The Commentariat -- January 21, 2012

President Obama's Weekly Address:

     ... The transcript is here.

David Dayen of Firedoglake: "After the death of PIPA this morning comes the news that Lamar Smith, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee who planned on resuming the markup of SOPA, the House version of anti-piracy legislation, in February, has put the bill into cold storage.... It must have killed Smith to put the stake through the heart of SOPA, considering his own staffers wrote the bill – right before becoming entertainment industry lobbyists.... The lobbyists of the entertainment giants will still work tirelessly to get something passed that asserts their control over the Internet. But this episode does show that activism can work, at least to stop unpopular legislation. Maybe not all the time, but when a lot of energy is thrown into political engagement, sometimes it makes a big difference." ...

... Here's the kind of guy who "will still work tirelessly to get ... control over the Internet": former Democratic Senator Chris Dodd [D-Conn.], a sleazy wheeler-dealer who now heads the Motion Picture Association of America; i.e., he's one of the top lobbyists in Washington. This story by Michael Cieply & Edward Wyatt of the New York Times is pretty interesting. The wheeler-dealers are rethinking the wheel as a result of the successful Internet campaign to kill the bills. ...

... ** What if Citizens United Actually United the Citizens?" Ilyse Hogue of The Nation: "After a long, dark period of stagnant progressive momentum and pay-to-play politics, this week saw a flurry of progressive victories that could upset the conventional wisdom about a post–Citizens United world.... What if the net result of Citizens United is a realization by progressive groups that financial competition is futile, one that prompts altered strategies that play to progressive strengths? In the two years after the Citizens United decision, we've seen a renewed commitment to deep organizing and innovative rapid response that is threatening corporate-backed electeds and industry-promoted legislation alike." ...

... But Seriously, Colbert. Melinda Henneberger of the Washington Post: "Calling himself the 'Martin Luther King of corporation civil rights,' [Stephen] Colbert said [at a rally in South Carolina] that in a time maybe not everyone in the audience could remember — two years ago — corporations were sadly limited in the amount of money they could pour into political campaigns. But that changed, he said, when 'five courageous justices' on the Supreme Court ruled in the 2010 Citizens United decision that 'corporations are people,' that people are entitled to free speech, that free speech equals money and that corporations should thus be entitled to dump as much money as they like into the political water table, provided they don’t coordinate with the campaigns they’re funding."

One of the Many Hidden Costs of Racial Bigotry. Tara Bernard of the New York Times: "Blacks are about twice as likely as whites to wind up in the more onerous and costly form of consumer bankruptcy as they try to dig out from their debts, a new study has found. The disparity persisted even when the researchers adjusted for income, homeownership, assets and education. The evidence suggested that lawyers were disproportionately steering blacks into a process that was not as good for them financially, in part because of biases, whether conscious or unconscious. The vast majority of debtors file under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code, which typically allows them to erase most debts in a matter of months. It tends to have a higher success rate and is less expensive than the alternative, Chapter 13, which requires debtors to dedicate their disposable income to paying back their debts for several years." CW: for those of you who still think it doesn't matter which candidates win the elections, this is a good example of why Elections Have Consequences. When you award these GOP dog-whistlers your vote, especially when that award leads to their elections, you're giving them more opportunities to continue to reinforce racial bias.

Chris McGreal of the Guardian: "The owner of a Jewish newspaper in Atlanta has said he deeply regrets writing a column suggesting that Israel consider 'a hit' on Barack Obama if he stands in the way of the Jewish state defending itself. Andrew Adler told the Guardian he wrote the column in the weekly Atlanta Jewish Times 'to get a reaction' from the paper's readers." CW: Yes, because a newspaper editor's urging the assassination of a U.S. president is such a good idea. That's exactly what legendary Hearst editor Arthur Brisbane did -- shortly before an anarchist assassinated President William McKinley. (Ironically, writing a column "to get a reaction from the paper's readers" is also what Brisbane's grandson, Art Brisbane of the New York Times said he did when he asked if journalists should fact-check politicians' remarks.) The original Gawker story (updated) on Adler's editorial is here. An ABC News story, which reports that the Secret Service "is aware" of Adler's editorial, is here.

"How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life." Laura Pappano of the New York Times: "... big-time sports has become the public face of the university, the brand that admissions offices sell, a public-relations machine thanks to ESPN exposure."

