<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>SwamplandCategory: Uncategorized &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
	<atom:link href="http://swampland.time.com/category/uncategorized/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://swampland.time.com</link>
	<description>Political insight from the Beltway and beyond</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 20:38:26 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>
<cloud domain='swampland.time.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' />
<image>
		<url>http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/11d9978cfec7d5a71822113fdc067df5?s=96&#038;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png</url>
		<title>SwamplandCategory: Uncategorized &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com</link>
	</image>
	<atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://swampland.time.com/osd.xml" title="Swampland" />
	<atom:link rel='hub' href='http://swampland.time.com/?pushpress=hub'/>
		<item>
		<title>Obama to Ohio State Graduates: Participate, Persevere (Transcript)</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/05/obama-to-ohio-state-graduates-participate-persevere-transcript/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/05/obama-to-ohio-state-graduates-participate-persevere-transcript/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 May 2013 19:29:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TIME STAFF</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94812</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Remarks Provided by the White House Press Office THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Hello, Buckeyes!  O-H! AUDIENCE:  I-O! THE PRESIDENT:  O-H! AUDIENCE:  I-O! THE PRESIDENT:  O-H! AUDIENCE:  I-O! THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you so much.  Everybody, please be seated.  Thank you, Dr. Gee, for the wonderful introduction.  I suspect the good President may have edited out some other words that were used to describe me.  (Laughter.)  I appreciate that.  But I&#8217;m going to let Michelle know of all the good comments. To the Board of Trustees; Congresswoman Beatty; Mayor Coleman; and all of you who make up The Ohio State University for allowing me to join you &#8212; it is an incredible honor. And most of all, congratulations, Class of 2013!  (Applause.)  And of course, congratulations to all the parents, and family, and friends and faculty here in the Horseshoe &#8212; this is your day as well.  (Applause.)  I&#8217;ve been told to ask everybody, though, please be careful with the turf.  Coach Meyer has big plans for this fall.  (Laughter.) I very much appreciate the President’s introduction.  I will not be singing today.  (Laughter.) AUDIENCE:  Aww &#8212; (laughter.) THE PRESIDENT:  It is true that I did speak at that certain university up north a few years ago.  But, to be fair, you did let President Ford speak here once &#8212; and he played football for Michigan!  (Laughter.)  So everybody can get some redemption. In my defense, this is my fifth visit to campus in the past year or so.  (Applause.)  One time, I stopped at Sloppy’s to grab some lunch.  Many of you &#8212; Sloopy’s &#8212; I know.  (Laughter.)  It’s Sunday and I&#8217;m coming off a foreign trip.  (Laughter.)  Anyway, so I&#8217;m at Sloopy’s and many of you were still eating breakfast.  At 11:30 a.m.  (Laughter.)  On a Tuesday.  (Laughter.)  So, to the Class of 2013, I will offer my first piece of advice:  Enjoy it while you can.  (Laughter.)  Soon, you will not get to wake up and have breakfast at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday.  (Laughter.)  And once you<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94812&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/05/obama-to-ohio-state-graduates-participate-persevere-transcript/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Barack Obama</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/white-house/barack-obama/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/pol-obama-budget-130411.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/pol-obama-budget-130411.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/pol-obama-budget-130411.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">President Barack Obama makes his way to the Rose Garden to speak on the budget on April 10,2013 at the White House in Washington.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/b456c5209a547a000e0b869f3333aa77?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">zekemiller</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Austerity Strikes Back: Budget Hawks Regroup After the Reinhart/Rogoff Affair</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/01/austerity-strikes-back-budget-hawks-regroup-after-the-reinhartrogoff-affair/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/01/austerity-strikes-back-budget-hawks-regroup-after-the-reinhartrogoff-affair/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 May 2013 01:47:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Matthews</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94633</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94633&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/05/01/austerity-strikes-back-budget-hawks-regroup-after-the-reinhartrogoff-affair/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Economy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/economy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/426250-001.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/426250-001.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/426250-001.