Obama's Economy, Taking on the Pirates, Plus Al Franken: Minnesota Senator?

Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:

The Obamaconomy

Obama delivered a major speech on the economy today, and as per usual, bloggers are mixing their reactions to the Obama's economics with discussions on plain ol' economics itself. A video of the speech and transcript are available here. Obama wasn't trying to get anyone too excited about the economy, writes Jessica Pressler. Liberal Marc Ambinder comes up with this mantra for the White House: "Own the recovery. Own the recovery. Own the recovery." He goes on: "He's using the speech to build support for his re-regulation agenda—a new facility for dealing with companies too large to fail, etc." Chris Good summarizes: "Beyond any immediate economic barometer, Obama's speech was meant to demonstrate that his economic view is a long one." Moving on to other economic discussions, here's a great list of one blogger's daily economic must-reads. Tyler Cowen asks the question: "What and when was the deepest economic collapse in any non-communist, non-wartime, fully industrialized country since the 1930s?" The answer will surprise you. And Jonathan Stein outlines former Labor Secretary Robert Reich's skepticism on the economy's future. Oh, and don't forget to buy this handkerchief for allergy season.

Minnesota Senator ... Franken?

Let's start with this outline of the latest developments in the never-ending Minnesota Senate race, where Bonnie Erbe has a solution to the whole mess: "What about flipping a coin and doing away with this whole protracted mess? Heads, the funniest man wins and tails, the less funny man wins. C'est tout, n'est pas?" And let's link to this picture of Franken, well, just because we can. Conservative Ed Morrissey analyzes what went wrong for the Republican candidate: "Coleman blew the recount phase by being too passive and too concerned about appearances rather than aggressively challenging Franken ballots the way Franken challenged his. He brought a hackey-sack to a knife fight, and missed his opportunity." Liberal Kos gives his thoughts on the prospects of an appeal by Coleman. Conservative Nick Gillespie wants anybody to "please put a pillow over Norm Coleman already." Liberal David Kurtz agrees. And conservative David Freddoso hints that the mess will go on for some time.

Taking on the Pirates

Perhaps it was in response to this public opinion, but everybody's second-guessing Obama's handling of this weekend's pirate rescue. Second-guessing, that is, or arguing with the second-guessers. Conservative Peter Roff thinks Obama can't have it both ways: either take credit for the rescue and for the economy or take credit for neither, but don't pick and choose. Elizabeth Dickinson discusses how to actually combat the pirates: establish a functioning government in Somalia so we won't have to. Liberal Ezra Klein writes that Obama's handling of the situation should prove once and for all he's no Jimmy Carter, which conservative Jeff Emanuel thinks is just about the stupidest thing he's ever heard. This conservative blogger thinks luck has nothing to do with the rescue operations success, and that Chris Matthews is a toolbox. And Saint Augustine thinks that some pirates are just plain elegant.

... Meanwhile ...

Madeleine Albright, the pin lady... Talk about a wonder bra... Finally, a place that's hiring journalists (well maybe "hiring" was the wrong word)... Is Fox News bad for your health? (Hat tip to JIndy)... And more CEO's got pay hikes in 2008 than pay cuts.