AND Obama's been singing a long time. (See yesterday's Commentariat for context.) I think this clip is from a 2009 event:

Right Wing World

Nate Silver: "Newt Gingrich, who had trailed Mitt Romney by a double-digit margin in South Carolina in several polls conducted just after the New Hampshire primary, may instead be headed to a big victory there, recent polling suggests."

Alexander Burns of Politico: "... as voting begins in the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney’s remaining opponents sound more determined than ever to make him wage a long and potentially costly battle for the Republican presidential nomination. Driven by a range of personal resentments and unlikely strategies, the surviving anti-Romney candidates are ... pressing on with guerrilla-style campaigns that were never allowed much hope of success.... But for Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, the campaign has always been a desperate errand — a windmill-tilting exercise in ignoring the overwhelming conventional wisdom that says that they have no chance."

Janine Gibson & Richard Adams of the Guardian: "The comedian and satirist Stephen Colbert arrived in Charleston aboard Herman Cain's 999 bus to ask Republican voters to choose the former candidate in Saturday's South Carolina primary. Of course, that was barely the point. To marching bands, cheerleaders and a crowd of over 3,000 on the College of Charleston's manicured campus, Colbert took to the stage and led a stirring version of This Little Light of Mine, with a gospel choir. A close harmony of The Star Spangled Banner followed."

... Colbert King of the Washington Post does not find Colbert's involvement in the GOP race "the least bit funny.... Too much has gone into getting the right to vote to treat the ballot like a game." CW: King has a point, but what he doesn't seem to get is that a vote for Cain/Colbert is a protest vote against All of the Above. I don't normally favor protest votes, but when the candidates all as whacked out, sleazy and/or cravenly anti-99 Percent as those in this race, None of the Above is an appropriate ballot choice.

... Colbert appears on "Morning Joe." CW: You might have guessed who my candidate in the South Carolina GOP presidential primary is. And, no, I never thought I'd say, "Vote for Herman Cain":

Kristin Ford of Faith in Public Life: "More than 40 national Catholic leaders and prominent theologians at universities across the country released a strongly worded open letter [Friday] urging 'our fellow Catholics Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail.'” Post contains text of letter & signatories. CW: read the letter. It's pretty good. Too bad no "journalists" will ask Gingrich & Santorum about stuff like this during a debate.

Jeanne Sahadi of CNN Money: "On Thursday night, just as the final debate before South Carolina's Republican primary was getting underway, [Newt] Gingrich posted online the 2010 joint federal tax return he filed with his wife, Callista. The headline number was 31%. That's the percentage of the couple's total income -- $3,162,424 -- they owed in federal income taxes. Their total tax bill was $994,708. Gingrich's opponent Mitt Romney said this week that he estimates his effective federal tax rate is about 15% -- a number driven down by Romney's millions in investment income, which is typically taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income such as a salary."

Jim Rutenberg, et al., of the New York Times: "After arriving [in South Carolina] last week fresh off of what seemed to be two victories in a row in Iowa and New Hampshire, [Mitt] Romney was suddenly confronting the prospect of leaving as the winner of only one of the first three nominating contests." ...

... Mendacious Mitt, Con'd. Steve Benen continues his featured Top Romney Lies of the Week. The Week. Benen caught Romney in ten whoppers this week. Many of these lies are not just "misinterpretations" or shadings of the truth; they flat-out falsehoods. The man has no relationship with the truth. ...

... Adam Serwer of Mother Jones: oops! During the last debate, Mitt Romney accidentally admitted that the Affordable Care Act isn't "socialism," though you can be sure that went right over the heads of the dunces who will vote for him. "To the Republican candidates, manipulating the tax code for the benefit of corporations is 'free market capitalism.' Manipulating it to provide everyone with health insurance coverage is 'socialism,' which is so precious to Republicans that they only want veterans to have it."

