Ezra Klein writes in Vox that Barack Obama’s speech in Selma was his eloquent answer to the question of what it means to love America. Klein: “Obama’s answer to Giuliani is that Giuliani has mistaken uncritical adoration for the hard work required of true love. Patriotism is active, not passive. Those who love America prove it by working to perfect America. They continue marching.”
“The Voting Rights Act, the culmination of so much blood and sweat and tears, the product of so much sacrifice in the face of wanton violence, stands weakened, its future subject to partisan rancor.” If you missed Obama’s speech, here are three significant excerpts:
The incomparable Gay Talese goes back to Selma, which he covered 50 years ago, and finds that the town still refuses to fit into neat story lines.
Florida is sinking and the governor really doesn’t want the public to know why. His administration has banned officials from using the terms “climate change” and “global warming.”
Another oil train derailment in North America. The fourth CN oil train accident this month, the train traveling east from the tar sands zone near the Rocky Mountains, or as Canadians call it “Mordor North.” It happened at about 3:00 a.m. two miles northwest of small town Gogama, Ontario, where crews are still living in hotels and working to clean up a similar accident that happened in February. This time, ten cars went off the track and you could see the plume from the oil fire for miles. Gogama is about 400 miles north of Detroit. Authorities told Canadian residents and Indian tribes in the area to stay inside and not to drink local water.
Silencing “India’s Daughter”: How the Indian government banned the release of a documentary on the infamous murder and brutal rape of a young woman on a Delhi bus in 2012. Via the New Yorker.
What was Benjamin Netanyahu doing addressing Congress, anyway? Bill Moyers: “Everything you need to know about the Israeli Prime Minister’s address to Congress Tuesday was the presence in the visitor’s gallery of one man – Sheldon Adelson.”
Where in the world is Doug Bruce, eccentric tax-hating former lawmaker and author of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights? Not in jail anymore, but not free of the long arm of the law, either. He’s tied up in a questionable real estate deal with Colorado Springs city councilwoman Helen Collins — an old political ally of his who assumed ownership of his condo right before the city could attach a judgement lien to it. She paid $10 for the property, then sold it for $140,000 shortly thereafter. Via the Gazette.
Jim Tankersley writes in the Washington Post that, reading the economic news, history suggests you should get a raise. Recent history, though, suggests that you probably won’t.
Did Sonia Sotomayor save Obamacare? Reading the transcript of the oral arguments before the Supreme Court suggests Sotomayor may have convinced Roberts and Kennedy to come to her side. Via Slate.
If you think the Iowa caucuses do a poor job of representing America? Read Rick Ridder’s piece in the Denver Post and you’ll see that it’s even worse than you think.
Which doesn’t mean that candidates GOP aren’t already flooding Iowa. Via John Dickerson at Slate.
Dana Milbank: Hillary Clinton’s biggest rival is Hillary Clinton. Via the Washington Post.
On the latest lawsuit filed against Colorado for making weed legal. Thanks sheriffs! Legal pot forces them to violate federal law, they argue. Via the Cannabist.
Coloradans who love weed and ice cream (especially in tandem) will be pleased to know that Ben and Jerry are here to help. When a HuffPost Live viewer commented that the iconic hippies “should TOTALLY do a cannabis edibles flavor… available wherever legal (of course),” the pair basically responded that they TOTALLY would… if they actually made any business decisions in the company. Via HuffPost Live.
