Eric Geller's Blog

New York Times : Both Romney and Obama Avoid Talk of Climate Change (by John M. Broder) Key passage: “Any serious effort to address climate change will require a transformation of the nation’s system for producing and consuming energy and will, at least in the medium term, mean higher prices for fuel and electricity. Powerful incumbent industries — coal, oil, utilities — are threatened by such changes and have mounted a well-financed long-term campaign to sow doubt about climate change. The Koch brothers and others in the oil industry have underwritten advertising campaigns and grass-roots efforts to support like-minded candidates. And the Republican Party has essentially declared climate change a nonproblem.” The Washington Post ’s series about the federal counter-terrorism apparatus: “The Permanent War” Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists (by Greg Miller) Key passage: “Obama approves the criteria for lists a

New York Times : For President, a Complex Calculus of Race and Politics (by Jodi Kantor) Key passage: ““As he’s gotten more comfortable being president, he’s gotten more comfortable being him,” said Brian Mathis, an Obama fund-raiser. Asked when they could sense that shift, several advisers and friends mentioned the waning hours of Mr. Obama’s birthday party in the summer of 2011. As the hour grew late, many of the white guests left, and the music grew “blacker and blacker,” as the comedian Chris Rock later told an audience. Watching African-American entertainers and sports stars do the Dougie to celebrate a black president in a house built by slaves, Mr. Rock said, “I felt like I died and went to black heaven.”” The New Yorker : The Voter-Fraud Myth (by Jane Mayer) Key passage: “The vast majority of the lawmakers who have pushed for voter I.D.s have been Republicans. As Bill Clinton has put it, “This is not rocket science. They are trying to make the 2012 electorate look

New York Magazine: November 7th (by Jonathan Chait) Key passage: “It’s important to be clear about what a defiant Obama II would offer, because it is both more and less than liberals are expecting. They may hope that Obama passes new job-creation measures in his second term. But he appears to have decided that the price of more short-term stimulus—more tax cuts for the rich, which Obama extended in return for stimulus in his December 2010 deal—is no longer tolerable. For better or worse, the president hopes the recovery is strong enough to stand on its own two feet. Where he can actually win without compromise, however, is in some ways more significant.” The New Republic :   How the GOP Destroyed its Moderates (by Jonathan Chait) Key passage: “What remains of “moderation” within the party has taken on a definition very distinct from the meaning that it held originally. Unlike the moderate and liberal Republicans of yore, today’s “moderates” generally identify themselves