Top Items:
Michael Isikoff / Powering Up:
Obama's Attorney General — President-elect Obama has decided to tap Eric Holder as his attorney general, putting the veteran Washington lawyer in place to become the first African-American to head the Justice Department, according to two legal sources close to the presidential transition.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Monthly, Pajamas Media, The Swamp, Firedoglake, The Fix, TIME.com, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Shakesville, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Washington Independent, Big Lizards, Marc Ambinder, The RBC, Hot Air, Hotline On Call, Taylor Marsh, City Desk, The Jed Report, Commentary and Gateway Pundit
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Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
HOLDER TO BE NAMED ATTORNEY GENERAL — From NBC's Pete Williams — President-elect Obama has offered Eric Holder the position of attorney general, and Holder has accepted it, according to sources involved in the process. The formal announcement has been held up while Obama transition team members ran the idea past key senators.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Lieberman: Suck On That, Liberals! … I hope this puts to rest the notion that this is all some master stroke of kumbayah, of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. — This is about telling you that you mean nothing. That democracy is a nice word, but it should never threaten …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Associated Press, The Huffington Post, Reuters, The Fix, Hot Air, Open Left, Kevin Drum, No More Mister Nice Blog, Wake up America, The Moderate Voice, Weekly Standard, Daily Kos, The Caucus, AMERICAblog News, DownWithTyranny!, The Mahatma X Files, Michael Bérubé, Salon, www.redstate.com and Commentary
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New York Times:
Democrats Let Lieberman Keep Senate Chairmanship — WASHINGTON — Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, was allowed to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday despite his support for Senator John McCain in the presidential campaign.
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Howard Dean Is Fine With Senate's Lieberman Decision, Suggests It Was What Obama Wanted — Howard Dean says that he's “fine” with the Senate's decision not to kick Joe Lieberman off the Homeland Security committee and suggested that the Senate had acted in accordance with what Barack Obama wanted.
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Has there been too much bipartisanship or too little? — (updated below - Update II) — As Senate Democrats this morning prepare to reward Joe Lieberman with the powerful Chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, the most commonly recited claim — both with regard to the Lieberman issue …
Discussion:
TPM Election Central
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
It's Official: Lieberman Keeps Homeland Security Chairmanship
It's Official: Lieberman Keeps Homeland Security Chairmanship
Discussion:
Colorado Independent, Washington Wire, Washington Post, Balloon Juice and AMERICAblog News
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Hillary could reject State offer — Hillary Rodham Clinton isn't certain she would accept the Secretary of State post even if Barack Obama offers it to her, several people close to the former first lady say. — Press reports that portray Clinton as willing to accept the job …
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CNN:
Hagel takes aim at Limbaugh, Senate colleagues — (CNN) — As his Senate career nears its end, Republican Chuck Hagel isn't holding back when it comes to criticizing members of his own party — including conservative talk radio hosts. — “We are educated by the great entertainers like Rush Limbaugh …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
RELATED:
The Huffington Post:
Hagel, Unrestrained, Lashes Into Bush, Rush And The GOP — Two months before he leaves office, Sen. Chuck Hagel is increasingly unrestrained by political niceties. — Appearing at a forum at the Johns Hopkins School of Advances International Studies, the outgoing Nebraska Republican leveled harsh criticism …
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Begich lead over Stevens grows — Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich's lead over Sen. Ted Stevens is growing as ballot counting continues today in the race for U.S. Senate. — The latest numbers, issued just before 1 p.m., show Begich up by 2,374 votes. — The state has counted over 16,000 absentee …
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight.com, The Fix, Rough Sketch, DownWithTyranny!, TPM Election Central, PoliGazette and MyDD
RELATED:
George Packer / New Yorker:
AFTER KRISTOL … It's time for the newspaper to move on. For Pinch Sulzberger and Andy Rosenthal to renew Kristol's one-year contract, in 2009, would be for the Times to reward failure—and look where that got Wall Street and General Motors. It's not just that Kristol isn't another Safire …
Discussion:
New York Observer, Portfolio, Washington Monthly, Kevin Drum, The New Republic and Wonkette
Washington Post:
Administration Protects Bush Appointees by Converting Positions to Career Civil Service Jobs — Political Positions Shifted To Career Civil Service Jobs — Just weeks before leaving office, the Interior Department's top lawyer has shifted half a dozen key deputies …
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:
Zogby Engages in Apparent Push Polling for Right-Wing Website — The conservative website HowObamaGotElected.com reports that it has commissioned Zogby International to conduct a poll of 512 Barack Obama voters as part of what can best be described as a viral marketing effort to discredit the intelligence of Obama supporters.
RELATED:
Alexis Simendinger / Lost in Transition:
Obama To Name Peter Orszag As Budget Director — President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to tap Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag, once a veteran economic adviser in the Clinton White House, to become his budget director, according to several National Journal sources.
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder
Anne Schroeder Mullins / Anne Schroeder's Blogs:
Bad blood for Musgrave — It's no surprise Rep. Marilyn Musgrave is taking her recent loss to Betsy Markey really, really hard. — Musgrave, a Republican who's been representing Colorado's 4th District since 2002, became part of the Republican Casualty List when she lost in a landslide …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Beau Biden Will Not Accept Senate Appointment — Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden will not accept an appointment to the Senate to replace his father, according to knowledgeable state sources, a decision that scrambles the race to to replace the vice president-elect in the Senate next year.
The Trail / Washington Post:
Obama Girls Get a White House Tour — After trips to two D.C. private schools, Malia and Sasha Obama are getting a special personal tour of the White House this afternoon, accompanied by grandma Marian Robinson and their mother. — “Mrs. Obama greatly appreciated this invitation to provide …
Discussion:
TIME.com
Associated Press:
Vice president, former AG, state senator indicted — McALLEN, Texas — A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.
zombietime:
Victory in Iraq Day — We won. The Iraq War is over. — I declare November 22, 2008 to be “Victory in Iraq Day.” (Hereafter known as “VI Day.") — By every measure, The United States and coalition forces have conclusively defeated all enemies in Iraq, pacified the country …
Mere Rhetoric:
OBAMA'S TOP NSA AND CIA PICKS: HARSH ON ISRAEL, SYMPATHETIC TO IRAN AND HEZBOLLAH — Well that was totally unpredictable wasn't it? … Totally, totally unpredictable: … The US should exercise “strategic patience” with Iran - who as of today has four navy bases in the Gulf …
Discussion:
Middle East Quarterly
Howard / Gotham Acme:
What We Know — Given the media attention on this issue I thought it would be useful to set out what we know about the Clintons' finances: — The total amount the Clintons have made since leaving the White House, delineated by year. www.taxhistory.org — Each of the sources of that income …
Discussion:
TIME.com
Peter J. Parisi / Washington Times:
McCain owes GOP a second concession speech — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — As is customary on election night, Republican presidential nominee John McCain called his rival, Barack Obama, to concede defeat and graciously wish the Illinois Democrat well as he prepares to move into the White House in January.
Discussion:
protein wisdom
David Montgomery / Washington Post:
Bill Ayers Delivers Two Speeches in Washington — William Ayers, the Weather Underground founder, popped up in Washington yesterday from his self-imposed no-publicity, no-comment underground and looked like he was loving the sunshine. — He gave two speeches, took questions, told jokes …