Two Senate Republicans budge on raising revenue. Well, kinda.

I think it’s clear that the Republicans are opposed to any tax hikes, particularly during a fragile economic recovery. Now, do we believe tax reform is necessary? I would say absolutely.
Sen. John Cornyn • Opening the door for the possibility of raising revenue … very slightly. See, Cornyn is OK with changing the tax code so as to fix loopholes in it. But he won’t willingly offer to raise taxes, no ifs, ands or buts. Sen. John McCain is in the same boat, willing to consider “revenue raisers” — without offering details. Now, this all seems like “whatever,” until you realize that this is the closest any members of the GOP have gotten to the idea of raising taxes — or any revenue at all, that is. How pathetic is it that this as far as the GOP has been willing to compromise on this issue? Why should Democrats have to do all the compromising? This isn’t even a step forward. This is like kicking your foot forward a quarter-inch by accident. This redefines movement. source

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blocked A couple days back, Greece blocked a flotilla headed towards Gaza from heading out of one of its ports. It understandably drew a lot of controversy from certain quarters of the political sphere — but briefly took attention off the country’s austerity crisis.
allowed Now, it seems that Greece is ready to offer up a mea culpa to Palestine — in coordination with the United Nations, they’ll send a ship loaded with aid over to Gaza, which they’ll offer up to the Palestinian Authority — but, as you’ll note, they aren’t working with Hamas. source

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It would be nice to think that the rapidity of the official reaction had to do with legitimate disapproval. Actually, it is a reflex quickened by practice because what cable news now calls political journalism is set up to produce just this kind of ‘television moment’ and its attendant swirl of attention-getting faux controversy.
L.A. Times columnist Tim Rutten • Offering a room-clearing take on the whole situation with Mark Halperin and “Morning Joe.” To put it simply, he doesn’t think it’s actually any sort of controversy of the real kind, but instead an opportunity to create a conversation-of-the-day moment. (Which Halperin’s quip successfully did, by the way.) It’s an idea that started with Fox News but has kinda expanded from there. There’s even a site dedicated to this idea. And well, you know, he’s right. But it makes good TV, and that’s all that matters, right? source

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last year Tensions flared so high in Thailand that the country’s Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva was hounded by thousands of mostly-rural opposition figures often referred to as “Red Shirts” — a conflict that, at times, got bloody — literally, they dumped vials of blood on the ground to prove their point.
this year A year after the conflict with the Red Shirts (which briefly shut down parts of Bangkok) took hold, Vejjajiva has been defeated in a reelection bid. Hopefully Yingluck Shinawatra (the sister of ousted, but still popular, PM Thaksin Shinawatra) has better luck keeping political dissenters happy. source

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03 Jul 2011 20:31