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">government money</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Republicans Fear Clinton in 2016</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/12/republicans-fear-clinton-in-2016/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/12/republicans-fear-clinton-in-2016/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:30:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zeke J Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[2016 Election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillary Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=92796</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[HOLLYWOOD — Republican leaders plotted their party&#8217;s political comeback on Thursday with plans to court minority voters and modernize their political operations. But some wondered if one person could make it all for naught: Hillary Clinton. As attendees of the Republican National Committee&#8217;s spring meeting debated party rules and a refurbished GOP brand capable of winning back the White House, more than two dozen operatives and officials expressed worry that none of their party&#8217;s potential 2016 candidates can take her down. One early primary state RNC member put it simply: “If she gets in, we’re toast.” To be sure, Clinton enjoyed a similar sense of inevitability in 2005, but Republicans say she looks more formidable this time around. “We thought we could beat her [in 2008] because she was seen as bitter and unlikeable — and that’s what Obama proved,” said one Republican operative at the meeting. But Clinton finished her tenure as Secretary of State with stratospheric approval ratings, has added four years of Cabinet-level foreign policy making to her resume, and appears far less likely to face a strong 2016 primary challenge like the one Obama mounted in 2007 and 2008. “We’re hoping she doesn’t run, because if she does, she’ll win,&#8221; said the same operative. The Clinton fears have Republicans gearing up early for the 2016 campaign. America Rising, the new GOP super PAC founded by former RNC and Romney aides, has already begun digging up opposition research on Clinton, along with other potential Democratic candidates. Overhearing discussions about Clinton in the hallway outside the RNC meeting, Jorge Landivar, a Ron Paul-backing delegate to the 2012 Republican convention from Texas, chimed in: “All the polls say she will destroy anyone that we put up — it&#8217;s [f---ng] terrifying.”  National polling from Quinnipiac University finds that Clinton, the most popular national political figure, would defeat  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 45 &#8211; 37 percent; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio 50 &#8211; 34 percent and Rep. Paul Ryan 50 &#8211; 38 percent. Ron Kaufman, the RNC committeeman from Massachusetts and a senior<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=92796&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/12/republicans-fear-clinton-in-2016/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Hillary Clinton</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/hillary-clinton/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/h_50678343.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/h_50678343.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/h_50678343.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 23, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/b456c5209a547a000e0b869f3333aa77?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">zekemiller</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Kerry Walks Softly Out of the Gate</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/26/kerry-walks-softly-out-of-the-gate/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/26/kerry-walks-softly-out-of-the-gate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:45:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jay Newton-Small</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Department]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=89011</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Newly minted Secretary of State John Kerry has always been a loner. In his long Senate career he was more known for his investigations and courtship of foreign leaders than collaborating on legislation. His aloof nature kept him apart from his colleagues and it wasn’t until the end of his Senate career, years after his failed 2004 presidential bid, that Kerry gained popularity in the Senate. Even his sports are solitary: biking and wind surfing. So, how does someone who’s spent his life picking his own waves happily row a boat someone else is steering? Kerry faces many hurdles. He is well aware that he may not have been Obama’s first choice to succeed Hillary Clinton; Kerry’s nod only came after UN Ambassador Susan Rice’s candidacy went up in flames. So, he has proceeded cautiously. He brought just seven staffers over to State with him. He allowed the White House to pick his spokesman and his speechwriter, and held over many of the top career folks at State. His first speech was an unspectacular 5,500 words on the importance of foreign aid. Dennis McDonough, the new White House chief of staff who until last month was deputy National Security Adviser, was trotted out to do the Sunday shows before the new Secretary of State. (VIDEO: John Kerry Bids Farewell to the Senate After 28 Years) Certainly, the Obama White House will be watching Kerry’s words closely in the initial months, lest he overreach. Over the past four years, Kerry has criticized the White House from his perch as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging Obama to get involved in Libya well before he did, critiquing the Administration’s mishandling of the Middle East peace process and relations with Pakistan and advocating the arming of the Syrian opposition which Obama has rejected. Now, Kerry will need to turn that deep expertise inwards. He’s met with every living past Secretary of State and has relied on advice from his longtime friend and colleague Vice President Joe Biden at regular breakfasts. He’s<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=89011&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/26/kerry-walks-softly-out-of-the-gate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Department</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/state-department-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/john-kerry2.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/john-kerry2.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/john-kerry2.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/557ff2649ffce53285c86e4b694cff6d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jnewtonsmall</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cardinal Dolan Reacts to the Pope&#8217;s Resignation</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/11/cardinal-dolan-reacts-to-the-popes-resignation/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/11/cardinal-dolan-reacts-to-the-popes-resignation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:56:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=87687</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pope Benedict XVI stepped down today in an announcement that surprised the Catholic world. There is no modern precedent for a papal resignation&#8211;the last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415. Pope &#8220;B16,&#8221; as he is affectionately called, cited his advanced age and health concerns as reason for his departure. &#8220;[T]he new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is,&#8221; Benedict said in his resignation statement. But because he is still living, it remains to be seen whether or not he will have any influence in who his successor will be. Reaction to the Pope&#8217;s announcement in the United States is only just beginning. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, leader of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops, issued this initial statement moments after learning of His Holiness&#8217;s resignation: Statement of Cardinal Timothy Dolan The Holy Father brought the tender heart of a pastor, the incisive mind of a scholar and the confidence of a soul united with His God in all he did. His resignation is but another sign of his great care for the Church. We are sad that he will be resigning but grateful for his eight years of selfless leadership as successor of St. Peter. Though 78 when he elected pope in 2005, he set out to meet his people – and they were of all faiths – all over the world. He visited the religiously threatened – Jews, Muslims and Christians in the war-torn Middle East, the desperately poor in Africa, and the world’s youth gathered to meet him in Australia, Germany, Spain and Brazil. He delighted our beloved United States of America when he visited Washington and New York in 2008. As a favored statesman he greeted notables at the White House. As a spiritual leader he led the Catholic community in prayer at Nationals Park, Yankee Stadium and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. As a pastor feeling pain in a stirring, private meeting at the Vatican nunciature in Washington, he brought a listening heart to victims of sexual abuse by clerics.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=87687&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/11/cardinal-dolan-reacts-to-the-popes-resignation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/154501654.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/154501654.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/154501654.jpg?w=200" medium="image" />

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/ebdda166ab21d2396926cb26f59c1ac2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">elizabethdias</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ten Years Since Colin Powell Presented Case for Iraq War</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/ten-years-since-colin-powell-presented-case-for-iraq-war/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/ten-years-since-colin-powell-presented-case-for-iraq-war/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:43:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Remembrance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=87184</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ten years ago today Secretary of State Colin Powell made his case to the United Nations to go to war with Iraq on the assumption that weapons of mass destruction were held there.  Last year in an interview with TIME&#8217;s Belinda Luscombe, Powell said: I feel bad about any loss of life on either side of the conflict, but I think it was a justified decision based on what we knew at the time. I did it, and as I say in the book (It Worked For Me), I had to move on. I was still Secretary of State. I couldn&#8217;t go in a corner and go fetal. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the U.S. has spent over $800 billion and 4486 American soldiers have died. Check out the beginning of Powell&#8217;s address to the U.N., and his later interview with TIME, below: Other TIME &#8220;10 Questions&#8221; interviews can be viewed here.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=87184&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/ten-years-since-colin-powell-presented-case-for-iraq-war/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Remembrance</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/miscellany/remembrance/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/colin-powell-george-tenet.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/colin-powell-george-tenet.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/colin-powell-george-tenet.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell talks with CIA Director George Tenet after his presentation to the U.N. Security Council in New York</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Religious Groups Remain Concerned About Contraception Mandate</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/01/religious-groups-remain-concerned-about-contraception-mandate/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/01/religious-groups-remain-concerned-about-contraception-mandate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:21:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=86841</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Religious nonprofits won&#8217;t have to pay for contraception coverage under ObamaCare, but their employees must be offered the benefit, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Friday in a rule-making proposal. The announcement was mostly a codification&#8211;not a change&#8211;from the somewhat tangled religious exemptions that the administration proposed last year. Under the framework, houses of worship, like mosques and churches, would not be required to offer contraceptive coverage to employees. But the employees of other religious nonprofits, like Catholic hospitals and evangelical colleges, would get contraception coverage, though it would be paid for by insurers, not employers. For-profit companies would be required to pay for contraception coverage themselves, even if the owners objected on religious grounds. The announcement Friday expended the definition of religious nonprofits who could benefit from insurer-funded contraception, and offered new options and procedures for self-insured religious non-profits that do not want to shoulder the direct cost of contraceptive coverage. But the new proposal left in place its most controversial elements, earning more praise from Planned Parenthood than from the Catholic Church and conservative evangelicals. The announced rules offer no relief for private for-profit companies, whose owners object to contraception. The Christian-run crafts store Hobby Lobby, for example, has filed suit against the administration, saying it should not be required to pay for insurance that covers treatments that violate its owner&#8217;s beliefs. More than 40 other lawsuits have been filed by both secular non-profits and religious for-profits, claiming that the mandate violates their religious beliefs.  “Today’s proposed rule does nothing to protect the religious liberty of millions of Americans. The rights of family businesses like Hobby Lobby are still being violated,” says Kyle Duncan, General Counsel at the Becket Fund. “The Becket Fund continues to study what effect, if any, the Administration’s proposed rule has on the many lawsuits currently pending on behalf of non-profit religious organizations like Ave Maria University, Belmont Abbey College, Colorado Christian University, East Texas Baptist University, EWTN, Houston Baptist University, and Wheaton College.” Cardinal Dolan of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=86841&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/01/religious-groups-remain-concerned-about-contraception-mandate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Health Care</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/health-care/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/the-pill.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/the-pill.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/the-pill.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">An illustration picture shows a woman holding a pill at her home in Nice</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/ebdda166ab21d2396926cb26f59c1ac2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">elizabethdias</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Israel Lobby and Hagel</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/08/the-israel-lobby-and-hagel/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/08/the-israel-lobby-and-hagel/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:16:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viewpoint]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=84371</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Jeff Goldberg has an interesting post about the mixed feelings that the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) may have about launching a major lobbying campaign against Chuck Hagel. He may be right&#8211;and it would be wonderful if true&#8211;but I know that AIPAC has been quietly working the phones, arguing against the nomination. There is a difference between that and a full-bore lobbying campaign, but AIPAC&#8217;s pro-Netanyahu posture has always been clear. (Update: Eli Lake, who knows this territory well, is also reporting that AIPAC will stand down.) While on this subject, I should note, with sadness, that Ed Koch&#8211;a great mayor of New York and one of the most clever politicians I&#8217;ve ever covered&#8211;has gone off the high board on the Hagel nomination. There is much that is odious about Koch&#8217;s statement, but the idea that the President has &#8220;betrayed&#8221; Israel by nominating Hagel is the most outrageous. (MORE: Hagel: A Different Kind of Defense Secretary) These notions of betrayal and appeasement (pace Bill Kristol), perfumed with intimations of anti-Semitism are part of a hyperbolic corruption of common usage, favored by neoconservatives and their extremist allies. Can Nazi metaphors be far behind? Oh, wait a minute: the idea that negotiating with Iran constitutes &#8220;appeasement,&#8221; as Kristol has harangued, is a direct reference to Neville Chamberlain&#8217;s catastrophic cave to Hitler in the 1930s. This sort of thinking pre-supposes two false premises: that Jews are as weak and helpless as they were in Nazi Germany, and that the dreadful regime in Iran has the strength and imperial hunger of the Nazis. The truth is, Israel is the most powerful country in the region, by far. It has a nuclear arsenal. It has a powerful military and a nonpareil intelligence service. Iran, by contrast, is near economic collapse as a result of the global economic sanctions organized by&#8211;yes&#8211;Barack Obama. Its nuclear program is constantly sabotaged by computer viruses launched by a joint effort of Israel&#8217;s intelligence services and&#8211;yes&#8211;the Obama Administration. Is this what Ed Koch means by betrayal? There is no question<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=84371&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/08/the-israel-lobby-and-hagel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Viewpoint</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/miscellany/viewpoint/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/hagel_0108.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/hagel_0108.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/hagel_0108.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Chuck Hagel</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82d9b09d6bf4a8d7cc755c73ad7a3ae5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Weird Resonance of #Mintthecoin</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/04/the-weird-resonance-of-mintthecoin/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/04/the-weird-resonance-of-mintthecoin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:07:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=84195</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here is a thought exercise. It&#8217;s 3013. You&#8217;re a historian, and you want to teach your students about the temporary dementia that gripped the political-media complex a millennium ago. I submit that you could do worse than to give them this article, a snapshot of how dysfunctional national politics converges with cable yakk-bait. Start with a problem: Congressional Republicans are hellbent on using another round of debt-ceiling brinkmanship to win the kind of sharp spending cuts they were denied in the fiscal cliff negotiations. Last time they played chicken with the U.S. economy, our debt was downgraded. Despite his vow not to let Republicans use our full faith and credit as a bargaining chip, there is no obvious way for Barack Obama to avoid it. Congress controls the power of the U.S. borrowing authority. Republicans control the House. Therefore they can prevent our debts from being paid, even though they rung up the debts themselves. A lot of people, cringing at the idea of another debt-limit standoff, are hunting for a work-around. Enter the trillion-dollar platinum coin solution. According to U.S. law, the Treasury Department &#8220;may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time.