memeorandum: Clinton-Obama Differences Clear In Senate Votes (Shailagh Murray/Washington Post)

Democrats To Start Without GOP Input — As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking. — House Democrats intend to pass …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Shakespeare's Sister, Atlas Shrugs, Brilliant at Breakfast, On Deadline, The News Blog, Hyscience and AMERICAblog

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

As New Congress Nears, House Democrats Could Be Headed for Own Divide — Representative John D. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who with more than 50 years' tenure is the senior member of the House, is not so sure about the idea of creating an independent group to enforce ethics rules.

Discussion: Washington Post and Captain's Quarters

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
States Take Lead on Ethics Rules for Lawmakers

Discussion: Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

Associated Press:

16, 273 Deaths Reported in Iraq in 2006 — BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — As enraged crowds protested the hanging of Saddam Hussein across Iraq's Sunni heartland Monday, government officials reported that 16,273 Iraqi civilians, soldiers and police died violent deaths in 2006, a figure larger …

Discussion: HACKED

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

For Iraq's Shiites, a Dream Deferred Breeds Mistrust of U.S. — BAGHDAD — As a dull winter sun nibbled away at the chilly morning, Hussein Lefta stood beside the Rahman Mosque. Before him, Shiite Muslim worshipers passed through an emerald green gate and shuffled across a stone-covered field.

Discussion: Informed Comment and Booman Tribune

jules crittenden:

Bad News! — Deaths are way down in Iraq. … What the enraged crowds of several hundred Sunnis in several different places and Saddam on a rope have to do with it, I'm not entirely sure, but it sure makes it look worse! Here's the bad news for al-P and other defeat fans: Deaths are down in Iraq.

Discussion: Liberty Street, The Reaction, toohotfortnr, Riehl World View and TBogg

Merv / PrairiePundit: How many Iraqis died as a result of enemy war crimes?

New York Times:

Chaos Overran Iraq Plan in '06, Bush Team Says — WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 — President Bush began 2006 assuring the country that he had a "strategy for victory in Iraq." He ended the year closeted with his war cabinet on his ranch trying to devise a new strategy, because the existing one had collapsed.

Discussion: Unclaimed Territory, ParaPundit, The Democratic Daily, The Left Coaster, The News Blog, Washington Post and Rising Hegemon

Nir Rosen / iraqslogger.com:

Hijacking Eid and Hanging Saddam — Timing and Hostile Repartee Creates Further Division — Saddam Hussein became the first modern Arab dictator to die violently since Egypt's Anwar Sadat in 1981. Saddam's hanging at the hands of chubby Iraqi men wearing ski masks is likely to be perceived …

Discussion: Jesus' General, AMERICAblog and Informed Comment

CNN:
Top Iraqi source: U.S. tried to delay execution

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:

The Private Arm of the Law — Some Question the Granting of Police Power to Security Firms — RALEIGH, N.C. — Kevin Watt crouched down to search the rusted Cadillac he had stopped for cruising the parking lot of a Raleigh apartment complex with a broken light.

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal ™

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:

Power-Sipping Bulbs Get Backing From Wal-Mart — As a way to cut energy use, it could not be simpler. Unscrew a light bulb that uses a lot of electricity and replace it with one that uses much less. — While it sounds like a promising idea, it turns out that the long-lasting …

Discussion: Cheat Seeking Missiles and NathanNewman.org

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Good Portents for 2007 — I just wanted to point out something that gave me a lot of hope today. Sue mentioned it in the comments — over at the WaPo, in response to Joe Lieberman's Op-Ed calling for a "troop surge," there are 37 pages of negative comments.

Discussion: Eschaton and Dr. Sanity

Jill / Brilliant at Breakfast: The Brilliant 20 of 2006 — I'm a bit perturbed that the only woman …

Jeffrey H. Birnbaum / Washington Post:

NRA Sounds Alarm of Not-So-Imminent Threat — In lobbying, a threat is good for business, whether it's genuine or not. — This might help to explain the dire warnings being issued by the National Rifle Association as the Democrats prepare to take control of Congress this week.

Discussion: MyDD, Scobleizer and NewsBusters.org

Lindsay Murdoch / Sydney Morning Herald:

Corby fears jail transfer — WHAT Schapelle Corby calls her living hell in Bali's Kerobokan prison is about to get worse. — Indonesian authorities are set to transfer the 29-year-old Brisbane woman to a prison in the East Java city of Malang, hundreds of kilometres from Kerobokan …

Discussion: TalkLeft and NEWS.com.au

Caroline Glick / Jerusalem Post:

Our World: The longest-running big lie — Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Yasser Arafat was a master of the big lie. Since he invented global terrorism with the founding of the Fatah terror organization in 1959, Arafat successfully portrayed himself as a freedom fighter while introducing the world …

Discussion: Power Line and It Shines For All

New York Times:

Few Iraqis Are Gaining U.S. Sanctuary — With thousands of Iraqis desperately fleeing this country every day, advocates for refugees, and even some American officials, say there is an urgent need to allow more Iraqi refugees into the United States. — Until recently the Bush administration …

Discussion: CorrenteWire

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

Hello, Grisham — So Long, Hemingway? — With Shelf Space Prized, Fairfax Libraries Cull Collections — You can't find "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" at the Fairfax City Regional Library anymore. Or "The Education of Henry Adams" at Sherwood Regional. Want Emily Dickinson's "Final Harvest"?

Discussion: Althouse, The Heretik, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Corner

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Jamilgate: Eason Jordan goes nuclear on the AP — No righty blogger will ever trust him, but give him credit for pushing this knowing that it won't endear him to his remaining fans. I look forward to Eric Boehlert's next dopey exercise in What Warbloggers Believe, in which Eric explains …

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Bill's Bites

Herb Keinon / Jerusalem Post:

'Israel-Palestinian conflict key to Mideast problems' — Ban Ki-Moon, the new secretary-general of the United Nations, said on Monday that the Israeli-Palestinian issue was at the core of solving all the problems in the Middle East. — In an interview with the South Korean Hankyoreh newspaper …

Discussion: Secular Blasphemy, Power Line, Clarity & Resolve and Atlas Shrugs

Curt / Flopping Aces:

The AP Changing It's Ways? — Here we go again with the AP. Coalition forces had a firefight today in Baghdad in which they killed six of the enemy. During the fight two buildings caught fire: … But the AP, using a "anonymous" police source now (cough), print how the police say it was a airstrike:

Discussion: Power Line and A Blog For All

Multi-National Force: SIX TERRORISTS KILLED DURING BAGHDAD RAID