The Amazing Amalgam of Facts Gabfest

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On this week's Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the budget fight in Washington, the tussle over public-employee unions in Wisconsin, and more turmoil in the Middle East.

Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week's show:

A Politico piece on the highlights of President Obama's 2012 budget.

A Politico piece on the three-part budget fight that lies ahead.

A Politico piece on Rep. Paul Ryan's entitlement spending plan.

A Pew Research poll showing little public support for specific program cuts.

John's Slate piece on how the president and Congress must be working on a smarter budget plan we don't know about.

A New York Times piece on Wisconsin's budget turmoil.

A New York Times piece on the spread of unrest in the Arab world.

A New York Times piece about a secret report ordered by President Obama that identified potential uprisings in the Middle East months before the Egyptian protests.

A Los Angeles Times piece about the Cairo assault on CBS News correspondent Lara Logan.

A 2007 Columbia Journalism Review piece on foreign correspondents and sexual assault.

An Associate Press piece on Nir Rosen's inappropriate tweets about Lara Logan's attack.

Adam Gopnik's New Yorker piece on the critical difference between a social circle and a social network: One functions to curb our appetites, the other to extend them.

Emily chatters on House Republicans' proposed cuts to Title X, which funds family-planning activities provided by Planned Parenthood and other health organizations.

David chatters on a New York Times piece about the government's method for calculating the value of human lives when considering regulations.

John chatters on a note from Bennett Herring, who used his vanity e-mail address to court his fiancee. Well played, Bennett.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is . (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted on Feb. 18 by John Griffith at 3 p.m.

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• The Amazing Amalgam of Facts Gabfest
  Listen to Slate's review of the week in politics.
  Emily Bazelon | Feb. 18, 2011
• The "What Was He Thinking?" Gabfest
  Listen to Slate's review of the week in politics.
  Emily Bazelon | Feb. 11, 2011
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  You're invited! But you have to register for tickets.
  Feb. 10, 2011
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