&#8221; The obscure provision is apparently meant to deal with minting collector&#8217;s items. But it appears to be sound, albeit wacky, support for the notion that Treasury could mint, say, a couple of trillion-dollar coins and deposit it at the U.S. Federal Reserve as a way to circumvent Congressional Republicans&#8217; unwillingness to pay the debts we have racked up. Some respected journalists, thousands of activists, a Nobel-winning economist and at least one congressman are pushing the idea. There is a White House petition and a Twitter hashtag (#mintthecoin) and a handful of cable hits on a slow news day. This idea isn&#8217;t new. It surfaced the last time Republicans threatened to dash the economy to extract policy concessions, just 18 months<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=84195&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/04/the-weird-resonance-of-mintthecoin/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Debt</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/debt-domestic-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/sl-coins-0108.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/sl-coins-0108.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/sl-coins-0108.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">image: Stacks of Coins</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Condi&#8217;s Middle East</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/25/condis-middle-east/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/25/condis-middle-east/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Nov 2012 17:39:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=82758</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Condoleezza Rice has a scarifying op-ed in the Washington Post today in which she argues correctly that the Middle East may be on the brink of a rejiggering of borders — and, incorrectly, that if we don&#8217;t become more active diplomatically, Iran will be the big winner. Rice is a Russia expert. I&#8217;m not sure how much she knows about the Middle East. Presumably she knows that there is an ethnic chasm between Iranians and Arabs — Iranians are Persian and tend to disdain their Arab neighbor — that might limit Iran&#8217;s long-term appeal in the region. (Short-term, Iran&#8217;s ability to provide weaponry and money to Shi‘ites — and occasional radical groups like Hamas — will be a force for mayhem.) Rice also has insufficient respect for history and geography and an anachronistic optimism about America&#8217;s ability to control events in the region. She acknowledges that the Middle East borders were drawn haphazardly by a group of greedy, clueless European imperialists at the end of World War I. But for some reason — the temporary appearance of order, I suppose — she seems vehement about maintaining these phony lines. Long-term peace and stability would argue for actual countries rather than these awkward contraptions. It would be nice to think that we can have some influence over the shape of the emerging Middle East and provide the diplomacy and incentives to keep the violence to a minimum. But what is really needed here, immediately, is a quiet Western recognition that we blew the line-drawing 100 years ago, the place has been a mess ever since, and the indigenes are not likely to look to us as the determiners of where the lines are drawn in the future. I have no idea how this is going to turn out or who will benefit, except to say that it is going to be exceedingly messy and there will be new countries when it is over. There is likely to be a Kurdistan — and it&#8217;s about time, given all that those people have<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=82758&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/25/condis-middle-east/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Uncategorized</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/uncategorized/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82d9b09d6bf4a8d7cc755c73ad7a3ae5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Benghazi Circus</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/20/the-benghazi-circus/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/20/the-benghazi-circus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Nov 2012 22:38:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=82718</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, I&#8217;ve been on a desert island since the election&#8211;and I return to find the tawdry sadness of David Petraeus&#8216; resignation after a lifetime of service to our country. And the even more tawdry attempts by various Republicans to create a scandal over the tragic deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in the Benghazi terror attack. Let me just repeat this flat out: there is no scandal here&#8211;except for the reprehensible behavior of politicians like John McCain and Lindsey Graham who have conducted a scurrilous campaign against Ambassador Susan Rice. (Even their usually knee-jerk amigo Senator Joe Lieberman has refused to join them in this jihad). I tried to catch up on all the hoo-hah since returning from the beach and it seems to me that Rice&#8217;s talking points were accurate, if vague, in the way that talking points usually are. There were two attacks in Benghazi that night. The first was a spontaneous response to the anti-Islamic film that had caused similar protests in Cairo and elsewhere. That is important: there would have been no terrorist attack if the film hadn&#8217;t provided the opportunity for mayhem. Most of the protesters were members of local salafist militias, who quickly realized that the security at the consulate was nearly nonexistent. They organized a second attack with heavier weapons, including mortars. And so we have four essential facts that do not contradict one another: 1. the attack was a spontaneous reaction to the film 2. it was followed by an organized attack. 3. both attacks were populated and organized by terrorist militias, with loose ties to Al-Qaeda. 4. security at the consulate was inadequate So there are two questions: Did the Obama Administration make a political decision to coverup the (rather tenuous) Al-Qaeda involvement? And why was the security so lax? Answer to question 1: Ambassador Rice&#8217;s talking points were scrubbed by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, according to CBS. The specific names of the militias involved were removed for security reasons, apparently, so that our intelligence assets on<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=82718&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/20/the-benghazi-circus/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Uncategorized</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/uncategorized/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82d9b09d6bf4a8d7cc755c73ad7a3ae5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Petraeus Affair: Why Was Obama Kept in the Dark?