Twitter roundup

From my Twitter feed (3/14-3/17) Brendan Nyhan Mar 17, 2011 at 7:00 PM
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	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan .@AdamSerwer on mistaken calls for Obama to use bully pulpit on gun control http://j.mp/i6B37m
	The Plum Line - Greg Sargent's take on domestic politics and debate on the Hill. - The Washington Post Greg Sargent's take on domestic politics and debate on the Hill.
	Mar 17, 2011 at 3:22 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Disturbing: Gawker on how WP now helps you "segregate yourself in the opinion ghetto of your choice" http://j.mp/ibsCUf (via @jayrosen_nyu)
	Mar 16, 2011 at 9:29 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Pundits tend to overthink Elec College-few races close enough for EC to matter http://j.mp/fY4xUo Still, '12 might be one http://j.mp/evvk26
	http://j.mp/fY4xUo
	Forecasting Obama's chances in 2012 - Brendan Nyhan Over the weekend, the New York Times reported on Yale economist Ray Fair's forecast (PDF) that the economy will rebound and President Obama will win a substantial re-election victory: [Fair's mo...
	Mar 16, 2011 at 4:35 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan A review of the latest neuroscience research on responses to racial and political outgroups http://j.mp/gvpeqz (PDF)
	http://cn.isr.umich.edu/Papers/Falk_2010_BeliefandTheNeuralBasisofAttitudes.pdf
	Mar 16, 2011 at 3:20 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan See also http://j.mp/e6CLm7 RT @davidhawkings GRAPHIC: Breakdown of vote against short-term spending resolution. http://roll.cl/dI9sAH
	House Vote 179 - H.J.RES.48: On Passage - NYTimes.com Keep track of congressional roll call votes and members' most recent positions on roll call votes.
	http://roll.cl/dI9sAH
	Mar 16, 2011 at 2:46 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Will libs ever realize CFR helped create outside groups they hate (e.g. Kochs)? http://j.mp/hJUems Entirely predictable: http://j.mp/hYqpe8
	How McCain-Feingold Empowered the Kochs | FrumForum McCain-Feingold hoped to limit the influence of money in politics. Instead, it may have just shifted power to donors like the Koch Brothers.
	The wrong interpretation of campaign finance "reform" - Brendan Nyhan
	Mar 16, 2011 at 2:02 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan New WP poll: Palin increasingly polarizing even among GOP (58/37 fav/unfav), while Romney up from '08 http://j.mp/gwbipb (via @postpolls)
	Sarah Palin losing more ground among Republicans, Post-ABC poll finds Sarah Palin’s ratings within the GOP are slumping, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll — a potentially troubling sign for the former Alaska governor as she weighs whether to enter t...
	Mar 16, 2011 at 1:07 PM
	shani_o Shani O. Hilton 25% of Republican voters think that an organization that no longer exists will be able to steal a presidential election http://bit.ly/dKTXbu
	http://bit.ly/dKTXbu Fewer Republicans believe ACORN will steal the election for Barack Obama in 2012: One other note from our Republican primary poll- GOP voters think that the ACORN threat has gone down significan...
	Mar 15, 2011 at 7:06 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @jamisonfoser Actual CNN Poll Q: "would you say that Charlie Sheen has mostly been winning or mostly been losing?" http://bit.ly/f3ALHQ
	CNN/Opinion Research Poll – March 11-13 – Charlie Sheen TOPICS: Charlie Sheen Full results (pdf)...
	Mar 15, 2011 at 11:24 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Fantastic article RT @davidhawkings Computers can fine-tune redistricting, but can't overcome changes in voting patterns http://j.mp/ihbw5Y
	Congress.org - News : In remapping, no guarantees E-mail, call or write the President, Congress or state and local government based on your ZIP code. Find groups' Take Action alerts or create your own.
	Mar 15, 2011 at 2:31 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan MT @Atul_Gawande In SC. Tomorrow we launch coalition to slash surgery deaths statewide w/checklist in every hospital: http://j.mp/icSNs9
	Home The South Carolina Safe Sugery 2015 Program launches March 16,2010 in Columbia South Carolina
	Mar 15, 2011 at 1:17 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan How public & elite misperceptions about fiscal policy interact to produce an excessive focus on deficits during downturns http://j.mp/g9maag
	Yglesias » How Public Opinion Does Matter I feel like Duncan Black’s written this post a million times: Nobody cares about the deficit. Why don’t people understand this? This question has a real answer, though. Politicians don’t underst...
	Mar 15, 2011 at 12:58 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan .@bpump on the consequences of the total breakdown of legislative norms in Wisconsin -- highly recommended http://bit.ly/hgVYsd
	No More Norms in Wisconsin — Barry Pump's Blog Wisconsin Politics reports that State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has told his committee chairs that Democrats have no voting rights because they are still held in contempt by the ch...
	Mar 15, 2011 at 1:02 AM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan .@mattyglesias on the research of my friend and coauthor Hans Noel -- pundits matter! http://bit.ly/hwAewz
	Yglesias » Punditry as a Vocation Frank Rich’s humble and intelligent farewell column on the promise and peril of political punditry put me in the mind of research from Georgetown’s Hans Noel that I was recently shown. He reveal...
	Mar 14, 2011 at 10:00 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Full transcript of Obama at the Gridiron Club via @jaketapper -- highly amusing: http://j.mp/eP1jSC
	President's Remarks at Gridiron Club Last Night - Political Punch (“Hail To The Chief” plays as the President enters.) THE PRESIDENT: Thank you! (Applause.) Can we go with the song that we talked about? (Laughter.) (“Born In The USA” plays.) (Laughter and appl...
	Mar 14, 2011 at 4:24 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Journalists who understand the importance of the economy for 2012 -- @ezraklein: http://j.mp/fVll6j and @daveweigel: http://j.mp/i57AOp
	Ezra Klein - What matters for 2012 today ...
	Weigel : Please Note: Voters Are Angry Because They Want Jobs This Vandehei/Allen thumbsucker about the ways budget-cutters are defining the 2012 GOP presidential race is worth reading, and it drives home a few essential things that keep getting missed. Bu...
	Mar 14, 2011 at 3:24 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Belated props to George Will for his full-throated denunciation of birtherism and attacks on Obama as anti-American http://j.mp/flTLTk
	George F. Will - Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and the spotlight-chasing candidates of 2012 When Republicans do not recoil from question-rants, the conservative party is indirectly injured.
	Mar 14, 2011 at 3:22 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Even his staff's offensive jokes are anachronistic MT @benpolitico In Barbour's shop, jokes abt Janet Reno's gender http://politi.co/ehJkAk
	Japan, Reno humor in Barbour's shop - Ben Smith Every morning, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's press secretary sends to Barbour's staff and other allies a list of press clippings, along with a daily compendium of birthdays, historical no...
	Mar 14, 2011 at 3:08 PM

