Assorted Links

The first is a piece from the Economist, it's definitely the smartest thing I've read about Britain's relationship with the EU in quite some time: http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/2011/07/britain-and-eu?fsrc=rss

The second is from FP, I thought the author very succinctly explained the relationship between the Oslo terrorist and the non-violent but obviously irrational Islamophobes who informed his ideology: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/07/25/breivik_s_swamp

If you don't believe this one, there's an article in the Torygraph that validates the connection.  People like Glenn Beck make these outrageous comparisons, and then all it takes is a true believer to take the next step.  There's no mystery to it, these people are openly political and happy to explain where they're getting it from..  

I don't mean to constantly be plugging Dave Weigel, but he's one of the most consistent reporters I'm aware of.  His writing on the debt ceiling negotiations has combined a detailed knowledge of the Tea Party movement and an unrivaled understanding of the mechanics of the legislative process.  Here is his most recent piece: http://www.slate.com/id/2299996/

The only comment I can add is that John Boehner has to be one of the most skillful  politicians we've seen in years.  He's coolly courted disaster while managing an impossibly recalcitrant wing of his party, and now it looks like he's about to be rewarded for it with a substantial political victory.  If he is able to pull off the outcome Weigel describes, he'll have simultaneously avoided angering the Tea Party and gotten the Democrats to agree to cuts and spending constraints without any accompanying tax rise.  It would be a clear victory for Boehner and the Republicans, and they'd end up attaining all of their real goals while denying the Democrats any concessions.  Boehner's looking awfully brilliant, in a purely cynical sense of course.

After Obama's drawn out punt on Afghanistan and miserable compromise on health care, it's hard to say how much more the Democratic base is willing to take.  Disappointment in a party's base is, of course, an immeasurable variable in electoral outcomes, and it will likely be offset to some extent by voter's awareness of the current Republican's radicalism.  Still, Obama cannot count on anything like the same enthusiasm he benefited from in 2008.    

I'll leave you with a photo I found on Reddit.