</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/14/the-mukasey-memo/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/14/the-mukasey-memo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:45:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Massimo Calabresi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=82350</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Forget the salacious details of David Petraeus&#8216;s affair with Paula Broadwell for a moment. Focus on the key national security facts: the head of the CIA was having an extramarital affair, and was communicating with his mistress over an unsecure Gmail account for up to eight months. In the world of espionage, those are potentially important—even vital—secrets, and certainly ones that the Commander in Chief should know. The affair could expose the CIA chief or the mistress to blackmail. The use of an unclassified e-mail account to communicate potentially damaging details of his private life could speak to the judgment of the nation&#8217;s top spy. For these reasons, an official who knew those secrets and didn’t tell the President had better have a good reason for keeping them to himself. And yet the Obama Administration has offered little explanation as to why the Justice Department kept the the President in the dark about the Petraeus affair until two days after the election. Prosecutors and FBI agents knew at least as early as last July that the affair was occurring; high-level Justice officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, knew in &#8220;late summer.&#8221; According to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, the President &#8220;was obviously surprised&#8221; when he learned of the affair on Nov. 8. (MORE: Beneath Glowing Public Image, Petraeus Had His Critics) At a press conference Tuesday, Carney brandished the word &#8220;protocol&#8221; seven times. &#8220;There are protocols that the FBI follows with regards to these kinds of notifications,” he said. Administration officials speaking on background are a little more specific. A law enforcement official told TIME Tuesday that the investigation &#8220;was handled as routine criminal investigations and ongoing criminal investigations are handled.&#8221; Why wasn&#8217;t the President told? &#8220;Allegations get bandied about,” the official says. “So until you run those down you don’t share them outside of law enforcement. That’s one reason. Another reason &#8212; probably a more compelling reason &#8212; is criminal investigations can result in criminal charges. You don’t talk about evidence or things that might be crucial to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=82350&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/14/the-mukasey-memo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>National Security</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/national-security/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/sl-petraeus-obama-1113.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/sl-petraeus-obama-1113.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/sl-petraeus-obama-1113.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">image: President Barack Obama listens while then-nominee for CIA Director, Gen. David Petraeus, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, April 28, 2011.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/afd9484b1bca74216e145d2c49c8af45?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">calabresim</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Senate Intelligence Committee to Probe Petraeus Affair</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/13/senate-intelligence-committee-to-probe-petraeus-affair/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/13/senate-intelligence-committee-to-probe-petraeus-affair/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:33:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jay Newton-Small</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=82293</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ask Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, if his panel is going to investigate former CIA Director David Petraeus’s affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and he sounds downright regretful. “This is a very tragic situation. I grieve for the guy,” Chambliss tells TIME in an interview. But the Georgia Senator says that news reports suggesting that Broadwell may have disclosed classified information in public speeches necessitate the probe. &#8220;We’ll look into that specific issue,&#8221; he says. &#8220;And there are others that give us concerns.” Chambliss says the committee will move quickly during the lame duck session beginning this month to hold hearings into whether Broadwell was ever given any classified information, as well as to determine how she obtained the classified documents the FBI reportedly found on her computer. Both Broadwell and Petraeus denied that those documents came from the CIA director. The FBI believed them, and declined to pursue a criminal case against Petraeus. “It does seem strange that anything classified can go out in an unclassified setting,” Chambliss says, adding that the best scenario is that it was distributed unintentionally. &#8220;The worst scenario is you intended to do it. And that’s what we’ll find out.” Chambliss said the Senate panel is still determining whether or not it will require Petraeus or Broadwell to appear before the committee. On Monday evening, the FBI was seen removing documents from Broadwell’s home – apparently with her cooperation – as the search broadens into how much, if any, secure information got out. Broadwell has hired the Washington attorney Robert Muse, an expert on congressional investigations. Petraeus’s fall from grace also “couldn’t happen at a worse time,” Chambliss said, for the ongoing investigation into the Benghazi attack that killed four Americans on Sept. 11. Petraeus had been set to testify in closed hearings this week before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. (Acting CIA director Mike Morell will now take his place.) Petraeus flew to Libya after the attack to discern firsthand<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=82293&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/13/senate-intelligence-committee-to-probe-petraeus-affair/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>National Security</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/national-security/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/petr.