In the ArenaUncategorized
Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Traveling Companion: Rodney Crowell
Events: Eid Celebration with Islamic Leaders; A-OK Detroit Community Serve in Clark Park.
I wanted to visit Detroit’s large Islamic community–the largest, it is said, outside the Middle East and Paris–and we arrived in town at opportune time: at the end of …
The Associated Press does a “fact check” on a passage from Obama’s presser today that also caught my ear:
President Barack Obama told voters repeatedly during the health care debate that the overhaul legislation would bring down fast-rising health care costs and save them money. Now, he’s hemming and hawing on that….
[Obama said]
…
From the White House Photo Blog.
In the ArenaUncategorized
My ipod was in a bluesy, soulful mood–no doubt, in anticipation of Motown–and here’s some of the best stuff that popped up:
1. Poor Man’s Plea–Buddy Guy and Junior Wells
2. Bleeding Heart–Jimi Hendrix
3. At Last–Etta James
4. Crossroads–Robert Johnson (thrilling, like a ghost in the box; forgot I had it.)
5. I’m a …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Detroit, Michigan
Traveling Companions: none
Just a quick note, since I have to go pick up my next traveling companion–Rodney Crowell, the great Nashville singer-songwriter–at the airport. We’re going to an Eid celebration (the end of Ramadan) tonight in the Detroit suburbs, then a full schedule of events this …
For weeks, before and after his vacation, President Obama has been traveling the country with the story of the ditch and the Slurpee. It’s an involved metaphor that casts the United States as an automatic transmission car, the economic crises as a ditch the car drove into, the Democratic party as D, or drive, and the Republican party as …
I might have missed it, but at today’s White House press conference I don’t think anyone asked the president about yesterday’s important court ruling enshrining Bush-era claims to sweeping executive power, powers that the Obama Justice Department has sought to protect. As the New York Times complained yesterday, “Barack Obama told voters …
It’s a bit outside the normal Swampland purview, but Katy Steinmetz and I have a story today about Teresa Lewis, who is slated to be executed in Virginia on Sept. 23. Lewis would be the first woman put to death in the commonwealth in nearly a century, and one of only a handful executed since the U.S. reinstated capital punishment in …
–The president will tap long-time economic adviser Austan Goolsbee to head the CEA. The pick augurs continuity with the approach of the past two years and Goolsbee, like the departing Christina Romer, is seen as somewhat of a counterweight to Larry Summers among the White House’s economic voices. Goolsbee, who has been advising …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Today’s favorites, hyperdrive songs, in no particular order:
1. Jack and Tina–by Morphine, the most dangerous and wicked-sounding band ever.
2. Speedway at Nazareth–Mark Knopfler
3. Ran–Vampire Weekend
4.Crosseyed and Painless–Talking Heads (in a magic ipod moment, a direct shuffle from Vampire Weekend, illustrating just …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Columbus, Ohio
Traveling companions: none
Events: various with the two candidates for governor, John Kasich and Ted Strickland
Well, for the past two days, the song “Love Buzz” by The National has been rolling around my head because of its first line: “I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees…” It was in my mind, in part, …
After claims from insurance companies that they plan to dramatically increase premiums this year because of the Affordable Care Act, the White House fired off a threat to the industry’s main lobbying group today.
Writing to the head of America’s Health Insurance Plans, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said …
Tuesday is primary day in seven states and the District of Columbia. This will be the last major primary before the midterm elections (only one state remains after this: Hawaii on Sept. 18). Even this late in the game there are still some fascinating races to watch. Here are five:
…
