Ruthless pragmatism, historic highs and other Sunday readings

CURRENT EVENTS

The NYT gives a lesson in how to, in under 1,800 words, write a wide angle feature on a sprawling topic (state benefits, in this case).

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The mainstream media isn't known for its memory, at least among bloggers, but when an outlet puts its mind on the task, the results can be gratifying, like this fantastically contradictory history of Obama's record on judicial nominees.

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The Washington Post takes a Safirian look at the word that has come to define Obama's ideology (hint: don't think hope). You've got to love the second and third paragraphs:

Everything Obama does is pragmatic. His adviser David Axelrod let it be known just after the election that Obama was a "pragmatist and a problem solver," which was a good thing, because, as Axelrod had said shortly before the election, "people are in a pragmatic mood, not an ideological mood." When Obama introduced his national security team, he declared that "they share my pragmatism about the use of power." And as he recently told the New York Times, the same goes for his economic policy, where "what I've been constantly searching for is a ruthless pragmatism."

Ruthless pragmatism! It sends shivers up the spine. But what does it mean, really, to have a "pragmatic" president?

Find out.

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Even when I don't turn to its op-ed page, the WSJ still makes me depressed. "I wasn't surprised I didn't get those jobs in, like, museums," a Kenyon College history major tells the paper. "But I was surprised that no one was willing to hire me to do anything."

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Momentous news: A blogger gets quoted high up in a story unrelated to blogging (or politics). Sure, it was in the Christian Science Monitor, but it is progress. On the other hand, the paper inexcusably failed to note either the ideological bent of his publication or why they were quoting him in particular (I suspect it had a lot to do with Google). And on an unrelated note, I commend their straight-faced humor, be it willing or unintentional:

"We are actually talking about historic highs [my emphasis] when it comes to public support of taxing and regulating marijuana for adult consumption," says Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

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Random news note: Is John Boehner's spokesperson really one 'e' removed from being the RNC chairman? I found out here.