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/petr.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/petr.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">David Petraeus Resigns As CIA Director</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/557ff2649ffce53285c86e4b694cff6d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jnewtonsmall</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Where Does Cuban Voters&#8217; Support for Obama Leave Rubio?</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/13/82250/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/13/82250/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim Padgett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=82250</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The idea that Florida Senator Marco Rubio would help Mitt Romney salvage some of the Latino electorate was always one of the Republican Party’s more half-baked strategies in 2012. Obama won 71% of the Hispanic vote; Romney got an abysmal 27%. Despite his best efforts, Rubio is a Cuban-American, which counts for a lot on his humid home turf of South Florida but muy poco in the arid Southwest. That’s where the lion’s share of U.S. Latinos reside and where groups like Mexican-Americans, the largest Hispanic bloc, often resent the preferential immigration treatment that Washington gives Cubans fleeing the Castro dictatorship. But now the GOP has to wonder how much long-term clout Rubio, a rising conservative star and a top prospect for the 2016 presidential nomination, has with even Cuban voters. Exit polling by the Miami-based Bendixen &#38; Armandi International, a Democratic-leaning firm, shows Obama winning 48% of Florida’s Cuban-American electorate—the Republicans&#8217; only reliable Latino group. That would be a record for a Democratic presidential candidate and a remarkable 13-point jump for Obama, whose 35% share in 2008, which tied former President Bill Clinton’s 1996 take, was the most a Dem had ever pulled. Many conservatives in Miami&#8217;s Cuban community dispute Bendixen&#8217;s findings, but another reputable exit poll has Obama winning 49%. (MORE: Exclusive Interview: Marco Rubio Challenges His Own Party on Latino Outreach) The GOP, meanwhile, has watched its share of Florida’s Cuban vote, the largest of the Sunshine State’s Latino blocs, plunge in presidential elections from 75% in 2000 to 52% last week. “We were as surprised as anyone by the tremendous Democratic uptick,” says Bendixen managing partner Fernand Amandi. “The Cuban-American electorate is changing and making itself much more open to Democratic candidates.” Pundits have been trumpeting the rise of the moderate Cuban-American voter for the past decade, but until last week its ballot box power was more of a myth. Obama narrowly defeated Romney in Florida thanks in large part to his increased share of the state’s total Latino vote, from 57% in 2008 to 61%<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=82250&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/13/82250/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Florida</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/florida/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d5f120a7df02eb9f94ea6635eef48945?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timtime11</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Reality Wins</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/07/reality-wins/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/07/reality-wins/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:35:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=81980</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s always fun to check in with Rush Limbaugh after a big Republican loss&#8211;and today was no exception. He was whiny apoplectic, especially when it came to the difficulty of appealing to non-white voters. Isn&#8217;t Condoleezza Rice enough? He screamed. Isn&#8217;t Marco Rubio enough? But of course, El Rushbo knew the answer was no. So do we have to &#8220;embrace amnesty&#8221; for illegal immigrants? Well, embracing rather than demagoguing the Dream Act might have been nice. And do we have to provide free contraceptives to get the women&#8217;s vote? Well, uh, haven&#8217;t you been Limbaboonic on that one enough already? This was, of course, disingenuous. And we have seen other such denials from wingnuts today. Bill Kristol posted this poem lovely Yeats poem: To a Friend Whose Work Has Come To Nothing Now all the truth is out, Be secret and take defeat From any brazen throat, For how can you compete, Being honor bred, with one Who were it proved he lies Were neither shamed in his own Nor in his neighbors&#8217; eyes; Bred to a harder thing Than Triumph, turn away And like a laughing string Whereon mad fingers play Amid a place of stone, Be secret and exult, Because of all things known That is most difficult. Emphasis mine&#8230;And this, from a gentleman who financed robo-calls that posited a mock debate between Barack Obama and Benyamin Netanyahu! Adios, Bomber Boy. But there was also a strong streak of sanity from the likes of David Frum and Ross Douthat, of course, and even in less reality-based precincts, like Jennifer Rubin&#8217;s blog. The more general Republican line is that Obama doesn&#8217;t have a mandate. Tomorrow, in the print issue, I&#8217;ll argue that he does indeed have a mandate&#8211;for moderation. And the clarity of that mandate was made manifest when Mitt Romney suddenly became a viable candidate in the last month of the campaign&#8211;by moving to the center.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=81980&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/07/reality-wins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Uncategorized</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/uncategorized/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82d9b09d6bf4a8d7cc755c73ad7a3ae5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Closing Arguments</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/01/closing-arguments-2/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/01/closing-arguments-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:39:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=81318</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s print column is a look back at the frustrating election that was, and a peek into the future, no matter who wins.