When Bob Woodward publishes the definitive history of Barack Obama's second term (maybe sooner rather than later), this will be presented as the week that Politico pwned the news cycle—and the president lost the village. I mean that both literally and literarily. A reliable source of mine deep inside the industry (codename: Imaginary Friend) leaked me the outline of a book proposal that Woodward is shopping around. Below are Bob's unedited notes (talking points, if you will) covering this week: First They Came for the "Patriots" Utilizing research conducted by Harvard Ph.D. candidates, in this chapter I will compare the IRS' scrutiny of "non-profit" Tea Party groups (among others) with the Nazis' persecution of Jews and homosexuals. SPOILER: This doesn't end well, but it isn't … [Read more...]

Winning. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has published a new book. It's a book of advice. You too can get advice from The Man Who Screwed Up The War. You can give it as a gift to someone you want to catastrophically fail at life. Fine, let's take a look. Marketplace highlights three of "Rumsfeld's Rules": It’s easier to get into something than it is to get out. “I thought of that when I was President Reagan’s Middle East envoy and we had 241 Marines killed at Beirut, at the airport. And I concluded then that the United States has to be careful about putting ground forces in because we’re such a big target. And I also over the years came to the conclusion over the years that the United States really was organized, trained and equipped to do nation-building.” Those … [Read more...]

What's coming up on Sunday Kos ... Big-thinking Cato Institute: 400ppm haz got what plants crave, by Hunter The next biggest scandal ever, until the next one, by Hunter Republican outreach report card: graded "F" for Fail, by Denise Oliver Velez Climate change isn't AN issue, it's THE issue, by Laurence Lewis Welcome to the Darrell Issa Hall of Shame, by Jon Perr The Hard Lessons of the Post Partisan Unity Schtick, by Armando The most vulnerable House members in 2014, in two charts, by David Jarman Life back in the canopy, by DarkSyde … [Read more...]

Every week Daily Kos diarists write dozens of environmentally related posts. Many don't get the readership they deserve. Helping improve the odds is the motivation behind the Green Diary Rescue. In the past seven years, there have been 226 of these spotlighting more than 12,645 eco-diaries. Below are categorized links and excerpts to 64 more that appeared in the past seven days. That makes for lots of good reading during the spare moments of your weekend. [Disclaimer: Inclusion of a diary in the rescue does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.] Green Diary of the Week Mr. President, Arctic Ice Loss Portends a Climate Tsunami: The National Arctic Strategy is Suicidal—by FishOutofWater: "President Obama, your advisers just don't get it. We should be running as … [Read more...]

This week in the war on voting is a joint project of Joan McCarter and Meteor Blades. • North Carolina 'ground zero' in fight against voter suppression: • Democrats introduce bill to reform and reauthorize the Election Assistance Commission: The EAC was created in the aftermath of the disastrous elections of 2000 as part of the Help America Vote Act. The agency is designed to assist state and local election officials to ensure smooth, accurate, and fair elections. Congressional Republicans have undermined the agency by holding up nominations and attempting to abolish the agency. The result of their assault on the EAC was seen in the unreasonably long lines, confusion, and disenfranchisement of thousands in the 2012 election. “There’s no magic solution when it comes to fixing how … [Read more...]