memeorandum: Congress closes with a pork-filled flourish (Los Angeles Times)

President Confronts Dissent on Troop Levels — Bush Indicates Military Won't Dictate Numbers; Top General to Retire — The debate over sending more U.S. troops to Iraq intensified yesterday as President Bush signaled that he will listen but not necessarily defer to balky military officers …

Discussion: The Reaction, CorrenteWire and INTEL DUMP

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Bush Asserts That Victory in Iraq Is Still 'Achievable'

Discussion: BAGnewsNotes

In From the Cold:
General Abizaid Stepping Down

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Outside The Beltway and BLACKFIVE

William M. Arkin / Early Warning:
More Troops? Come on. — Five years after Sept. 11 …

Discussion: In From the Cold and The Agonist

Rachel L. Swarns / New York Times:

Congressman Criticizes Election of Muslim — In a letter sent to hundreds of voters this month, Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr., Republican of Virginia, warned that the recent election of the first Muslim to Congress posed a serious threat to the nation's traditional values.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, PoliBlog (TM), No More Mister Nice Blog and LiberalOasis

Agence France Presse:
Congressman says Muslim lawmaker's election threatens US values

Discussion: cair.com and Think Progress

Lolita C. Baldor / Associated Press:

Troops to Gates: Extra forces would help — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the rest of the Bush administration may be undecided on whether to send more troops to Iraq, but several soldiers he met with at Camp Victory here on Thursday morning here said extra forces would help.

Discussion: Democrats.com

Terence Hunt / Associated Press: Bush warns of more U.S. losses in Iraq

CNN:
Gates visits Iraq amid questions over troop increase

Discussion: THE CUNNING REALIST

Robert Mayer / Publius Pundit:

TURKMENISTAN GOES COLD TURKEY ON TURKMENBASHI — The great and illustrious leader of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, died today from a heart attack. — Pretty impressive way to go for a guy who was supposed to live forever in all of his godliness. — Of all the countries in the world …

Discussion: Registan.net, The Corner and Daniel W. Drezner

BBC:

Turkmenistan's 'iron ruler' dies — Turkmenistan's authoritarian president Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled the Central Asian country for 21 years, has died aged 66, state TV has reported. — Mr Niyazov, who named cities and airports after himself in a personality cult, left no designated successor.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Associated Press

Access Hollywood:

Trump To Rosie: You're Sued! — Donald Trump is set to sue "The View" host Rosie O'Donnell, Access Hollywood can reveal. — Earlier this afternoon Trump announced he is filing suit against the TV talk show host. "She says things that come to her mouth, she's not smart, she's crude …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Trump and Rosie go nuclear on each other

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull

Reuters:

'I have no future' — Jeb Bush tells reporters — MIAMI (Reuters) - The shadow of President Bush seemed to loom large over his younger brother on Wednesday, as the outgoing Florida governor ruled out any plans to return to elected office. — "No tengo futuro (I have no future)," …

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), Classical Values, First Draft, Bark Bark Woof Woof and Middle Earth Journal

Washington Post:

Federal Subsidies Turn Farms Into Big Business — The cornerstone of the multibillion-dollar system of federal farm subsidies is an iconic image of the struggling family farmer: small, powerless against Mother Nature, tied to the land by blood. — Without generous government help …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Agonist

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

Shiite Clerics' Rivalry Deepens In Fragile Iraq — BAGHDAD — In the quest to create a new Iraq, two powerful clerics compete for domination, one from within the government, the other from its shadows. — Both wear the black turban signifying their descent from the prophet Muhammad.

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Cleric weighs 1-month cease-fire in Iraq

Discussion: New York Times and The Jawa Report

Independent:

Climate Change vs Mother Nature: Scientists reveal that bears have stopped hibernating — Bears have stopped hibernating in the mountains of northern Spain, scientists revealed yesterday, in what may be one of the strongest signals yet of how much climate change is affecting the natural world.

Nazila Fathi / New York Times:

Iran President Facing Revival of Students' Ire — As protests broke out last week at a prestigious university here, cutting short a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Babak Zamanian could only watch from afar. He was on crutches, having been clubbed by supporters of the president …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Daniel W. Drezner and Matthew Yglesias

Washington Post:

Mass. Governor's Rightward Shift Raises Questions — As he prepares for a 2008 presidential campaign, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has championed the conservative principles that guided President Ronald Reagan, become an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage and supported overturning …

Discussion: PoliPundit.com

Steve Clemons / The Washington Note:

SCOOP: Pragmatic Non-Royal to be Next Saudi Ambassador to the United States — For Saudi watchers, some fascinating news has just made its way to The Washington Note. — A former staffer at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, ADEL AL-JUBEIR, who comes from a distinguished, yet non-royal family …

Josh Gerstein / New York Sun:

How an Ex-Aide to President Clinton Stashed Classified Documents — A former national security adviser to President Clinton, Samuel Berger, stashed highly classified documents under a trailer in downtown Washington in order to evade detection by National Archives personnel, a government report released yesterday said.

Discussion: Power Line and The Corner

Reuters:

Danish art group pokes fun at Iranian president — COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Danish art group that pokes fun at world leaders targeted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday by placing an advertisement in a Tehran newspaper with an insulting hidden message.

Little Green Footballs:
Danish Artists At It Again

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Sarah Womack / Telegraph:

Mohammed overtakes George in list of most popular names — Mohammed, and its most common alternative spelling Muhammad, are now more popular babies' names in England and Wales than George, reflecting the diverse ethnic mix of the population. — The Office for National Statistics …

Discussion: Never Yet Melted

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

ATLAS SNUBBED: — Since I'm very bad at letting things go, I thought I'd sound off again on Brink Lindsey's latest liberaltarian salvo. In my reply, I argued that if Democrats embraced more libertarian positions, like support for gay marriage or opposition to the Patriot Act …

Discussion: The Corner and TAPPED

Los Angeles Times:

Congress closes with a pork-filled flourish — Dialysis industry, other interests that donated to lawmakers get lavish end-of-session breaks. — WASHINGTON — Christmas arrived Wednesday for the kidney dialysis industry. — That's when President Bush signed into law the last major piece …

Discussion: Don Surber

pageoneq.com:

Huge Southern Baptist Church rocked by sexual abuse charges — A church whose former pastor was president of the Southern Baptist Convention has been rocked by allegations of child abuse, PageOneQ has learned. — Pastor Paul Williams, who directs prayer programs and special projects …

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, Shakespeare's Sister and Suburban Guerrilla

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

The Urge to Surge — THE LATEST BAD IDEA FOR IRAQ. — The hottest briefing in Washington these days is a 56-page PowerPoint slide show titled "Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq," by Frederick Kagan, military analyst of the American Enterprise Institute.

Discussion: Hot Air