Twitter roundup

	Brendan Nyhan Oct 12, 2010 at 1:36am From my Twitter feed (10/6-10/8)
	BrendanNyhan Oct 8, 2010 at 11:58am Instead of naming and shaming D'Souza, the Post amplifies his nonsense about Obama and anticolonialism http://j.mp/9k5GMo (via @ggreenwald)
	Dinesh D'Souza - Why Barack Obama is an anti-colonialist Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, October 08, 2010 If you want to understand what is going on in the White House today, you have to begin with Barack Obama. No, not that Barack Obama. I mean Barack Obama Sr., the president's father. Obama gets his identity and his ideology from his father. Ironically, the man who was absent for virtually all of Obama's life is precisely the one shaping his values and actions. ....read more Dinesh D'Souza - Why Barack Obama is an anti-colonialist
	BrendanNyhan Oct 7, 2010 at 9:17pm Listen to @jbplainblog -- no real upside to GOP Congress for Dems http://bit.ly/9lc8zZ See also http://j.mp/bJSThM & http://j.mp/cexrlj
	A plain blog about politics: Sorry, Liberals: There's No Silver Lining in a GOP Congress
	The coming blame Obama backlash - Brendan Nyhan As predicted, Clive Crook is blaming Obama for his political problems (rather than his staff as in the meme from a few weeks ago) without mentioning the fact that any president would struggle in...
	Jonathan Rauch: Wrong on divided government - Brendan Nyhan The Brookings Institution's Jonathan Rauch argues in favor of divided government, which he argues will force the parties toward the center (via Brad DeLong): The most important political change ...
	BrendanNyhan Oct 7, 2010 at 3:03pm New post by @benpolitico on my paper with Jacob Montgomery about the candidate-consultant network in American politics: http://j.mp/aH4uTt
	The consultants' role - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com Yesterday's story on two candidates -- Sharron Angle and David Vitter -- having used the same image to represent illegal immigrants in their campaigns ads was just a particularly visible instanc...
	BrendanNyhan Oct 7, 2010 at 1:38pm Sarah Palin at 22% favorable, 48% unfavorable in new CBS poll - yikes http://j.mp/aVtKdt
	Poll: Sarah Palin Favorable Rating Just 22 Percent - Political Hotsheet - CBS News Nearly Half the Country Holds Negative View of Potential GOP Presidential Candidate, CBS News Survey Shows Read more by Brian Montopoli on CBS News' Political Hotsheet.
	BrendanNyhan Oct 7, 2010 at 1:26pm Newt: Dems are "the party of food stamps," GOP is "the party of job creation": http://j.mp/bBsZtP Reality: http://j.mp/b7SrNt
	Gingrich brands Democrats 'party of food stamps' - Yahoo! News Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is advising Republican candidates on November's ballots to frame the choice for voters between Democrats as "the party of food stamps" while selling the GOP as...
	http://j.mp/b7SrNt
	BrendanNyhan Oct 7, 2010 at 11:39am Even by Woodward-ian standards, his defense of claim that Biden-Clinton swap is "on the table" is embarrassing http://j.mp/9j5Cuv
	Denial and Speculation Follow Woodward's Hint of a Clinton-Biden Swap - NYTimes.com The best-selling author's remark about the 2012 ticket sparked speculation across Washington before the White House dismissed the idea.
	BrendanNyhan Oct 7, 2010 at 11:43am By Woodward's standard, swap of Biden for Ray LaHood is also "on the table" -- it could be a “legitimate vote-getting strategy"!
	BrendanNyhan Oct 7, 2010 at 1:55am Another example of recycling material across races -- identical mail pieces from Nevada: http://j.mp/a2UTi2
	Candidates with identical -- and I mean identical -- mail pieces - Politics: Ralston's Flash - Las Vegas Sun Monday, May 17, 2010 | 3:20 p.m. - Twin pieces

Comments

[David in Cal]

I haven't read D'Souza's book, so I don't know how well supported his thesis is. However, I don't see naming and shaming as appropriate for this sort of psychoanalysis.

Granted the source of Obama's belief's cannot be proved objectively. But, it would be a poorer world if this sort of speculation were considered beyond the pale. If someone writes that Martin Luther King gained maturity through his difficult upbringing during the Jim Crow era, should we name and shame that writer? Of course not. Still, an analysis of King's character development cannot be proved objectively any more than an analysis of Obama's.

If Brendan were to read D'Souza's book and demonstrate that his analysis was not only unprovable but unlikely, that would be a different story.

P.S. I happen to be in Africa right now. That doesn't make me an expert, but it's certainly clear that many Africans harbor very strong anti-colonial feelings (which are justified IMHO). If Obama were to share those feelings to any degree, it's not inconceivable that they could influence his beliefs.