The View From Here

Morning reads...

1. A good, brief overview of last night's 100th-day presser if you missed it.  (Or click here for a full transcript.)
2. Budget blueprint easily passed Congress yesterday despite the fact that all Republicans and 20 Dems--including Arlen Specter--voted against it.
3. Biden suggests avoiding subways, planes, as H1N1 virus spreads. (To follow the virus' trajectory, check out this very smart graphic by Google maps charting H1N1.)
4. For Britain, the end of combat in Iraq.
5. Durbin says bankers "own" congress.  What does that mean, exactly, and why isn't it bigger news?
6. The most innovative--and cutest--way to celebrate the harped-upon hundredth day? These drawings of the President by the 10-year-old-and-under demographic. 

Some reads from today...

1. Senator Olympia Snowe--a moderate republican who, like Specter, voted for the stimulus package--argues that her party "didn't have to lose Arlen Specter" and worries about the party's ability to re-evaluate itself.
2. Slate's John Dickerson explores the meaning of Specter's switch.
3. Is Obama outdoing Roosevelt at the 100-days-game the FDR created?  Historian Alan Brinkley weighs in.
4. Steve Forbes has some harsh criticism of what he calls Obama's proposed "health care nightmare," and he offers up some solutions of his own.
5. Swine flu update: the US confirms first death outside of Mexico.

Some reads from today...

1. World Health Org. upgrades pandemic alert system to Phase 4, and the EU advises against travel to Mexico and the US as the swine flu continues to spread.
2. A really great op-ed by a physician and molecular biologist at Stanford about the science and politics behind swine flu.
3. The swine flu epidemic of 1976 and what we can learn from it.
4. Fareed Zakaria weighs in on the first 100 days: "enough to make any president envious."
5. Is Egypt Iran's new target? Iran threatened by Egypt's attempts to secure regional stability.
6. Air Force One flies low over NYC for a photo-op--causes panic.

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Some morning reads...

1. Cyberspies penetrate Pentagon.
2. A gov. watchdog reports that about 20 probes of bailout misuse are underway, advocates better oversight of TARP.
3. At UN conference on racism, Ahmadinejad calls Israel a "repressive racist regime," and Israeli deputy PM Shalom says Iran is "not far away at all" from Nazi Germany.
4. "Shooting ourselves in the foot": Michael Bloomberg points out the loopholes in Federal gun policy that have allowed for the traffic of illegal arms across the US-Mexico border.
5. As Obama's hundredth day in office approaches, the FDR comparisons begin.
6. An op-ed from Mitt Romney today calling Obama a "timid advocate of freedom."

Some things I'm looking at...

1. Marc Ambinder's guide to decoding the interrogation memos.
2. For jihadists, Pakistan is the new Iraq, according to an article Tom Ricks points his blog readers to.
3. Obama's high speed rail plan, riddled with flaws, is the "wrong track" according to this piece in Slate.
4. Calling government funds a "scarlet letter," JPMorgan chief rushes to give back aid. 
5. And  some bad news for Texans with dreams of secession: 75% want to stay.

Some morning reads...

1. Karl Rove says politicians who ignore tea parties do so "at their peril."
2. Turning a corner with Ahmadinejad? Yesterday the Iranian president said his country was prepared to  "start a new era." 
3. Texas governor Perry says his state is fed up w/Federal government; suggests secession wouldn't be out of the question. 

4. EJ Dionne defines the "Obama Doctrine."

5. Pirates prove Gates budget right.
6. In Pakistan, a diplomatic success for the Obama Team?

Some reads from this morning...

1. Obama asked Congress for $83.4 bil in war funding this morning.

2. Lieberman's "racist nationalism" tarnishes some of his potentially good ideas.

3. Pirates foil US captain's attempted escape.

4. Ron Brownstein says Obama should continue to reach across the aisle to the "sliver" of Republicans who will reach back.

5. Obama's "surge" in the Middle East is a diplomatic one.  Can it work?

6. Though stocks are rallying, so, too, are fears about the economy.

Some reads from this morning...

1. Backlash from his own party?  That's what Obama may have in store when he asks congress for war funding later this week.
2. Kim Jong Il unanimously re-elected as Supreme Leader of N. Korea.
3. What's driving the piracy "epidemic" off of Somalia's shores?
4. Though Holder made front page news today with his overhaul plans, his comment yesterday on Katie Couric about reversing at least one Bush era invocation of  "state secret privilege" is also noteworthy.
5. Immigration is on the table for Obama.
6. Pressed for time?  A two-minute seder, courtesy of Slate.

Some reads from this morning...

1. A detour for the president: Obama makes an unannounced trip to Baghdad.
2. Sec. Gates redesigns Pentagon budget.  It's about time, says Slate's Fred Kaplan.
3. Gene Robinson critiques Bill Kristol's objection to the idea of a world without nuclear weapons.
4. Does the near future promise arrest warrants for some of Bush's top officials?  Jane Mayer explores the question in this New Yorker piece. 
5.  George Soros' outlook is dim: banks "basically insolvent" and the importance of the dollar is "under question."