Top Items:
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Exceptional news: John Brennan won't be CIA Director or DNI — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — This is really exceptional news on multiple levels — the best political news I've heard since the election: … Brennan's self-defense here is quite disingenuous.
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Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
BRENNAN WITHDRAWS NAME FOR TOP SPY — From NBC's Robert Windrem — In a letter to President-elect Obama, John Brennan has asked that his name be withdrawn from consideration as CIA director. … Brennan was thought to be the leading candidate for the job.
Associated Press:
Brennan out of running for top intel post — WASHINGTON: John Brennan, President-elect Barack Obama's top adviser on intelligence, took his name out of the running Tuesday for any intelligence position in the new administration. — Brennan wrote in a Nov. 25 letter to Obama that he did not want to be a distraction.
Stephen Soldz / Psyche, Science, and Society:
Open Letter to President-Elect Obama: Break With the Dark Side. Do Not Nominate John Brennan as CIA Director — A group of about 200 psychologists and allies has created an Open Letter to President-Elect Obama expressing concerns regarding his rumored consideration of John Brennan to be Director of the CIA.
Scott Horton / Harper's:
John Brennan for CIA? Think Again — Today at a press conference in Chicago Barack Obama introduced his economic team. The market reacted by giving the president-elect a big kiss, with the Dow closing up about 400 points. The team shaping up behind the new president will reassure many …
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Gates agrees to stay on under Obama — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has agreed to stay on under President-elect Obama, according to officials in both parties. Obama plans to announce a national-security team early next week that includes Gates at the Pentagon and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …
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Huma Khan / Political Punch:
Gates a ‘Done Deal’ — Martha Raddatz and Jake Tapper Report: — Sources tell ABC News that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be staying on in the top Pentagon job, for at least the first year of the Obama administration. “It is a done deal,” a source close to the process tells ABC News.
Nitya / Political Radar:Gates Cabinet Appointment ‘A Done Deal’
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
Peter Orszag / Director's Blog:
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes: A final blog entry — Today President-elect Obama announced his intention to nominate me as director of the Office of Management and Budget. I am therefore resigning as director of CBO and this will be my final blog entry. — I have absolutely loved my time at CBO.
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Daniel Stone / Newsweek:
Even Dr. Doom Likes Them — Renowned economic pessimist Nouriel Roubini approves of Obama's picks, but they face grave challenges ahead. — President-elect Barack Obama's administration's reaction to the current economy would have to be, in his words, “swift and bold.”
Discussion:
New York Times, Salon, Taylor Marsh, DownWithTyranny!, Real Time Economics, Guardian and The Reaction
Mark Preston / CNN:
Palin to hit campaign trail in Georgia — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will make multiple campaign appearances on behalf of Sen. Saxby Chambliss next week in Georgia, serving as the political closer for the GOP senator who is battling to win a second term.
Discussion:
The Politico, The Opinionator, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Donklephant, PoliBlog (TM) and Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis
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Ari Melber / The Politico:
Learning from President Bush's mistakes — Many Washington Republicans and Democrats agree on one maxim for President-elect Barack Obama: This is no time to look back at the past administration's rocky record on executive power and the rule of law. — Republicans caution against protracted, “partisan” investigations.
Discussion:
Open Left
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Evan Perez / Wall Street Journal:Sweeping Pardons ‘Unnecessary’
Discussion:
Washington Wire, New York Times, Times of London, TPMMuckraker, Law Blog, American Prospect and Think Progress
New York Post:
WE HEAR . . . WE HEAR — THAT although we didn't think it would be pos sible to silence Ann Coulter, the leggy reaction- ary broke her jaw and the mouth that roared has been wired shut . . . THAT the Tel Aviv Hilton was abuzz Saturday with the arrival of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock …
Melinda Henneberger / Slate:
Obama's threat to Catholic hospitals and their very serious counterthreat. — When I saw the Catholic bishops had declared war on President-elect Obama at their semiannual meeting in Baltimore two weeks ago, my first reaction was pique: Gosh, guys, it isn't even parade day yet, and here you are, all dressed up and ready to rain on it.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
CLAIMING A MANDATE.... In the immediate aftermath of the elections, there were a handful of Republicans who wanted to debate the meaning of the word “mandate.” Apparently, Barack Obama's impressive victory — the highest popular vote margin for a non-incumbent in a half-century …
RELATED:
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:Obama: “I Don't Think There's Any Question That We Have A Mandate”
Discussion:
The Jed Report
John McCain / Nielsen Wire:
How Obama's Local Buys Added Up — Nielsen's final look at ad buys by the 2008 Presidential candidates proved one famous mantra: politics really are local. — President-elect Barack Obama placed 155% more spot TV ads than John McCain during the general election season (6/08 to 11/08) …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
DISGUSTING WHINING — You've probably noticed Mark Halperin's claim that the level of pro-Obama bias in the election coverage this year was so bad it was “disgusting.” I'll leave it to others to analyze what “disgusting” means when deployed by someone who takes his journalistic cues from Matt Drudge.
David Zucchino / Los Angeles Times:
Injured veterans engaged in new combat — In a little-noticed regulation change, the Pentagon's definition of combat-related disabilities is narrowed, costing some wounded veterans thousands of dollars in lost benefits. — Marine Cpl. James Dixon was wounded twice in Iraq — by a roadside bomb and a land mine.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice, BLACKFIVE, Washington Post, The Impolitic, Think Progress, Jules Crittenden and Whiskey Fire
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
Where Was Geithner in Turmoil? — President-elect Barack Obama unveiled on Monday an economic team with deep experience handling economic crises. But does the man at the center of this star-studded cast, Timothy F. Geithner, the nominee for Treasury secretary, have what is needed to take the nation in a new financial direction?
Martin Kady II / The Politico:
Dems vs. Dems in new Congress — Forget the Republican filibuster and the race to 60. The real fight in the next Congress is Democrats vs. themselves. — With nearly complete control of Washington for the first time in three decades, Democrats are entering a treacherous power zone …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Detroit Free Press, Shopfloor, Riehl World View, Political Perceptions, Washington Wire and Don Surber
Erika Lovley / The Politico:
Scientists urge caution on global warming — Climate change skeptics on Capitol Hill are quietly watching a growing accumulation of global cooling science and other findings that could signal that the science behind global warming may still be too shaky to warrant cap-and-trade legislation.
Drudge Report:
RUSSIAN ANALYST PREDICTS DECLINE AND BREAKUP OF USA — A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts. — Professor Igor Panarin …
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