Tuesday's Daily Brief

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 Arianna Huffington: On Obama, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Not-So-Fierce Urgency of Maybe Next Term Arianna Huffington: Between his economic speech in Kansas and his 60 Minutes interview, when it came to rhetoric, it was a good week for President Obama. On 60 Minutes, in answer to a question about whether he over-promised during the campaign, he said: "I didn't overpromise. And I didn't underestimate how tough this was gonna be. I always believed that... it was gonna take more than a year. It was gonna take more than two years. It was gonna take more than one term. Probably takes more than one president." More than one president? During the campaign, Obama was fond of quoting Martin Luther King Jr.'s "the fierce urgency of now." But now we're supposed to wait for the fierce urgency of two or three more presidents? The question is, can you be a major leader without a sense of urgency? POLITICS House, Senate Negotiators Agree On $662 Billion Defense Bill TECHNOLOGY Sheryl Sandberg Reflects On Her Unforgettable TED Talk WORLD 5,000 Killed In Syria's Bloody Crackdown TECHNOLOGY Huge Announcement Made In Search For 'God Particle' CRIME Jerry Sandusky Waives Right To Preliminary Hearing BLOG POSTS Sarah Brown: Give The Gift Of Life Worldwide, pregnancy and childbirth remain the biggest killer of women of reproductive age. What's even more scandalous and heartbreaking is that almost all of these deaths can be prevented. Sen. Barbara Boxer: Inflicting Unnecessary Pain on America's Families Why would House Republicans attach environmental rollbacks and hold hostage a vital payroll tax legislation which will help the economy and millions of Americans? The sad truth is that they must be putting special interests first. Robert Reich: Are Mitt and Newt Channeling Their Inner Progressives? Two important reforms are stopping the revolving door between Washington and the nation's financial giants. Remarkably, the frontrunners for the GOP nomination for president seem to agree. Keli Goff: Why Are Feminists Afraid to Admit the Connection Between Alcohol and Rape? I'm running out of tolerance for activists who keep screaming "fire" in a crowded theater. We need to do something constructive to address one of the most important public policy issues we continue to grapple with: eradicating rape. Michelangelo Signorile: The High Cost of Political Gay-Bashing I'm not exactly ready to say we've reached the end of the line for political gay-bashing in presidential election campaigns. But Rick Perry's widely-ridiculed "Strong" ad, in which he attacks the idea of gays serving openly in the military, surely shows we're getting there.

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