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Obama rolls out national security team — (CNN) — President-elect Barack Obama on Monday announced Sen. Hillary Clinton as his pick for secretary of state, calling her an “American of tremendous stature who will have my complete confidence.” — “Hillary's appointment is a sign to friend …
Discussion:
Guardian, Taylor Marsh, MyDD, culturekitchen, Feministing, The Reaction, That Minority Thing, The Caucus and Connecting.the.Dots
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It Hurts To Be John Kerry Today — It must have been painful, but at least it was classy. Sen. John Kerry's (D-Mass.) reaction statement to President-elect Obama's choice for secretary of state was the first to arrive in the Sleuth's inbox (besides, of course, Bill Clinton's).

The Curious Retention of Robert Gates — Barack Obama's national security team—at this early stage—presents more questions than answers. His selection of Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state has been a much-chewed-over topic of pundit puzzlement. And with the Monday morning unveiling …

It's official: Recession since Dec. '07 — The National Bureau of Economic Research declares what most Americans already knew: the downturn has been going on for some time. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the U.S …
Discussion:
Real Time Economics, The Heretik, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias, Gothamist and The Moderate Voice
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U.S. recession began in December 2007, NBER says — WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy entered a recession in December 2007, a committee of economists at the private National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday. The economy reached a peak in December and has been declining since …

Recession Is Official; Stocks Take a Fall — It's official: for the last year, the United States economy has been in recession, and the markets on Monday acted accordingly. As the trading day ended, the major exchanges were all down more than 7 percent. — The evidence of a recession …


Deepak Blames America — The media look within to explain the sick delusions of the Mumbai killers. — If the Mumbai terror assault seemed exceptional, and shocking in its targets, it was clear from the Thanksgiving Day reports that we weren't going to be deprived of the familiar, either.
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House, Betsy's Page, Seraphic Secret, Commentary, Right Wing News, TigerHawk and Fausta's Blog
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No plots for Mumbai terrorists: Indian Muslim trust
Discussion:
Pajamas Media


Muslim graveyard refuses to bury terrorists in Mumbai
Discussion:
Wizbang


Bush: ‘I Did Not Compromise My Principles’ — President George W. Bush Says He Will Leave Office With ‘Head Held High’ — Looking back on his eight years in the White House, President George W. Bush pinpointed incorrect intelligence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as …
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Try Tough Love, Hillary — Imagine Ehud Olmert, the outgoing Israeli prime minister, saying this to Barack Obama: — “The United States has been wrong to write Israel a blank check every year; wrong to turn a blind eye to the settlements in the West Bank; wrong not to be more explicit …
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Evolution of the Obama-Clinton connection
Discussion:
Associated Press, Reuters, The Politico, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Gothamist and Jules Crittenden

How is it Obama can fill a Cabinet faster than NBC can replace Tim Russert? — The suits at NBC are doing far more agonizing over who should fill Tim Russert's shoes on Meet the Press than Obama is over appointing his cabinet. They're taking more time over it, too.
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Memeorandum runs rings around Google News — If you want to know what's happening in the world, then Memorandum will tell you - at least in a couple of areas. It's an automated news clipping service, known in the trade as a “news aggregator”. It provides headlines and short texts updated every few minutes …
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Take A Peek At Super-Quick Internet News Aggregater memeorandum
Discussion:
The Impolitic

Palin tells crowd nation is watching Georgia — Chambliss, Palin in Gwinnett at 4; Martin, Ludacris at Capitol at 5:30 — Augusta — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin roared back onto the campaign trail Monday, calling on Georgians to re-elect incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss …
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Fox News shut out again at Obama press conference. — Fishbowl DC has been keeping tabs of which media outlets have been allowed to ask a question at President-elect Barack Obama's five press conferences so far. They report Fox News is 0-5. “Questions instead went to such outlets as ABC …

Deficits and the Future — Right now there's intense debate about how aggressive the United States government should be in its attempts to turn the economy around. Many economists, myself included, are calling for a very large fiscal expansion to keep the economy from going into free fall.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, The New Republic, Democracy in America and Weekly Standard
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India Security Faulted as Survivors Tell of Terror — At Tourist Haunts and Train Station, Swiftly Launched Assault Overwhelmed Police; Home Affairs Minister Steps Down — MUMBAI — As waiters started setting dinner buffets in Mumbai's luxurious hotels, the killings that would ravage …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hot Air, Sky News, Commentary, Daily Mail, abu muqawama, The Corner and Vox Popoli

Wait, Wait, Do Tell Me — With an accompanying brag about transparency, the Obama transition office released its transition donors today. This will be a monthly practice; the transition entity is required to report to the Federal Election Commission next year. — Berman — Doug


Jeb Bush to GOP: Don't Become ‘Democrat-Lite’ — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tells Newsmax that the GOP must broaden its appeal to avoid becoming “the old white-guy party,” and recommends that Republicans create a “shadow government” to engage Democrats on important issues …