Today New York Times reporter Helene Cooper (8/10/11) surveys the bad economic situation and asks of Barack Obama: Is he willing to try to administer the disagreeable medicine that could help the economy mend over the long term, even if that means damaging his chances for re-election? What's that mean, exactly? The first person she quotes is former Clinton official (more recently, former managing director of Kissinger Associates) David Rothkopf, and he's talking about cutting so-called "entitlements": Mr. Obama, Mr. Rothkopf argues, has to focus in the next 18 months on getting the economy back on track for the long [...]