"Crass Warfare." Like me, Steve Benen cannot figure out why the right thinks it is rank "hypocrisy" for wealthy Democratic candidates to champion the middle-class and poor. To wit, Scott Brown's campaign is calling Elizabeth Warren an "elitist hypocrite" because now that she and her husband are well-to-do, she still wants to help people in the middle class achieve success, too. CW: A couple of days ago, I read an op-ed column in the right-wing Boston Herald by some regular dimwitted columnist to exactly this effect. When I wrote a comment pointing out that it was laudable for the wealthy to give others the same chances they have had, the reasoned retorts I got were (1) you're a Marxist Nazi, and (2) hahahahahahahaha. That second one was the whole response, only it was longer. See Akhilleus's comment in yesterday's thread. I know some leftists who are self-righteous, strident bores/boors, but the right does seem to be dominated by dumb fuckers.

Local News

Himanshu Ojha, et al., of Reuters: "Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's grants of commutations or pardons to more than 200 prisoners, all but eight in his final days in office, disproportionately benefited white offenders among a predominantly black prison population, a Reuters analysis found." CW: I am shocked to learn Haley Barbour is a bigot. I thought all that "folksy bashing of poor black people" he did and said were just light-hearted "tradition." (The linked essay by Kai Wright of Color Lines, written last April, is instructive.)

News Ledes

New York Times: "Surprising his rivals and upending the highly unpredictable Republican race for the presidency, Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary on Saturday, just 10 days after a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire left the impression his candidacy was all but dead. So strong was Mr. Gingrich’s performance that the major television networks declared him the winner the minute the polls closed, basing their projections on exit polls that showed him winning a plurality of voters among a wide swath of important Republican voting blocs." The Times has informative blog here. The Washington Post has the full results here.

New York Times: "President Obama will use his election-year State of the Union address on Tuesday to define an activist role for government in promoting a prosperous and equitable society, hoping to draw a stark contrast between the parties in a time of deep economic uncertainty." ...

...

Here's the "video preview" of President Obama's SOTU address, which the Obama campaign e-mailed to supporters:

Reuters: "With the crucial Republican presidential primary in South Carolina just hours away, longtime front-runner Mitt Romney is acknowledging what some opinion polls are suggesting: He could lose Saturday." CW: the election is today. ...

... Politico: "On the eve of the South Carolina primary, ­ Iowa Republicans dealt Mitt Romney’s campaign a blow by formally declaring Rick Santorum the winner of their Jan. 3 caucuses. At 18 minutes before midnight Friday, South Carolina time, the Republican Party of Iowa released a statement revising its Thursday announcement that reported Santorum ahead of Romney but also saying the two-week-old race had no clear winner."

Reuters: "Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday it considered the likely return of U.S. warships to the Gulf part of routine activity, backing away from previous warnings to Washington not to re-enter the area. The statement may be seen as an effort to reduce tensions after Washington said it would respond if Iran made good on a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz -- the vital shipping lane for oil exports from the Gulf."

New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday rejected elections maps drawn by a federal court in Texas that had favored Democratic candidates there. The unanimous decision said that redistricting is primarily a job for elected state officials and that the lower court had not paid enough deference to maps drawn by the State Legislature, which is controlled by Republicans. The justices sent the case back to the lower court, extending the uncertainty surrounding this major voting-rights case. The new maps to be drawn by the lower court could play a role in determining control of the House of Representatives."

Reuters: "Lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation in its tracks on Friday, delivering a stunning win for Internet companies.... Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would postpone a critical vote that had been scheduled for January 24 'in light of recent events.' Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, followed suit, saying his panel would delay action on similar legislation until there is wider agreement on the issue."

Reuters: "The Congress has the constitutional right to legislate permits for cross-border oil pipelines like TransCanada's Keystone XL, according to a new legal analysis released late on Friday. The study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service could give a boost to Republicans drafting legislation to overturn a decision this week by President Barack Obama to put the $7 billion Alberta-to-Texas project on ice."

The Commentariat -- January 20, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is titled "David Brooks v. the 99 Percent." I think it's a pretty good one (except -- arithmetically challenged as always -- I got my math wrong; I've asked to have the piece corrected). The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here. ...

     ... Driftglass takes a similar, but funnier, whack at Brooks in "Blithering Heights."

... Comments, BTW, are open on today's Commentariat.

Can't Dance. Can't Act. Slightly Gray. Can Sing A Little (ref. Fred Astaire):

Dan Eggen of the Washington Post: "An array of liberal-leaning activist groups are marking the [second] anniversary [of the Citizens United ruling] by launching new efforts to overturn the decision, including calls for a potential constitutional amendment."

