I don't know much about Chris Dodd's specific case, obviously, but I will say that recent history shows that politicians can beat prostate cancer and carry on like nothing happened. In the past decade, both John Kerry and Rudy Giuliani have done so.
While the Obama administration waits to see whether Iran is willing to talk, Congress is moving forward on tough economic sanctions. A bill targeting Iran's refined petroleum imports now has 71 Senate co-sponsors, and was the subject of a Senate Banking Committee hearing yesterday. The House is scheduled to vote on the measure after its August recess.
--Eric Hobsbawm on Britain between the wars
--Joan Acocella on Judas
--The Indian magazine Tehelka on gender relations in India
There was something surreal about General Scott Gration's testimony at Thursday's congressional hearings on Darfur. "We are aiming high and we are thinking big. Failure cannot be an option," the broad-faced Air Force general intoned, his tinny voice making him sound like a distant air-traffic controller. "We must proceed with boldness, with hard work to make this proactive and preventative approach work."
Ed Kilgore is managing editor of The Democratic Strategist, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, and a frequent contributor to a variety of political journals.
Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
I've been getting a little nervous about the political trajectory of health care. This passage in Politico's story today ("The three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are under pressure from their leadership not to cut a deal too quickly, according to sources, and that message has been delivered frequently in recent weeks.") is especially vexing.
Francisco Toro blogs obsessively about Venezuela and the Ch
More than 80 House members have signed a letter to the president arguing as much: "It would appear that Turkey, in an effort to block U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide, agreed to a roadmap it did not intend to uphold."
--Michael Crowley
If so, read this. It'll be very satisfying (albeit in a soul-corroding way). Of course, I like to think that if, say, Ty Lawson's big toe tested positive for steroids, I'd deal with the news like an adult. But that's the thing about being a sports fan: it inevitably brings out the idiot in you--especially if you believe that your team stands for something greater than just sports.
--Jason Zengerle
