Friday, 24 April 2015

Three-Minute Briefing: Are Democrats More Energized for Elizabeth Than Ready for Hillary?

Welcome to Thursday, the 113th day of 2015 and the 10th anniversary of YouTube, the online video streaming service created by three former PayPal staffers who were trying to launch an online video dating service — which bombed. But the fallout from TuneIn Hook Up became the site we know today, one that’s indispensable for procrastinators, jihadists and aspiring politicians looking to easily dispense campaign videos and do opposition research. Today’s moment of meta: You can learn all about YouTube’s history in a YouTube video. Here’s your Three-Minute Briefing, all the News You Can Use in less time than it takes to find, clip and post a funny cat video:

Your Move, Mr. President: The day after Obama called her out on MSNBC as “wrong” in her opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren returned service on “The Rachel Maddow Show.” Warren, the liberal superstar, dished as good as she got, saying last night that if the deal’s so great the president should show it to everyone. Then, in case Obama missed the point, Warren followed up with a blog post and a bunch of tweets.

Her Lips Say No, Her Politics Say Yes: Progressives have done everything they can to persuade Warren to challenge Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination — including creating a tailor-made campaign-in-waiting. But, alas, Warren has repeatedly just said no. Her sparring with Obama, however, got Whispers thinking about a David Frum piece whichsays Warren ultimately will have to run: Clinton’s been mouthing the progressive agenda but Warren’s the real thing, and the Democrats just aren’t Ready for Hillary.

Political Climate Change? Not Likely: Obama’s Earth Day speech in the Florida Everglades was designed to put pressure on Florida Republicans — including Gov. Rick Scott and GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush, a former governor, and Sen. Marco Rubio — for being climate-change deniers. But Brad Plummer, writing in Vox.com, suggests opinions on climate change are set in stone (the left decisively wants action, the right wants more oil) so nothing the president says will change many minds.

Big Gay Weddings? OK: Raise high the rainbow flag: Aa new Washington Post/ABC poll shows support for gay marriage at an all-time high, with 6 out of 10 respondents saying that they don’t mind married same-sex couples and disagree with laws that restrict marriage to heterosexual relationships. The poll comes ahead of Supreme Court cases that will determine whether the Constitution grants gays the right to marry — or gives states the right to stop it.

Clean Green: Analysts declare that the upcoming presidential election is likely to be the most expensive in history, easily eclipsing the $1 billion Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney spent (Clinton’s expected to raise that much alone, and not just by shaking the sofa cushions at the Clinton Global Foundation). But Capitol Hill Democrats say they want to close the campaign-finance floodgates opened by Citizens United; on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others announced they want to jump-start a movement to get big money out of politics, starting now. Good luck with that.

Duly Noted: On this date in 1789, President-elect George Washington and his wife, Martha, moved into the first executive mansion, the Franklin House, in New York. In 1914, Chicago’s Wrigley Field, then called Weeghman Park, hosted its first major league game as the Chicago Federals defeated the Kansas City Packers 9-1. In 1954, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his 755 major-league home runs in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals; the Braves won, 7-5. In 1965, the Four Tops’ single “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” was released by Motown. In 1985, the Coca-Cola Co. announced it was changing the secret flavor formula for Coke and releasing New Coke; negative public reaction forced the company to resume selling the original version.

Happy Birthday, Taurus: Actors David Birney and Lee Majors, TV’s “Six Million Dollar Man” (both 76), hockey Hall of Famer Tony Esposito (72), actress Blair Brown of TV’s “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd” (67), actress Joyce DeWitt of TV’s “Three’s Company” (66), filmmaker-author-liberal agent provocateur Michael Moore (61), actress Valerie Bertinelli (55), actor-comedian-talk show host George Lopez (54), actress Melina Kanakaredes (48), rocker Stan Frazier of the band Sugar Ray (47), rock star twins Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National (both 39), actor-writer-comedian John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” actor Kal Penn of the “Harold and Kumar” movies and major-league baseball All-Star Andruw Jones (all 38).

 

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