Top Items:
Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
Where was Obama the centrist in his State of the Union? — If you were expecting a moderate Obama or a bold Obama, you were disappointed, most likely, by Tuesday's State of the Union Address. In a nutshell: Obama proposed a ton of new domestic spending, promised to freeze discretionary spending …
Discussion:
Power Line and GayPatriot
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Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
President Obama to Propose Partial Budget Freeze and Earmark Ban Tonight* — Pursuing a path of deficit reduction and government reform, President Obama will tonight in his State of the Union address call for a ban on earmarks and he will propose a five year budget freeze …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Note, ABCNEWS, TPMDC, USA Today, The New Republic, Scared Monkeys, National Review, Weigel, The Gateway Pundit, protein wisdom, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Firedoglake, FITSNews, Hot Air, Wonkette, Michelle Malkin, TalkLeft, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Liberal Values, Pajamas Media and Washington Wire
Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:
Harry Reid blasts Obama on earmarks — 'I think it's the wrong thing to do. I don't think it's helpful,' said Reid of an earmarks ban. AP Photo — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blasted President Barack Obama on earmarks in advance of his State of the Union address Tuesday, when he's expected to call for a ban.
Discussion:
The Note, The Gateway Pundit, Fox Nation, FrumForum and TPMDC
Washington Post:
Obama: 'our generation's Sputnik moment' — President Obama will seek to rally the nation to a new era of competitiveness in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, calling on Americans to rise to “our generation's Sputnik moment.” — “Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us …
Discussion:
PostPartisan, Gallup, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Shakesville
Ezra Klein:
What the speech has done already — The president won't give his annual State of the Union address until later tonight, but in an important way, the speech has already worked. For the past week or so, news report after news report has dutifully relayed the argument the president is planning …
Discussion:
Blue Virginia
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Obama Counters G.O.P. Attacks on Spending With Plan to Extend Freeze
Discussion:
The Politico
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Obama Sees Global Fight for U.S. Jobs
Discussion:
Economix, CNN, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, AOL News and Democracy in America
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
McConnell: Sure I'll Work With Obama, As Long As He 'Is Willing …
Discussion:
TPMDC, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and Raw Story
National Journal:
EXCLUSIVE: Obama to Declare ‘The Rules Have Changed’ — Full text of speech draft obtained by National Journal — President Obama speaks to both houses of Congress during his first State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on January 27, 2010. — Insisting bipartisanship …
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Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
National Journal leaks SOTU early — So much for all of the White House's efforts to keep the details of President Barack Obama's second State of the Union address under wraps until delivery. — At 7:14 p.m. - almost two hours before Obama was scheduled to speak in the House chamber …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Talking Points Memo and The Note
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
The text of the State of the Union Address from a Democratic insider who has violated the White House embargo. — Via the National Journal. — UPDATE 1: … But the challenges were “bigger than party, and bigger than politics” before, when you “move[d] forward” on your own, with only your party.
Discussion:
alicublog
Newsweek:
Why No One Will Watch the State of the Union — If President Obama's planned “call to unity” and pledge to work on centrist initiatives in his second State of the Union speech don't have you itching to tune in Tuesday night, don't feel too bad. Not many of your fellow citizens will watch …
Discussion:
Opinion L.A., Liberty Pundits Blog, Blue Crab Boulevard and Don Surber
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Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
CNN Poll: More than half of speech watchers have very positive reaction — Washington (CNN) - A majority of Americans who watched President Obama's State of the Union address said they had a very positive reaction to his speech, a slight rise from last year's speech, according to a poll of people who viewed Tuesday night's address.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, AMERICAblog Elections and Daily Kos
Washington Wire:
Excerpts of Obama's State of the Union Address — Here are excerpts of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET: — THE WHITE HOUSE — Office of the Press Secretary — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Excerpts from President Obama's State of the Union Address
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Commentary and Pajamas Media
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama to speak of ‘Sputnik moment’ in State of the Union
Discussion:
CNN, This Just In and FrumForum
Matt Schneider / Mediaite:
Matthews Yells At Tea Party Leader: Why Is ‘Balloon-Head’ Bachmann Speaking For You — Chris Matthews was nearly apoplectic in his questioning of Tea Party Express co-founder Sal Russo on the topic of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and her controversial re-imagining of history …
