Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Optimistic post-Earth Day edition

_{Visual source: Newseum}

NY Times:

But increasingly in recent months, the administration has been seeking ways to act without Congress. Branding its unilateral efforts 'We Can't Wait,' a slogan that aides said Mr. Obama coined at that strategy meeting, the White House has rolled out dozens of new policies ' on creating jobs for veterans, preventing drug shortages, raising fuel economy standards, curbing domestic violence and more.

Each time, Mr. Obama has emphasized the fact that he is bypassing lawmakers. When he announced a cut in refinancing fees for federally insured mortgages last month, for example, he said: 'If Congress refuses to act, I've said that I'll continue to do everything in my power to act without them.'

Republicans block, but the Democratic president acts. This "do nothing Congress" is not even-handed, false equivalence "both parties do it". Nice to see it reported that way.

WaPo:

President Obama will issue an executive order Monday that will allow U.S. officials for the first time to impose sanctions against foreign nationals found to have used new technologies, from cellphone tracking to Internet monitoring, to help carry out grave human rights abuses.

Rex Huppke/ChiTrib:

Facts, 360 B.C.-A.D. 2012
In memoriam: After years of health problems, Facts has finally died.

The current state of journalism. Facts are replaced by wankers.

Paul Krugman:

Just how stupid does Mitt Romney think we are? If you've been following his campaign from the beginning, that's a question you have probably asked many times.

EJ Dionne:

We are about to have the worst presidential campaign money can buy. The Supreme Court's dreadful Citizens United decision and a somnolent Federal Election Commission will allow hundreds of millions of dollars from a small number of very wealthy people and interests to inundate our airwaves with often vicious advertisements for which no candidate will be accountable.

One would like to think that the court will eventually admit the folly of its 2010 ruling and reverse it. But we can't wait that long. And out of this dreary landscape, hope is blossoming in the state of New York. There's irony here, since New York is where a lot of the big national money is coming from. No matter. The state is considering a campaign finance law that would repair some of the Citizens United damage, and in a way the Supreme Court wouldn't be able to touch.

Arthur Hunter, Jr/WaPo:

I posed my question a different way: 'Well, how would you know, again, that a white driver, a black driver, Asian driver, Indian driver, someone from the Middle East, are illegal aliens for you to even ask that question?'

He responded, 'I don't know, I guess.'

I pressed further: 'Well, what makes you ask a Latino driver whether or not he is an illegal alien?'

The officer's reply was revealing: 'Nothing. I don't have an answer for that.'

Alexandra Petri:

Are we apathetic? Or are we just content with the way things are ' no flaming rivers, generally neat parks? (Please, stop yelling about the extinction of tigers. We are trying to write semi-autobiographical films before Lena Dunham does.)

'Don't worry,' we say. 'If it gets urgent, just show us footage of polar bears, and we'll be on board.'

And in the mean time, Earth Day comes around. April 22nd, or as we like to call it, the Day After National Record Store Day. How to celebrate?

Thank you to all our readers for your suggestions and tips.