"Likudnik Paranoia." Joe Klein of Time: "Uh-oh, there’s another wave of attacks – both here and in Israel – on those of us who support Israel, but not in the mindless, aggressive way that neoconservatives do and not at the expense of America’s national interests. Over there, Bibi Netanyahu has proclaimed the New York Times and Haaretz the 'biggest' enemies of Israel.

Reid Wilson of the National Journal: "A lot of very qualified, potentially strong Senate candidates raised less than $1 million over the last three months. Massachusetts Senate contender Elizabeth Warren has raised that much in the last 24 hours. Warren's campaign said it had broken the seven-figure mark on its first money bomb around 9 p.m. [Thursday] evening. Just 20 minutes later, they're close to $1.1 million, according to a running tally on her website.... Almost exactly two years ago, when Republicans started to think they had a real shot at winning the seat, Sen. Scott Brown raised more than $1 million a day, three days in a row."

A fine rant from JurassicPork of Brilliant at Breakfast on how our democracy works -- partial answer: not too well because we're all selfish bastards.

Paul Krugman: Mitt "Romney’s tax dance is doing us all a service by highlighting the unwise, unjust and expensive favors being showered on the upper-upper class. At a time when all the self-proclaimed serious people are telling us that the poor and the middle class must suffer in the name of fiscal probity, such low taxes on the very rich are indefensible."

Right Wing World *

Quote of the Day. I’m tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans. -- Newt Gingrich, assailing CNN's John King for asking him about Marianne Gingrich's assertions about the breakup of their marriage (see video below). Alert to Media: It is totally unfair and unprofessional to ask Republican candidates embarrassing questions. Questions like "How much do you love your country?" and "How deep is your faith in Jesus Christ, your personal savior?" would be okay. Still, reporters should allow GOP candidates to prescreen all questions. Or let them submit their own questions for you to ask.

Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post fact-checks 15 "dubious or interesting" claims made by the candidates in last night's GOP presidential debate. ...

... New York Times reporters fact-check a few of the statements made by candidates in the debate. ...

... Amy Walker of ABC News picks winner and losers in last night's GOP debate. I didn't see the debate, natch, but her analysis sounds plausible. ...

... NEW. But for a much more entertaining take, I recommend Charles Pierce's put-down of Newt & Willard... and John King.

Public Policy Polling: "Newt Gingrich led Mitt Romney 34-28 in PPP's South Carolina polling [Wednesday] night, the first of what will be three nights of tracking. Ron Paul at 15%, Rick Santorum at 14%, Rick Perry at 5%, and Buddy Roemer at 3% round out the field.... Just for fun on this poll we tested the alternative universe in which Stephen Colbert had been allowed on the South Carolina ballot and he gets 8%, putting him in 5th place and ahead of Perry's 6%. Perry joins Jon Huntsman as GOP candidates who have trailed Colbert in our South Carolina polling and then exited the race." ...

... PPP Update: "Thursday may have been one of the most eventful days of the Republican campaign so far, but the state of the race in South Carolina didn't change much. Newt Gingrich continues to lead Mitt Romney by 6 points, 35-29, with Ron Paul and Rick Santorum each tied for third at 15%."

** Elite Rich Guy Romney v. Elite Intellectual Obama. Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "The white working class may be a shrinking segment of the American electorate, but it’s still massive. Over time, as this group has become deunionized and downwardly mobile, and as GOP standard-bearers have learned to channel [segregationist Alabama Gov. George] Wallace’s appeal in less explicit ways, these voters have moved steadily into the Republican column.... In the faux populism of the right, [President Obama's] lack of affinity for certain blue-collar pleasures (He can’t bowl! He doesn’t hunt!), his concern for climate change and other supposed abstractions, are all depicted as signs of contempt for blue-collar lives. Add Rick Santorum’s attack on Obama’s remark that it would be a good thing if every American went to college — a comment, Santorum said, that reeked of hubris and elitism by denigrating workers — to Gingrich’s labeling of Obama as the food-stamp president, and it’s abundantly apparent how the right will go after Obama this fall." ...