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=81318&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/01/closing-arguments-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Uncategorized</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/uncategorized/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82d9b09d6bf4a8d7cc755c73ad7a3ae5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>NeoCon Job</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/10/31/neocon-job/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/10/31/neocon-job/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:05:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=81187</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over at Politico, Dylan Byers is reporting that a extremist Israelophile political action committee, led by Bill Kristol, is sending out robo-calls that feature a phony debate between Barack Obama and Bibi Netanyahu. This is beyond reprehensible, of course, and entirely unsurprising. It should be remembered whenever Kristol or any of his warmongering, out-of-the-mainstream pals criticize the President for going too far&#8211;as they have repeatedly this year, especially over ads dealing with Bain Capital.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=81187&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/10/31/neocon-job/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Uncategorized</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/uncategorized/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82d9b09d6bf4a8d7cc755c73ad7a3ae5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Political Pictures of the Week, Oct. 12-18</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/10/18/political-pictures-of-the-week-oct-12-18/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/10/18/political-pictures-of-the-week-oct-12-18/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:07:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ariana McLaughlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Closeup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=80345</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures of the past week from the Beltway and beyond.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=80345&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/10/18/political-pictures-of-the-week-oct-12-18/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Closeup</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/miscellany/closeup/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/42-37590695.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/42-37590695.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/42-37590695.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Political Photos of the Week</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3c89684146a2b5a9bcc969c3c6ebeaf0?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timephoto1</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Where Government Fails</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/28/where-government-fails/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/28/where-government-fails/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:31:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=79081</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is outrageous. As I travel around the country, I frequently meet with veterans, or their family members, who have been stiffed, ignored or mistreated by the Veterans Administration. Paperwork is lost. Claims disappear. It takes months, sometimes years, to get a response. The treatment afforded a new generation of wounded warriors, with a persistent pattern of new wounds, has been dilatory and scandalously inadequate. I&#8217;ve faulted Eric Shinseki, the VA Secretary, in the past&#8211;mostly for not getting out there, in the public, and making the case for the splendid leadership qualities and employability of the veterans now returning home. I&#8217;ll even grant Shinseki the benefit of the doubt on attacking the bureaucratic disaster that he has had to confront. But this whole issue raises an important question about government: Would this sort of incompetence survive in the private sector? This is one of the central, and most valid, arguments that conservatism has. There is no creative destruction in the public sector. If caring for veterans was a function of the private economy&#8211;and I&#8217;m not suggesting that it should be&#8211;competitors to the VA would have bitten off chunks of the market, perhaps large chunks. There would be an electronic record-keeping system that accurately recorded every veteran&#8217;s time and place of service; there would be kiosks, like ATMs, that would give veterans options to pursue the services they need. Iraq and Afghanistan vets with post-traumatic stress would have the equivalent of their own Starbucks (in competition with their own McDonalds)&#8211;walk-in centers where they could go and be evaluated, and hang out with comrades, and be treated. If they didn&#8217;t provide the services in a creative and customer-friendly way, they&#8217;d fold. World War II veterans and their spouses would have the sort of chronic elder-care now being pioneered by Geisinger and other private systems. But we have little of that. There has been no strong market force to goose the VA into transforming itself to serve a new generation of veterans in a new, computer-driven age. It remains, in too many respects,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=79081&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/28/where-government-fails/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Uncategorized</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/uncategorized/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82d9b09d6bf4a8d7cc755c73ad7a3ae5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Latest Column</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/27/latest-column-96/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/27/latest-column-96/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:39:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=79037</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Middle East scenario no one wants to talk about.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=79037&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/27/latest-column-96/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Uncategorized</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/uncategorized/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82d9b09d6bf4a8d7cc755c73ad7a3ae5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
