FROM THE WEEKEND…. We covered a fair amount of ground over the weekend. Here’s a quick overview of what you may have missed.
On Sunday, we talked about:
* For all the optimism about avoiding a government shutdown, there are several factors that may yet derail the process.
* One crackpot in Florida, fringe and generally ignored domestically, has created a deadly crisis in Afghanistan through a pointless publicity stunt.
* Nothing better demonstrates the radicalism of Republicans in the 21st century than the introduction of nullification into the conservative mainstream.
* Mitt Romney has a carefully-crafted response prepared for questions about health care. It’s not very good.
* Donald Trump’s extremism and embrace of radical conspiracy theories has made Glenn Beck uncomfortable. No, I’m not kidding.
* With time running out, President Obama spent part of Saturday working the phones, trying to help push lawmakers into a budget deal. There’s a good reason he hasn’t done so sooner.
And on Saturday, we talked about:
* Looking at the 2012 landscape through a demographic lens should probably make Republican strategists uncomfortable.
* House Speaker John Boehner delivered the official Republican weekly address. His habit of saying things that aren’t even close to true continues.
* The right’s favorite “historian” has no advanced degrees, no affiliation with a legitimate academic institution, and makes claims that are demonstrably false. Someone should let Mike Huckabee know.
* In “This Week in God,” we discussed, among other things, a thorough debunking of the Center for Security Policy’s widely-circulated anti-sharia screed.
* The fact that so many Tea Partiers in Congress love agricultural subsidies for their own farms offers a helpful reminder: these folks aren’t actually against government spending, only spending that helps those unlike themselves.
* If there’s a standard line on Libya among the GOP’s likely presidential candidates, it’s hiding well.
* The “Government Shutdown Prevention Act” is one of the silliest bills I’ve ever seen. It nevertheless passed easily late Friday, 221 to 202.