... Gene Robinson: "... there’s a nasty edge to the discourse here [in South Carolina]. It’s striking that, in a state where unemployment is at 9.9 percent, the last message Romney decides to send voters before the primary is not 'jobs' or 'growth' — but rather, 'We’ve got to get rid of this guy [President Obama].' ... Romney and Gingrich, especially, have taken pains to create the impression that there is something alien and illegitimate about the Obama presidency. At Monday’s debate in Myrtle Beach, Gingrich doubled down on his language characterizing poor people as lazy and ignorant, then practically dared anyone to accuse him of race-baiting. He should consider himself accused."

Mark Maremont of the Wall Street Journal: "Mitt Romney’s campaign has attacked an ABC News report on the candidate’s offshore investments, saying his holdings in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere have no effect on the amount he pays in U.S. taxes. But the campaign’s assertions may be wrong or misleading. Tax experts said some of the offshore holdings are likely intended to help Mr. Romney avoid paying an obscure but hefty tax of as much as 35% on some of those investments, held in a tax-deferred retirement account. As The Wall Street Journal reported in Thursday’s paper, many of Mr. Romney’s offshore investments are held through his individual retirement account, which has grown to between $20.7 million and $101.6 million. IRAs are tax-deferred accounts, in which earnings accrue tax-free until the money is withdrawn during retirement." ...

The DNC puts up this Web ad:

"America's Right and You're Wrong." Romney loses it when a person on the rope line asks him what he'll do for the other 99 Percent:

... Steve Benen: "There are real issues that reflect real-world challenges facing Americans: rising income inequality, poverty, an unjust tax system, and wealth that’s increasingly concentrated at the top. For Mitt Romney, those who even consider this a legitimate area of debate prefer, in his mind, communism. This is nothing short of twisted. That the reflexive 'go back to Russia' attitudes are coming from a far-right politician who amassed a vast fortune after laying off thousands of American workers, wants to give himself another tax cut, owns multiple luxury homes, and stashes cash in the Caymans — all while pursuing an agenda that would make things tougher on American’s working class — makes me feel as if I’m trapped in a Dickensian nightmare." ...

... NEW. A stellar takedown by John Cole of Balloon Juice: "... even though Mitt is raking in millions at a tax rate lower than you, me, and virtually everyone in the country, he fails to realize that America he wants and has been working for more closely resembles the current Russian oligarchy, with a fantabulous concentration of wealth in the hands of a few people and corporations."

Walter Shapiro for The New Republic: Newt Gingrich, "the oft-derided and consistently under-estimated House speaker, has now bested Jesus in his sheer number of resurrections — an association that can only help as the South Carolina primary vote looms Indeed, with the South Carolina demolition derby moving too fast for pollsters to keep up, there is only one certainty before Saturday’s primary—virtually every GOP voter will have seen Gingrich’s confrontation with CNN moderator John King live or in TV clips." ...

... Dave Firestone of the New York Times: "The reason for [Newt Gingrich's] rising popularity is ... that no other candidate in the race expresses the kind of visceral, full-bodied disgust with President Obama that Mr. Gingrich does. The idea is ... to fully discredit him as a person, and play into the article of faith among many Republicans that he has no legitimate claim to the White House.... It also explains why Mr. Gingrich has played into racial animus more eagerly than any other candidate." ...

... The New York Times Editorial Board writes a good one on Newt Gingrich's -- and the party's -- hypocritical sermonizing. They can't run their own lives, but they tell other people how they must live theirs -- and write laws to force their own values on others.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times: "... a look at the arc of [Rick] Santorum’s political career, from his days as a fresh-faced College Republican to his bruising defeat for a third term in 2006, reveals a side of Mr. Santorum beyond that of reformer and abortion foe. He emerges as a savvy operator and sharp tactician, a climber who became a member of the Washington establishment that he had once railed against. ...

... ABC News's Brian Ross interviews Marianne Gingrich, Newt's second wife (this is the best-quality vid of the interview out there right now, but it may be "disappeared" soon, so if you ever want to watch it, now might be your only chance):

     ... Lloyd Grove of the Daily Beast on the interview: "It was ... a thoroughly damning presentation that is likely to repel some Republican voters (who also might be conflicted and feel sorry for Gingrich because the attack comes from 'the elite media'). Still, if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million—and Nightline’s exposé is apt to depress Gingrich’s vote total during Saturday’s balloting."

Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: A new Public Policy Poll shows that "Republicans ... don't trust anyone except Fox News, who[m] they adore.... Liberals don't immediately dismiss as a conspiracy everything they hear from the news media that doesn't fit their preconceived notions.... Increasingly, conservatives ... want to believe the world is a certain way, and they're just flatly not willing to countenance anything that might challenge those beliefs. This is not a healthy development for a modern democracy." ...

... Paul Waldman of American Prospect: "If you are a consumer of conservative media, you get constant reminders -- every day, multiple times a day -- that you absolutely must not believe anything you hear or read in any news outlet that is not explicitly conservative.... Americans are not 'polarized' when it comes to the media, because that implies that both sides have drifted apart to similar degrees.... It's the conservatives who refuse to believe anything that anyone but Fox or conservative talk-radio tells them."

* Where only wingnut orthodoxy is tolerated.

News Ledes

Los Angeles Times: Etta James, the earthy blues and R&B singer whose anguished vocals convinced generations of listeners that she would rather go blind than see her love leave, then communicated her joy upon finding that love at last, died Friday. She was 73." New York Times obituary here. AND here is the Guardian page that includes 10 videos of James' classics, recommended by contributor Victoria.

New York Times: "Newt Gingrich angrily turned aside questions about his marital history at the outset of the final Republican presidential debate before the South Carolina primary, and then aggressively took on Mitt Romney and the other remaining candidates in a raucous confrontation on Thursday night about immigration, abortion, conservative credentials and electability." Washington Post story here. Real Clear Politics has a good summary, too.

AP: "In its budget submission next month, the Obama administration will urge lawmakers to revisit the failed attempt by a congressional supercommittee to cut the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion, the White House says.... The White House plan, likely to reprise new taxes and fee proposals that are nonstarters with Capitol Hill Republicans, would turn off the entire nine-year, $1.2 trillion across-the-board spending cuts, referred to as a 'sequester.'"

Washington Post: French "President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that France was suspending training operations in Afghanistan after four French soldiers were killed and more than a dozen wounded by a renegade Afghan soldier who opened fire on his trainers. In a separate incident in southern Afghanistan, six NATO troops were killed in a helicopter crash, and a senior U.S. defense official said all the victims were U.S. Marines, the Associated Press reported."

New York Times: "Proposed changes in the definition of autism would sharply reduce the skyrocketing rate at which the disorder is diagnosed and might make it harder for many people who would no longer meet the criteria to get health, educational and social services, a new analysis suggests. The definition is now being reassessed by an expert panel appointed by the American Psychiatric Association, which is completing work on the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the first major revision in 17 years."

New York Times: "Greece and its private-sector creditors inched closer to a completed deal late Thursday over how much of a loss investors should take on just over 200 billion euros in Greek government bonds."

The Commentariat -- January 19, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is on David Brooks' argument against asking Mitt Romney to release his tax returns & Nicholas Kristof's whitewashing of Bain Capital. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here.

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "President Obama comes out swinging at the Koch brothers, the wealthy conservative industrialists, in a new television ad designed to push back against a barrage of attacks on the president’s character."

I think Mr. Romney and the rest of the Republican field are going to be playing to their base until the primary season is over. Overall, I think it’s going to be pretty hard to argue that we have not executed a strategy over the last three years that has put America in a stronger position than it was than when I came into office. -- Barack Obama ...

... Fareed Zakaria of Time: "President Obama dismissed Republican rival Mitt Romney’s critiques of his foreign policy credentials Wednesday in an exclusive TIME interview, saying the GOP frontrunner’s attacks are little more than primary posturing that will wither under the glare of 'a serious debate.'” ...

... David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Obama will hit the road for a three-day, five-state tour after his State of the Union address Tuesday, stopping throughout campaign battleground territory that could be critical to his re-election chances."

NEW. Democracy Now! has a good video report on Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline permit with Jane Kleeb of Bold Nebraska and 350.org founder Bill McKibben, an expert on climate change who has led massive protests in Washington, D.C. against the pipeline.

... Glenn Thrush & Darrell Samuelsohn of Politico on the politics of President Obama's killing the Keystone XL pipeline project. Bottom line: it's a win-win.

Prof. Jonathan Turley in a Washington Post op-ed: "10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free."