Discussion:
Big Journalism, Lez Get Real and TPMDC
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Andy Birkey / Minnesota Independent:
Tea party to Bachmann: You don't speak for the tea party — Rep. Michele Bachmann has been steeped in tea party politics for the last two years, but she may be overstepping her bounds as she increasingly attaches herself to a movement that insists it has no party and no leader.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, DownWithTyranny!, CNN and msnbc.com
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
CNN justifies airing Bachmann speech: “Tea Party has become major force in American politics” — CNN, which is taking some criticism from both sides for agreeing to air Michele Bachmann's response to Obama's speech tonight, sends over a statement justifying the move:
Fox News:
‘Unusual’ Bachmann Rebuttal Could Scramble GOP Message on Obama Address
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Pajamas Media, The Blotter, Lisa Graas and Weigel
The Note:
Michele Bachmann's Tea Party State Of The Union Response Will …
Discussion:
blogs.abcnews.com, msnbc.com, Washington Post and Washington Monthly
Sahil Kapur / Raw Story:
Bachmann: Founding fathers ‘worked tirelessly’ to end slavery
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Wire and SFGate
Tom Jacobs / Smart Journalism. Real Solutions …:
Sexy News Anchors Distract Male Viewers — New research finds when a female news anchor's sexual attractiveness is played up, male viewers retain less information. — SHARE AND ENJOY: — Scholars, critics and viewers have noted that some TV newscasts can be momentarily mistaken for Victoria's Secret specials.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool, Shakesville, Runnin' Scared, The Consumerist, Hot Air, Mediaite, Poynter, The Daily Caller and The Wire, more at Mediagazer »
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Scalia Slaps Down GOP's Tentherism — Yesterday, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia spoke to a gathering of mostly-Republican lawmakers about separation of powers under the Constitution. During that gathering, Scalia was asked to embrace one of the Tea Party's pet constitutional theories …
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Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Oops! Republican Asks Scalia About Constitutionality Of Earmarks
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog, The Political Carnival and ThinkProgress
Budget Committee:
Remarks of Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) - As Prepared for Delivery — Good evening. I'm Congressman Paul Ryan from Janesville, Wisconsin - and Chairman here at the House Budget Committee. — President Obama just addressed a Congressional chamber filled with many new faces.
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, The Gateway Pundit and Hot Air
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Susan E. Rice / US Department of State:
Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on Richard Falk — U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations — I am appalled by the recent personal blog written by Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, YID With LID, Hot Air and The Investigative Project …
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Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:
Not The U.N.'s Most Helpful Employee
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, AOL News and The Washington Note
Washington Wire:
Text of Obama's State of the Union Address — Here is the text of President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address as prepared for delivery at 9 p.m. ET. — Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Doug Ross and Guardian
New York Times:
3 Reported Dead as Egyptians Protest to End Mubarak's Rule — CAIRO — Thousands of people calling for the end of the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak clashed with riot police officers here in the capital and in other Egyptian cities on Tuesday, on a day of some of the most serious civil unrest in recent memory.
Discussion:
Eunomia, FP Passport, Hot Air, english.ahram.org.eg, National Review, Guardian, BBC, Time, News Desk, The Lede, The Atlantic Online, Boing Boing, Tablet Magazine, The Awl and Pajamas Media
Sewell Chan / New York Times:
Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds — WASHINGTON — The 2008 financial crisis was an “avoidable” disaster caused by widespread failures in government regulation, corporate mismanagement and heedless risk-taking by Wall Street, according to the conclusions of a federal inquiry.
Discussion:
The Big Picture, DealBook and Calculated Risk
Esquire:
The State of the Union Drinking Game, 2011 Edition — If you're anything like us, you spent Sunday only half-watching the NFL conference championship games, attending to them out of some shapeless feeling of duty and the ever-present impulse to call Jay Cutler a pansy.
Discussion:
The Politico, FrumForum, About.com Political Humor, Salon, The Daily Beast, FT Alphaville and AOL News, more at Mediagazer »
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
News Analysis: Setting Stage for Clash of Ideals Over Government — WASHINGTON — At a moment when the momentum in Washington is driving toward slashing budgets and shrinking government, President Obama argued on Tuesday evening that the politics of austerity, mindlessly applied …
Discussion:
Speakeasy
Marissa Calhoun / CNN:
Bachmann's Response to State of the Union — As prepared for delivery: — Good evening, my name is Congresswoman Michele Bachmann from Minnesota's 6th District. — Two years ago, when Barack Obama became our President, unemployment was 7.8 percent and our national debt stood at what seemed …
Discussion:
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