The Golden Report for Sunday January 17

It's been a busy news weekend, as the relief effort continues in Haiti, the Massachusetts special senate election looks like it is going to come down to the wire and as we close in on the one-year mark of the Obama Presidency. Here are some of the stories that I'm reading, and that I flagged to post some additional comments on:

POLITICO, "Shah, Keen Step Into Haiti Spotlight" -- If you watched any (or all) of the Sunday Shows this morning, then you saw Dr. Rajiv Shah and Lt. Gen. Ken Keen. Shah, the Director of USAID (Agency for International Development) and Keen (Deputy Commander of US Southern Command) both did a "Full Ginsburg"- the term used to describe when a person is interviewed on all Sunday morning shows in the same morning. Shah, just confirmed by the Senate three weeks ago, was particularly impressive this morning--his stature is likely to rise as a result of the calm but professional way in which he is handling this tragedy. Mike Allen reported in Playbook today that the Administration recognizes Shah's value, and had him fully staffed for the Shows, with the National Security Council & State Department traveling with him around town to the various networks. Shah was with Secretary of State Clinton in Haiti yesterday, returned home about 2am ET and was up at 5:58am to get ready for the Sunday Shows.

• There's more about Shah in a Washington Post article from last week "Officials hail USAID chief's crisis management skills" 

Washington Post Op/Ed "What Karl Rove Got Wrong on the US Debt" In Friday's paper, David Axelrod, a chief strategist to President Obama, refuted claims made last Sunday by Karl Rove, who argued that Pres. Obama would have run up "more debt by October than Pres. Bush did in eight years." That is a clearly false statement but what was significant was that Axelrod openly attacked and refuted Rove- a change in strategy for the Administration. To this point, the Administration has not directly responded when attacked. Another sign this was a strategic shift from deep inside the West Wing? Bill Burton, the deputy WH Press Secretary, this week created a Twitter account (@BillBurton44) in which he challenged claims made by a reporter (in this case, Ed Henry, @edhenrycnn). The debt is going to get some more attention this week as the Senate begins consideration of a bill to raise the national debt ceiling. 

NYTimes Op/Ed, "The Underlying Tragedy" by David Brooks -- Brooks takes the Haiti earthquake and asks the question, "Are we just going to rebuild and continue with the same old, same old?" while arguing that we should not- but the disaster in Haiti as a complete clean-slate to rebuild the country and prove that development can work. Interesting- and timely- but would have been better if Brooks had, let's say, taken a look back at the last major international disaster- the Sumatra Tsunami- and seen if what he proposes be done in Haiti happened there.

Newsweek, "Why Haiti Matters," by Barack Obama- It's a rare occasion when a sitting President writes an essay that is the cover of a national newsmagazine, but after the Earthquake this week, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham reached out to the Administration, and the President accepted. This line should speak to the patriotism of every American, "we act for a very simple reason: in times of tragedy, the United States of America steps forward and helps. That is who we are. That is what we do." Indeed. 

Washington Post, "One Year Later Assessing Obama: Testing the Promise of Pragmatism" -- Dan Balz takes a very smart and principled look back over the first year of the Administration, concluding that nearly any President would have made the economic decisions that the President did, as they were needed to avoid calamity. He finds the President's largest struggles coming from Americans who view government as the enemy, and now equate Obama as the President of Big Government. He sees Tuesday's special senatorial election in Massachusetts as an important bellweather to the midterm elections later this year 

• Also, be sure to read David Broder's analysis of the Obama First Year today, "To regain public favor, Obama needs a good economy and jobs"