'USA Today' is #1 in national circulation

Sometimes referred to as the nation's newspaper, <i>USA Today</i> has been <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/31/aam-newspaper-circulation/3323743/">ranked #1</a> in national circulation:<br /><blockquote>The agency that tallies newspaper circulation figures used by advertisers has changed its methodology to account for the increasingly diverse array of digital distribution channels, making USA TODAY once again the national leader in total circulation.</blockquote>Rounding out the top five:<br /><br />• <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>'s five-day average circulation fell to 2.27 million from 2.29 million a year ago. The paper, which surpassed USA TODAY as the nation's top newspaper in circulation in 2009, prints a general weekend edition but no Sunday paper.<br /><br />• <i>The New York Times</i>' five-day average circulation rose to 1.89 million from 1.61 million a year ago. Its Sunday edition had 2.39 million readers, up from 2.1 million a year ago.<br /><br />• <i>The Los Angeles Times</i>' five-day average circulation climbed to 671,797 from 641,370 a year ago. The Sunday edition reported 963,751 in circulation, up from 962,194.<br /><br />• <i>New York Daily News</i>' five-day average circulation fell to 467,110 from 535,875 a year ago. Its Sunday edition fell to 587,063 from 655,647.

Los Angeles Times New York Daily News New York Times newspaper circulation USA Today Wall Street Journal 'USA Today' is #1 in national circulation

Sometimes referred to as the nation's newspaper, USA Today has been ranked #1 in national circulation: The agency that tallies newspap...

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The president of disconnect

A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/us/shooting-reported-at-washington-navy-yard.html?pagewanted=all">tragedy unfolded on Monday in the Washington Navy Yard</a> that ended in the death of 12 victims and the 34-year-old gunman. Areas of D.C. were locked down. The Nationals baseball team postponed their game until the next day. Seven victims were identified: Michael Arnold, 59; Sylvia Frasier, 53; Kathy Gaarde, 62; John Roger Johnson, 73; Frank Kohler, 50; Kenneth Bernard Proctor, 46; and Vishnu Pandit, 61. Families were shattered.<br /><br />Columnist Maureen Dowd was shocked that President Barack Obama seemed to basically overlook the obvious heartache that so many were feeling as he went about the business of delivering a speech, writing in the <i>New York Times</i> that he is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/opinion/dowd-losing-the-room.html?_r=0">Losing the Room</a>: <br /><blockquote>President Obama also gave a speech Monday, talking at the White House while the drama unfolded at the supposedly secure Navy Yard nearby. He could have posted his original remarks on the White House Web site and replaced them with a cri de coeur on gun control, or comfort for the shaken city. The 12 who died were, after all, under his aegis as workers in a federal building.<br /><br />But, jarringly, the president went ahead with his political attack, briefly addressing the slaughter before moving on to jab Republicans over the corporate tax rate and resistance to Obamacare.<br /><br />Just as with the address to the nation on Syria last week, the president went ahead with a speech overtaken by events. It was out of joint, given that the Senate was put into lockdown and the Washington Nationals delayed a night game against the Atlanta Braves, noting on its Web site, “Postponed: Tragedy.”<br /><br />The man who connected so electrically and facilely in 2008, causing Americans to overlook his thin résumé, cannot seem to connect anymore. </blockquote>Noting that even Democrats are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the President for a variety of reasons, Ms. Dowd added:<br /><blockquote>Obama still has a secret weapon: Congressional Republicans, who might yet shut down the government or cause a cataclysmic default and make the president look good. </blockquote>I sincerely hope that does not happen for <a href="http://swacgirl.blogspot.com/2013/08/strong-opposition-to-government.html">reasons I have written about before</a> and <a href="http://swacgirl.blogspot.com/2013/08/ny-times-on-gop-shutdown-threat.html">opined about by <i>The Times</i></a>. Been there, done that, got our behinds kicked to the curb by the American public.<br /><br />And then there's this:<br /><blockquote>Unlike Bill Clinton, who excels at boiling down complex arguments to simple ones, Obama prefers to wallow in the weeds, reminding people that he’s the smartest man in the room and expecting their support because he feels he is only doing what’s complicated and right. </blockquote>This president, much as I've tried to see it, does not emit compassion during tragedies. Obviously Maureen Dowd sees the same.

Barack Obama Bill Clinton compassion government shutdown Maureen Dowd New York Times tragedy Washington Navy Yard The president of disconnect

A tragedy unfolded on Monday in the Washington Navy Yard that ended in the death of 12 victims and the 34-year-old gunman. Areas of D.C. we...

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Strong opposition to government shutdown includes Republicans

