John McCain looks bad in George W. Bush's book Politico (blog) - James Hohmann - ‎5 hours ago‎

Sen. John McCain never asked then-President George W. Bush to campaign for him in 2008, though Bush thinks he could have helped the Arizona senator. In his forthcoming memoir, “Decision Points,” Bush explores his “complex relationship” with McCain. “I understood he had to establish his independence,” Bush wrote. “I thought it looked defensive for John to distance himself from me. I was confident I could have helped him make his case. But the decision was his. I was disappointed I couldn’t do more to help him.” The 43rd president suggests his opponent for the Republican nomination in 2000 blew an opportunity to capitalize politically on the financial crisis eight years later. Without saying it explicitly, Bush portrays then-Sen. Barack Obama as more presidential than McCain in his handling of the financial crisis.

Read the full article here, at Politico. See also: Decision Points, America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, Signed Edition, Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama, Faith of My Fathers : A Family Memoir, Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life

It's Franzen's world... from Ben Smith's Blog by Ben Smith

To take this blog in a slightly esoteric direction (would I ever do that?), Jonathan Franzen's trip to the White House today prompted a friend to point out a bit of a blindspot in Franzen's new book, Freedom. I thought the book was as good as everyone says it is, but that its rare weak spots came when it was doctrinaire in its liberalism. His caricatured Irving Kristol character took some deserved flack. My friend emails that he was struck by the real-life echo in another scene, a political rant by one of the main characters, a little-known rocker named Richard Katz who has, in middle age, suddenly been embraced by the pop culture and is being interviewed by a young fan. The long interview in which former Velvet Underground Drummer Mo Tucker explained her appearance at Tea Party events was, my friend writes, "a carbon copy of a scene w/ the musician Richard Katz in Freedom."

Read the full Politico post here. Check out this set of articles on the topic. See also: Freedom

The false consensus march from Just North of Something Important

In other words, it was everything Stewart’s rally isn’t. This upcoming event in Washington just takes the formerly disruptive Daily Show model and marks its final transition to another element within the system of political media. Rather than critiquing the system from the outside, it’s now a participant fully enmeshed, and if employing two former Clinton aides isn’t a mark of political professionalization, I don’t know what is. It’s impressive that a comedy talk show was able to make this transition, but I’m not sure if it’s actually good for the show’s audience. After all, we have lots of political media, but we only had one Daily Show, and its value stemmed in large part from its outsider position. Once it becomes an insider and falls prey to all the problems it used to gleefully skewer, it’s unclear what value it can have aside from being the funnier David Brooks. If they seemed interested in doing anything different, I might be behind them. But as long as they’re only out to perpetuate the biggest lie we tell ourselves about politics - that we’re right, and everyone agrees with us - count me out.

Must read blog post. Yeah, Stewart's kind of like the Michael Moore of 2004. See also: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42447.html

'The Big Short' a hot read on Hill from POLITICO Top Stories by Marin Cogan

In the midst of a floor speech on regulatory reform, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) interrupted himself for a sort of commercial announcement. “I’m going to plug a book: Michael Lewis’s ‘The Big Short.’” While debating changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) told his colleagues: “Read this new book, ‘The Big Short.’” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was decrying Republican obstructionism on the floor when he said, “I recommend everyone within the sound of my voice to read the book.”

Read the full Politico piece here.