Comments

[Rob]

Like "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman," Brendan's head shot at the left of each tweet is growing, threatening to take over the entire layout. Not since Newt Gingrich became Speaker did anyone's head swell so ominously.

[bnyhan]

Ha. Yes, I'm hoping they give me the option to take out all the head shots. Stay tuned...

[David in Cal]

Democratic policies may be failing locally and nationally. And, Democratic politicians may be losing races. But, the liberals retain their ability to demoonize. Liberals like to demean Rush Limbaugh listeners as "dittoheads", who they claim march in lockstep behind Mr. Limbaugh. (That's not how Limbaugh uses the term "dittos", but never mind.) However, the real lockstep followers are liberal demonizers. Once a target is identified -- be it Palin, Gingrich, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Clarence Thomas, Fox News, etc. -- many liberal pundits and followers will jump into lockstep attacks on the target.

The current example would be the Koch Brothers, who are a strange target.

First of all, they're not really conservative; they're libertarian. Many of the causes they support are on the liberal side, such as the ACLU.

Second, they haven't done anything wrong. They've committed no crime. Their business hasn't been involved in unethical conduct.

Third, they don't give that much money, compared to many who contribute to liberals. E.g., they've been accused of contributing to Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin. In fact, they contributed a total of $43,000. That was out of more than $11 million that Walker raised, and $37.4 million that was spent, altogether, on the 2010 race for Governor of Wisconsin. Which means that people associated with Koch Industries contributed a whopping one-tenth of one percent of what was spent on last year's election. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/02/028438.php

Here's a chart of large political donors. Note that the Kochs are well down the list. Note also, that the top donor actuualy give entirely or primaarily to Dems. http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?type=A

Nevertheless, the left set out to demonize the Koch brothers and they have successfully done so.

[David in Cal]

ISTM that Yglesias's blog's first comment nailed the problem with Yglesias's post:

Likely voters KNOW:

1. they are not unemployed themselves.
2. printing money devalues their savings.
3. borrowing money increases future obligations.

Voters are not dumb. They just don't care that much about the things De[Long and] Krugman care about.

I agree with Brendan about Ray Fair. ISTM that Fair also doesn't pay enough attention to point #2 above -- inflation. IMHO inflation will become a dominant issue in the 2012 election. The combination of

-- printing of large amounts of new money ("quantitative easing 2"),

-- the oil shock,

-- the rise in food prices, partly due to the pointless use of corn to make ethanol

-- the Japanese EQ

have combined to make a perfect storm pointing toward inflation. We're not quite seeing it, because most sources show 12 month inflation rates. Inflation has been under control for quite a while, so the year on year figures aren't alarming yet.

However, the Producer Price Index in Dec, 2010, Jan., 2011 and Feb, 2011 grew by 0.9%, 0.8% and 1.6%. These add to 3.3% in 3 months, which equates to an annual rate of over 13%. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm

If that continues, or even worsens, we will have an economic problem worse than the slow recovery.

[David in Cal]

When is humor offensive? Take 2 comparisons:

1. The President joked about the upheavals in the Middle East in which thousands of people have been slaughtered.

An aide to Haley Barbour joked about the Japanese earthquake which killed thousands of people.

2. The President joked about the appearance of Daniels' (short) and Boehner (skin color).

The Barbour aide joked about Reno's appearance (masculine).

To me, these pairs of jokes look roughly parallel. Yet, we are told that the Obama jokes were funny and the Barbour aide's jokes were offensive. Is there a double standard here?