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0lEC83V2A79xkVQM6KPeTuMoH7yptqV9ycaeBIMLdZIGcL5GQYbcRzYT6FmphqKEq6465-tdHBWE1jy0e5h-irq6-BYaT1lKUpOFabX6SVFRXD67qceeJevIaoe7Qw6EtNDH8quWmFWp/s1600/Elephants,+fighting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0lEC83V2A79xkVQM6KPeTuMoH7yptqV9ycaeBIMLdZIGcL5GQYbcRzYT6FmphqKEq6465-tdHBWE1jy0e5h-irq6-BYaT1lKUpOFabX6SVFRXD67qceeJevIaoe7Qw6EtNDH8quWmFWp/s400/Elephants,+fighting.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The first paragraph of Byron York's article in the <a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/gop-poll-finds-strong-opposition-to-government-shutdown/article/2534580"><i>Washington Examiner</i></a> says it all:<br /><blockquote>"A new poll done for Republican members of Congress has found huge public opposition, and solid opposition among Republicans, to the idea of shutting down the government over the issue of funding Obamacare."</blockquote>An overwhelming 71 percent of Americans do not want a repeat of 1995 when Republicans shut down the government for three weeks. Even 61 percent of <i>Republican women</i> don't want to see Republicans go through with such a plan.<br /><br />For those who were not paying attention in 1995 when the GOP <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/30/voters-blamed-gop-for-1995-shutdown_n_842769.html">shut down the government</a>, it wasn't pretty. Google it. Or listen to the voices of experiences who have been there and done that, like Senator Saxby Chambliss, 69, and Joe Scarborough who was a congressman at the time.<br /><br />Now a poll, commissioned by Republicans, is confirming that a shutdown will not bode well for the GOP. Will those "show horses" of the U.S. Senate, as the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/opinion/collins-politics-of-a-screeching-halt.html?_r=1&"><i>New York Times</i></a> called Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Marco Rubio of Florida, continue to push for it?<br /><br />Byron York, like others, can look at this poll and read the tea leaves:<br /><blockquote>"But there is no doubt defunding advocates anticipate a possible shutdown; their hope is to persuade the public to blame President Obama, and not Republicans, for it. The new numbers suggest they will have a lot of persuading to do."</blockquote>It brings to mind once again American philosopher George Santayana's much-quoted belief, "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it." Hopefully, GOP leadership and experienced voices will be able to stop the proposed fallacy.

Barack Obama Byron York George Santayana Marco Rubio New York Times Rand Paul Republicans Ted Cruz U.S. Congress Washington Examiner Strong opposition to government shutdown includes Republicans

The first paragraph of Byron York's article in the Washington Examiner says it all: "A new poll done for Republican members of Con...

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NY Times on GOP shutdown threat: 'Politics of a Screeching Halt'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0lEC83V2A79xkVQM6KPeTuMoH7yptqV9ycaeBIMLdZIGcL5GQYbcRzYT6FmphqKEq6465-tdHBWE1jy0e5h-irq6-BYaT1lKUpOFabX6SVFRXD67qceeJevIaoe7Qw6EtNDH8quWmFWp/s1600/Elephants,+fighting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0lEC83V2A79xkVQM6KPeTuMoH7yptqV9ycaeBIMLdZIGcL5GQYbcRzYT6FmphqKEq6465-tdHBWE1jy0e5h-irq6-BYaT1lKUpOFabX6SVFRXD67qceeJevIaoe7Qw6EtNDH8quWmFWp/s400/Elephants,+fighting.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/opinion/collins-politics-of-a-screeching-halt.html?_r=0">New York Times Op-Ed columnist</a> Gail Collins does not mince words: <br /><blockquote>Right now, the show horses of the United States Senate are Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida. All preparing for a 2016 presidential bid. All making visits to Iowa. They’re the new faces of the Republican Party. Really, really new. The three of them have an average age of 45 and an average tenure in Washington of 1.9 years.</blockquote>Whatever happened to learning one job before moving to the next step?<br /><br />Republicans are alarmed, as the editorial notes:<br /><blockquote>And all three are currently in the news for their efforts to get Republicans to promise not to vote to fund the government this fall unless the president cancels Obamacare.<br /><br />"I think it’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard," said Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, speaking on behalf of a large number of Republicans who regard the idea of shutting down the government with horror and who are never going to be mentioned in a Quinnipiac presidential poll. </blockquote>For those who were not paying attention in 1995 when Republicans <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/30/voters-blamed-gop-for-1995-shutdown_n_842769.html">shut down the government</a>, it wasn't pretty. Google it. Or listen to the voices of experiences who have been there and done that, like Senator Saxby Chambliss, 69. On Wednesday's <a href="http://video.msnbc.msn.com/morning-joe/52629486/"><i>Morning Joe</i> on MSNBC</a>, Chambliss gave a dire reminder.<br /><br />“We’ve been down that road,” he said. “We shut down the government ...and we got our butts kicked over shutting down the government.” <br /><br />That's an understatement. It took years to regain the confidence of the American people who blamed Republicans for the shutdown. Indeed, <a href="http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/07/31/saxby-chambliss-good-hustle-tea-party-but-government-shutdowns-dont-work/"><i>Morning Joe</i></a> host Joe Scarborough was a Florida Congressman during the 1995 shutdown. He learned from that experience and called the current  threat "one of the stupidest arguments he's heard in two decades":<br /><blockquote>“We’ve got a president that’s gonna celebrate Republicans making the same mistake back when we shut down the government and basically re-elected Bill Clinton,” Scarborough said.</blockquote>The new breed of Republicans could learn from the experience and wisdom of those who have walked before them. But listening to Cruz, that doesn't seem likely:<br /><blockquote>“The sort of cocktail chatter wisdom that ‘Oh, the shutdown was a disaster for Republicans’ is not borne out by the data,” Cruz said.</blockquote>Meanwhile, the other side of the political aisle is watching this unfold, as Collins writes: <br /><blockquote>The Democrats are sort of horrified and sort of enthralled by the whole drama.<br /><br />“Give a call to Newt Gingrich. He’ll return your phone calls. Ask him how it worked,” suggested Majority Leader Harry Reid. </blockquote>It brings to mind American philosopher George Santayana's much-quoted belief,<i></i> "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it."

Bill Clinton Gail Collins George Santayana Harry Reid Joe Scarborough Marco Rubio Morning Joe New York Times Rand Paul Richard Burr Saxby Chambliss Ted Cruz U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate NY Times on GOP shutdown threat: 'Politics of a Screeching Halt'

New York Times Op-Ed columnist Gail Collins does not mince words: Right now, the show horses of the United States Senate are Rand Paul of ...

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