_china_273242.html http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/live+with+China/6111294/story.html http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/live+with+China/6111294/story.html 100273242 Editorials Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:27:18 -0600 National Post 109219