memeorandum: Manufactured failure #2: the press, Obama, Asia (James Fallows)

2:40 PM ET, November 21, 2009

Top Items:

David Broder: Fears of health-reform cost are justifiable — It's simply not true that America is ambivalent about everything when it comes to the Obama health plan. — The day after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gave its qualified blessing to the version of health reform produced …

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Firedoglake, The Hill, The Politico, TalkLeft, Prescriptions, The Caucus and The Corner on National …

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Crapo: Read the Senate health bill yourself — On the day of the Senate's first vote on healthcare reform legislation, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) used the GOP's weekly address to urge people to read the 2,074-page bill before forming an opinion. — “Read the bill” has become a Republican rallying cry throughout the healthcare debate.

Discussion: The Politico and The Swamp

Chris Frates / The Politico:

What to watch for in today's debate — Two Saturdays ago, Pelosi passed health reform on a squeaker of a House vote. Today, Reid can't spare a single Democrat as the Senate decides whether to start debate. If not, President Barack Obama's reform hopes suffer immeasurable harm.

Discussion: The Note, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, HorseRaceBlog, Hot Air, AmSpecBlog and NewsBusters.org

New York Times:

Democrats Press Ahead on Debate Before Health Vote — WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats made a forceful case on Saturday for legislation to revamp the nation's health care system, condemning the practices of insurers and decrying the plight of the uninsured in a parade of floor speeches aimed …

Discussion: The Page and Prescriptions

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Sen. Reid: Opposition to health procedural vote is ‘Orwellian’

Discussion: The Hill

Ed Hornick / CNN:
What to expect in Senate's health care vote

Discussion: Breitbart.tv

James Delingpole / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:

Climategate: how the MSM reported the greatest scandal in modern science — Here's what the Times has had to say on the subject: … (Yep - definitely an improvement on their earlier, non-existent coverage; but not exactly pointing up the scandalousness of this scandal). — And the Independent:

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Gateway Pundit, Tom Nelson, Townhall.com and Guardian

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Hackers steal electronic data from top climate research center — Scientists' e-mails deriding skeptics of warming become public — Hackers broke into the electronic files of one of the world's foremost climate research centers this week and posted an array of e-mails in which prominent scientists engaged …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Achenblog, Don Surber, Tom Nelson, Scholars and Rogues and Climate Progress

Bishop Hill:

Climate cuttings 33 — Welcome Instapundit readers! Hope this is useful for you. — General reaction seems to be that the CRUgate emails are genuine, but with the caveat that there could be some less reliable stuff slipped in. — In the circumstances, here are some summaries of the CRUgate files.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Biased BBC, Andrew Bolt and Winds of Change.NET

Andrew C. Revkin / New York Times:
Hacked E-Mails Fuel Climate Change Skeptics

Fox News:

‘Factor’ Debut, Part 2: Sarah Palin Discusses Obama, Iran, Afghanistan — This is a RUSH transcript from “The O'Reilly Factor,” November 20, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. — Watch “The O'Reilly Factor” weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET!

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money, MoJo Blog Posts and American Power

Bella DePaulo / The Huffington Post:
Sarah Palin and Her Lies (And Her Fans Who Attack Her Critics)

Discussion: American Power and NewsBusters.org

Daily Mail:

It's Barbie in a burkha: World-famous doll gets a makeover to go under the hammer for 50th anniversary — One of the world's most famous children's toys, Barbie, has been given a makeover - wearing a burkha. — Wearing the traditional Islamic dress, the iconic doll is going undercover …

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Riehl World View, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

James Fallows:

Manufactured failure #2: the press, Obama, Asia — It's not just me. Two colleagues with different perspectives — from each other's, and sometimes from my own — marvel at how badly the mainstream American press distorted the picture of what happened during Barack Obama's just-ended tour of Asia.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Impolitic and Associated Press

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Michelle Goldberg Gets It — The lies of Sarah Palin are different from any other politicians'. They are different because they assert things that are demonstrably, empirically untrue; and they are different because once they have been deonstrated to the entire world that they are untrue …

Discussion: Althouse

New York Times:

New Consensus Sees Stimulus Package as Worthy Step — WASHINGTON — Now that unemployment has topped 10 percent, some liberal-leaning economists see confirmation of their warnings that the $787 billion stimulus package President Obama signed into law last February was way too small.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Townhall.com, The Caucus, NewsBusters.org, Econbrowser, Prairie Weather, MyDD, Don Surber and Althouse

Jon Walker / Firedoglake:

Semi-liveblog Of The Debate To Allow Debate To Begin In The Senate — It is important to remember that this is not the debate about the Senate health care bill, the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” This is a debate about whether to allow the bill to come to the floor where it can be debated and amended.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Gavel and TalkLeft

Anthony Dick / The Corner on National Review Online:

Whiny Spoiled Brats — By: Anthony Dick — The University of California system took some predictable steps to tighten its belt this week in the face of the state budget crisis, cutting some services and boosting student tuition. Equally predictably, students across the state have responded …

Discussion: TigerHawk and Riehl World View

San Francisco Chronicle:
UC Berkeley students end occupation

Discussion: Raw Story, Fresh Loaf, Riehl World View and American Power

Steve Rubenstein / San Francisco Chronicle:

Bay Area not maverick enough to read Palin book — It might as well have cooties. Hardly anyone wants to touch the thing, or even get close to it. — The new autobiography by moose hunter and failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is harder to find in the Bay Area than a hockey mom.

Discussion: Hot Air, Top of the Ticket, American Power and Pajamas Media