memeorandum: 'People Don't Realize How Fragile Democracy Really Is' (James Fallows/The Atlantic Online)

2:30 PM ET, September 6, 2011

Top Items:

Obama ratings sink to new lows as hope fades — Public pessimism about the direction of the country has jumped to its highest level in nearly three years, erasing the sense of hope that followed President Obama's inauguration and pushing his approval ratings to a record low, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Campaign 2012, Taylor Marsh, The Strata-Sphere, Outside the Beltway, Swampland, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, The Heritage Foundation, Prairie Weather, UrbanGrounds, Taegan Goddard's …, The Lonely Conservative, The Moderate Voice, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, AMERICAblog News, Connecting.the.Dots and Daily Kos

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

They like him — There's a deluge of terrible poll numbers for the White House today, but I think this one from our Battleground Poll is the most interesting: — Obama receives particularly low marks for his economic stewardship, with only 39 percent saying they approve and 59 percent saying they disapprove.

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Battleground Poll: Obama approval rating down amid deep economic fears — The debt-limit showdown and the stalled economy have tarnished President Barack Obama's standing with voters and dampened their optimism about America's future, with nearly three out of four voters now saying the country …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Los Angeles Times, Campaign 2012, LifeNews.com, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, Reuters, Trail Blazers Blog and Rasmussen Reports

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
Obama hits all-time lows, according to NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Hotline On Call and The New Republic

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
Obama's Weakness Leading to Republican Overreach: Ramesh Ponnuru

Discussion: Ricochet Conversation Feed and The Daily Dish

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Perry continues to shake up GOP field, lead polls

Discussion: Washington Post, TPMDC and National Review

Jonathan Weisman / Wall Street Journal:
Voter Discontent Deepens Ahead of Obama Jobs Plan

Discussion: Don Surber and MarketBeat

Sarah Palin / Facebook:

Welcome, Union Brothers and Sisters — In my speech on Saturday in Iowa, I said: “Between bailouts for Wall Street cronies and stimulus projects for union bosses' security and ‘green energy’ giveaways, [Barack Obama] took care of his friends. And now they're on course to raise a billion dollars …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Ricochet Conversation Feed, nation.foxnews.com, Weasel Zippers, Nice Deb, Conservatives4Palin, The Right Scoop and GOP 12

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:

Wasserman Schultz attacks Fox, ducks Hoffa — In a heated exchanged, Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz repeatedly ducked questions on “Fox and Friends” Tuesday about Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa's call for workers to combat the tea party and “take these son-of-a-bitches out.”

Discussion: CNN, The Atlantic Online, The Gateway Pundit, The Lonely Conservative, The Daily Caller and JammieWearingFool

Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:

Fox Doctors Hoffa Speech To Fabricate Call For Violence — Right-wing bloggers misled by dishonest Fox News video editing are attacking Teamsters President James Hoffa, Jr. for supposedly urging violence against Tea Party activists during a Labor Day speech.

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Teamsters President: ‘No Regrets’ After Fiery Speech Draws Right-Wing Criticism

Michelle Malkin:
Flashback: Obama vowed to end federal probe of Teamsters corruption

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Sister Toldjah and The Gateway Pundit

Steven Hayward / Power Line:

World Ends Today; Markets to Close Early? — The news out of Europe yesterday and this morning somehow puts me in mind of the long opening sequence in the John Landis feature film rendering of The Twilight Zone, in which Dan Ackroyd says to Albert Brooks, “You want to see something really scary?”

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Courtney Comstock / Business Insider:
Deutsche Bank CEO Just Gave A Terrifying Speech In Frankfurt

Discussion: The Western Experience and The Awl

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml:
Bring Out Your Dead - UBS Quantifies Costs Of Euro Break Up, Warns Of Collapse Of Banking System And Civil War

Discussion: Mish's Global Economic …

Reuters:
Swiss draw line in the sand to cap runaway franc

Discussion: FT Alphaville, Free exchange and Mish's Global Economic …

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Janet Napolitano: Shoes-on flight in sight — Air travelers will eventually be able to keep their shoes on to pass through security, but the restrictions on carrying liquids on board are likely to remain in place for some time, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a POLITICO Playbook breakfast Tuesday.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hit & Run, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Business Insider and Outside the Beltway

Dan Hirschhorn / The Politico:

Ron Paul to attack Rick Perry in new ad — Ron Paul is taking on Rick Perry in a new television ad blasting the Texas governor for for supporting Al Gore's 1988 presidential campaign, POLITICO has learned. — The 60-second spot, backed by a six-figure ad buy — the first negative ad attacking Perry …

Discussion: CNN, GOP 12, Outside the Beltway and TPMDC

Michael Isikoff / msnbc.com:
Super PAC backing Rick Perry to spend $55 million to beat rivals, documents reveal

Discussion: The Caucus, Business Insider, Boston Globe and The Raw Story

Jazz Shaw / Hot Air:
About that Romney job creation record

Discussion: BizzyBlog, The Daily Caller, Pajamas Media and GOP 12

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

Baldwin slams Washington, Madison in first campaign speech — Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) used her first conference call as a Senate candidate as a populist attack on politicians in both Washington, D.C., and Madison, her hometown, accusing them as being “tone-deaf” and ignoring issues important to middle-class voters.

