Good morning! Today is OK-That’s-Over-Now-Let’s-Get-On-With-Our-Lives Day, and here are some of the things we’re reading at Moyers & Company HQ…
Post mortem…
- NYT offers the basics of last night’s deal to end the shutdown and raise the debt limit through early February.
- Sahil Kapur reports for TPM that the take-away from this debacle among many conservative Republicans is that they didn’t go far enough.
- But Jonathan Chait of NYMag thinks that the debt ceiling extortion is finished after this latest showdown.
- According to Pew, the tea party’s popularity has plummeted.
- At Buzzfeed, John Stanton takes note of the inclusion in last night’s deal of a $3 billion dam project in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky.
- WaPo‘s Zachary Goldfarb reports that the deal leaves an already moribund economic recovery vulnerable.
- And via Gawker, a House stenographer apparently thought that last night’s vote would be a good time to seize a microphone and go off on how Free Masons hate God, or something.
Anyway…
SCOTUS –> In The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin looks at a crucial case coming before the Supreme Court that could make DC even more unmanageable.
Cover-up –> Marcy Wheeler writes at The Progressive that the CIA is trying to hide information about its drone program from the courts.
Slave trade–> There are an estimated 30 million slaves worldwide, according to the BBC.
Going well –> Louis Charbonneau and Yeganeh Torbati report for Reuters that talks in Geneva between the US and Iran are “the most serious and candid to date.”
Greek fascism –> Katy Fox-Hodess has a fascinating look at the rise and fall of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn movement for Jacobin Magazine.
Get off their lawns –> Sociologist Theda Skocpol explains to Salon’s Josh Eidelson the motivation behind the old, angry and fearful tea party movement.
Revolving door –> Monsanto hires former Senator Blanche Lincoln as a lobbyist, reports Kate Sheppard for HuffPo.
Revisionist history –> Amanda Marcotte looks at the myth of America as a “Christian nation” for AlterNet.
Watch your wallet –> At TNR, Alec MacGillis warns that the deficit scolds need to be beaten back before they can capitalize on the next budget battles to cut popular programs.
Beaumont, Texas –> MSNBC’s Zachary Roth reports on a nasty, racially charged fight to break apart a school board in America’s least happy city — really interesting story.
And in Bigfoot news –> A British scientist believes he’s “solved” the mystery of the Himalayan Yeti.
What else? Let us know in the comments…