... Paul Krugman: "... nothing in our history or experience says that unearned income [like capital gains] has to be taxed this lightly. It’s not a time-honored principle; it’s a Bush-era innovation, pushed through the Senate, by the way, using reconciliation." ...

... New York Times Editors: "If Mr. Romney has done one good thing with his partial disclosure — although it clearly wasn’t his goal — he has reminded Americans of the fundamental unfairness of the current tax code and of how determined Mr. Romney and his party are to keep it that way. Currently, the tax code imposes a top rate of 15 percent on investment income — generally, capital gains and dividends — that flows overwhelmingly to wealthy taxpayers. In comparison, top rates between 25 percent and 35 percent are applied to the wages and salaries for many working Americans. Worse, an egregious loophole in the law lets private equity partners pay the lower 15 percent rate on much of their income — known as “carried interest” — even though those earnings are not typically gains from investing their own money, but rather a share of profits from investing someone else’s money."

Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times: "Google and Wikipedia did everyone a big service, and the swift reaction of lawmakers was gratifying. Now, if [Sen. John] Cornyn [R-Texas] and [Sen. Marco] Rubio [R-Fla.] would pay as much attention to the Occupy protesters and the pain of the middle class, the country would be even better off." ...

... Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: The "formidable old guard was forced to make way for the new as Web powerhouses backed by Internet activists rallied opposition to the legislation through Internet blackouts and cascading criticism, sending an unmistakable message to lawmakers grappling with new media issues: Don’t mess with the Internet. As a result, the legislative battle over two once-obscure bills to combat the piracy of American movies, music, books and writing on the World Wide Web may prove to be a turning point for the way business is done in Washington. It represented a moment when the new economy rose up against the old."

A. G. Sulzberger of the New York Times: "Barring some unexpected act of salvation..., Boeing leaves Wichita, [Kansas,] after eight decades as one of its biggest employers and most prestigious brands: in a trail of broken promises and bitter recriminations. For most of the country, this is just one more plant closing, just 2,160 more lost jobs in a Midwestern city.... But the exit has been another painful blow to the city of Wichita and the airplane manufacturing industry that has sustained it, the sudden reversal of fortune only adding to the feeling of betrayal."

Penn State trustees speak to Pete Thamel & Mark Viera of the New York Times about how they decided to fire University President Graham Spanier & head football coach Joe Paterno as a result of their mishandling the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case.

Fareed Zakaria, frankly, doesn't know much about economics, but I think he might be right in this Washington Post op-ed: "When asked how they will create jobs, Republicans simply talk about cutting taxes and regulations and getting government out of the way. Yes, it is important to have competitive tax and regulatory policies. But the lessons from East Asia to Northern Europe suggest that government policy and investment can play a vital role in providing incentives for the private sector."

Right Wing World

Matthew Mosk, et al., of ABC News: "Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven." ...

     ... Update: Kasie Hunt of the AP writes a related story. ...

Nicholas Confessore, et al., of the New York Times: "The wealth that has helped underwrite [Mitt Romney's] career in politics remains shrouded in considerable secrecy, which now poses a major political risk on the campaign trail. Mr. Romney’s finances are complex and far-flung. He and his wife, Ann, have reported holdings in dozens of publicly traded companies, mutual funds and high-end investment partnerships, with much of their family wealth held in blind trusts that conceal their full size from public view." ...

Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed throws "The Book" at Mitt Romney; that is, he has published John McCain's full 2008 oppo research book on Romney. If you'd like to read 200 pages of "Romney Is a Bad Dude," this is the place.

Brian Ross of ABC News: "Newt Gingrich lacks the moral character to serve as President, his second ex-wife Marianne told ABC News, saying his campaign positions on the sanctity of marriage and the importance of family values do not square with what she saw during their 18 years of marriage." With video clip.

** Fools or Frauds. Paul Krugman: "... to be a good Republican right now, you have to affirm your belief in things that any halfway intelligent politician can see are plainly false. This leaves room for only two kinds of candidates: those who just aren’t smart and/or rational enough to understand the problem, and those who are completely cynical, willing to say anything to get ahead. What sort of things am I talking about? They range from the belief that Obama is a socialist who will destroy America with his dastardly Heritage Foundation devised health care plan, to the belief that unemployment is high because lazy people prefer their unemployment insurance checks. On budget matters, you have to claim to believe that we can cut taxes sharply, maintain high military spending, and eliminate the deficit — all without upsetting those Republican-voting Medicare recipients."