Discussion: The Politico

Sean Sullivan / Hotline On Call:
Baldwin Enters Wisconsin Senate Race

Discussion: Daily Kos

JSOnline:
Tammy Baldwin enters race for open Senate seat

Discussion: The Politico and americanthinker.com

Mitch McConnell / Washington Post:

Why are three free-trade deals languishing on Obama's desk? — According to the White House, President Obama has been huddling with advisers on a jobs plan he'll present to Congress this week. One thing he could do immediately is finalize the free-trade deals with Colombia …

Discussion: Firedoglake, JustOneMinute, Hot Air, The Politico, Daily Kos and Ricochet Conversation Feed

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
POTUS shows some fight in Detroit

Discussion: White House.gov Blog, The New Republic, Daily Kos and The White House

Larry J. Sabato / Wall Street Journal:

The 2012 Election Will Come Down to Seven States — National polls are nice, but Electoral College math is what matters. — Straw polls, real polls, debates, caucuses, primaries—that's the public side of presidential campaigns 14 months before Election Day.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Western Experience, American Power, UrbanGrounds and National Review

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Pelosi drops the word ‘stimulus’ — Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Democrats have dropped the word stimulus from their vocabulary. — Though the House minority leader and her caucus are still pushing an economic stimulus agenda to save the economy, they've radically changed …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, JammieWearingFool and National Review

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Leak Offers Look at Efforts by U.S. to Spy on Israel — WASHINGTON — When Shamai K. Leibowitz, an F.B.I. translator, was sentenced to 20 months in prison last year for leaking classified information to a blogger, prosecutors revealed little about the case. They identified the blogger in court papers only as “Recipient A.”

Discussion: Secrecy News, Mondoweiss, The Politico, Lawfare, Power Line, Israel Matzav, The Debate Link, Israpundit and Pajamas Media

Brad Friedman / MoJo Articles:

Exclusive Audio: Inside the Koch Brothers' Secret Seminar — Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of this report, on the GOP superstar who rocked the Koch seminar crowd. — “We have Saddam Hussein,” declared billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, apparently referring to President Barack Obama …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Wonkette, New York Magazine, The BRAD BLOG, Politics and Daily Kos

New York Times:

Europeans Talk of Sharp Change in Fiscal Affairs — As leaders in Europe try to contain a deepening financial crisis, they are also increasingly talking about making fundamental changes to the way their 17-nation economic union works. — The idea is to create a central financial authority …

Discussion: Bloomberg, ThinkProgress, Free exchange, Business Insider, Daniel W. Drezner, Washington Post and Financial Times

John Phillips / Car and Driver Blog:

We Interview Vice President Joe Biden: He Owns a '67 Corvette and Loves Smoky Burnouts — America's vice president owns a '67 Corvette, and though he's not allowed to drive, he still enjoys the occasional smoky burnout. — C/D: You're the son of a car salesman? — JB: For 34 years, my dad managed dealerships in Delaware.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, National Review, New York Magazine, FishbowlDC, Weasel Zippers and Business Insider

Shawn Millerick / New Hampshire Journal:

EXCLUSIVE: Palin's surprise visit delights bride and groom — On the eve of Sarah Palin's speech before the Tea Party Express in New Hampshire, the former Alaska Governor shocked diners and delighted wedding guests by making an unannounced visit to The Puritan Backroom restaurant for some of their famous chicken fingers.

Discussion: Don Surber and Conservatives4Palin

Bill Keller / New York Times:

My Unfinished 9/11 Business — Ten years after the attacks, we memorialize the loss and we mark the heroism, but there is no organized remembrance of the other feelings that day aroused: the bewilderment, the vulnerability, the impotence. It may be difficult to recall with our attention …

Discussion: Hit & Run, New York Magazine, Balloon Juice and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg:

About Jeffrey Goldberg — Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for the Atlantic, is the author of “Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror.” He was formerly a Washington correspondent and a Middle East correspondent for the New Yorker. — Robert Gates Says Israel Is an Ungrateful Ally: Jeffrey Goldberg

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, Israel Matzav and Mondoweiss

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

'People Don't Realize How Fragile Democracy Really Is' — Two days ago I mentioned the “Goodbye to All That” essay by Mike Lofgren, a respected (including by me) veteran Congressional staffer who had worked for Republican legislators on defense and budget issues for nearly 30 years.

Discussion: Liberty Street, The Mahablog, Obsidian Wings and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Texas Is On Fire — The giant drought in Texas doesn't just ruin lawns, it's contributed to millions of acres worth of wildfires: … Perry may say that picking up the pieces is that they “always” do in Texas, but it's right there in the article that this is in fact the worst fire season on record.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Newsy, CNN and Hullabaloo