Philosopher Gary Gutting, in a New York Times post, exposes the inherent contradiction in conservative philosophy. (It would have been nice to read Gutting's views on Calvinism and "prosperity theology," but perhaps the contradictory nature of those "theologies" is self-evident.)

The Do-Nothing Congress, Con'd. Dana Milbank: "The House’s first legislative act of 2012 had been utterly pointless...."

News Ledes

New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday blocked Vermont from forcing the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor to shut down when its license expires in March, saying that the state is trying to regulate nuclear safety, which only the federal government can do."

New York Times: "In what the federal authorities on Thursday called one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized the Web site Megaupload and charged seven people connected with it with running an international enterprise based on Internet piracy.... The hacker collective that calls itself Anonymous attacked the Web sites of the Justice Department and several major entertainment companies and trade groups in retaliation for Mega-upload’s seizure. The Justice Department’s site and several others remained inaccessible for much of Thursday afternoon." Gizmodo has a story & a copy of the indictment. The Rolling Stone story is here.

And then there were four (I think). CNN is livestreaming the GOP presidential debate here. The New York Times liveblog is here.

** CNN: Rick Perry is telling supporters that he will drop his bid Thursday for the Republican presidential nomination, two sources familiar with his plans told CNN." ...

     ... Politico Update: "Texas Gov. Rick Perry is expected to end his presidential campaign Thursday and endorse Newt Gingrich, two sources confirm to Politico." ...

     ... Update: New York Times post-statement report.

New York Times: "Mitt Romney’s eight-vote victory in the Iowa caucuses will be rescinded on Thursday, following a two-week review by the state’s Republican Party that found that Rick Santorum actually finished 34 votes ahead of Mr. Romney, two party officials confirmed. Matt Strawn, chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party, is set to announce at 9:15 a.m. Eastern time that an actual winner cannot be determined in the caucuses because results from eight of 1,774 precincts could not be located for certification.... Mr. Santorum moved quickly on Thursday to declare victory and dismissed the suggestion that a clear-cut winner could not be determined." ...

     ... Update: Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register has the details.

Bloomberg News: "Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, easing concern that post-holiday firings were on the rise. Jobless claims plunged by 50,000 to 352,000 in the week ended Jan. 14, the lowest level since April 2008, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington." ...

... BUT. Bloomberg: "Builders began work on fewer houses than forecast in December, capping the worst year on record for single-family home construction and signaling recovery in the industry will take time."

New York Times: "Eastman Kodak, the 131-year-old film pioneer that has been struggling for years to adapt to an increasingly digital world, filed for bankruptcy protection early on Thursday. The American icon had tried a number of turnaround strategies and cost-cutting efforts in recent years, but the company — which since 2004 has reported only one full year of profits — ultimately ran short of cash."

New York Times: "In the latest twist in Britain’s phone hacking scandal, the actor Jude Law and John Prescott, a former British deputy prime minister, were named Thursday in a list of 36 victims of alleged hacking who have reached out-of-court settlements with Rupert Murdoch’s media empire." The Guardian is running a liveblog on the story.

Washington Post: "David M. Rubenstein, the billionaire Bethesda philanthropist, will donate $7.5 million to help fix the shuttered, earthquake-damaged Washington Monument, government officials plan to announce Thursday.... It comes a month after he donated $4.5 million to the National Zoo’s cash-strapped giant panda program and seven months after a $13.5 million gift to the National Archives.

AP: "... a U.S. Army depot in Utah finished destroying the last of 1.3 million munitions filled with a witches' brew of toxins, blister and blood agents.... The Utah depot — which at its peak held 13,600 tons of chemical agents, making it the world's largest — expects to complete the job by the weekend when it incinerates bulk supplies of Lewisite, a powerful skin, eye and lung irritant. By then, the U.S. Army will have destroyed about 90 percent of its aging chemical weapons that accumulated through the Cold War."

New York Times: "Hedge funds ... [are] suing Greece in a human rights court to make good on its bond payments. The novel approach would have the funds arguing in the European Court of Human Rights that Greece had violated bondholder rights.... Many blame [these same funds] for the lack of progress so far in the negotiations over restructuring Greece’s debts."