Top Items:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Mel Martinez To Retire — Fla. Sen. Mel Martinez figured to be a top target for Democrats in 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) — Florida Sen. Mel Martinez (R) has decided against seeking a second term, a decision he will formalize shortly in the Sunshine State, according to an informed party source.
Discussion:
The Politico, Michelle Malkin, Washington Monthly, The Swamp, MSNBC, DownWithTyranny!, MyDD, Hot Air, The Skepticians and Hotline On Call
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Steve Bousquet / St. Petersburg Times:
Martinez won't seek re-election; Sink will — U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez plans a major announcement in Orlando shortly and a highly-placed Republican source says Martinez will announce that he's not seeking re-election and that he may leave his seat in advance of the end of his term in 2010.
Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Sen. Martinez won't run for re-election in 2010
Sen. Martinez won't run for re-election in 2010
Discussion:
The Politico, Weekly Standard, TPM Election Central, Senate Guru and Real Clear Politics
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Murkowski to Palin: Leave my seat alone — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has some Republican-to-Republican advice for Gov. Sarah Palin: If you want to make a run at the White House, keep your hands off my Senate seat. — Murkowski, up for reelection in 2010, is nervously awaiting word …
David Brooks / New York Times:
Continuity We Can Believe In — The 2008 election results did not fundamentally change American foreign policy. The real change began a few years ago in Afghanistan and Iraq. — It began with colonels and captains fighting terror on the ground. They found that they could clear a town of the bad guys …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Ross Douthat, Washington Post, The Confluence, Commentary and Outside The Beltway
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New York Times:
Mr. Obama's Team — After years of watching American leadership crumble under the weight of bad decisions made in a White House shuttered to all debate, President-elect Barack Obama's national security team is a relief. — Starting with the selection of Hillary Rodham Clinton, his former rival …
Alessandra Stanley / New York Times:
A Concession Wrapped in an Acceptance — Presentations of presidential appointees can be important, but they are rarely interesting. Usually, the men and women chosen for top cabinet roles are not well known to the public; if there is drama behind the scenes, most in the audience are blind to it.
Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
Gates's Top Deputies May Leave — Major Shifts at Pentagon Anticipated in Obama Administration — Although President-elect Barack Obama's decision to keep Robert M. Gates at the helm of the Pentagon will provide a measure of continuity for a military fighting two wars …
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Pentagon Subordinates — A lot of people have been wondering …
Pentagon Subordinates — A lot of people have been wondering …
Discussion:
Kevin Drum
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE OBAMA/GATES PENTAGON.... From a progressive perspective …
THE OBAMA/GATES PENTAGON.... From a progressive perspective …
Discussion:
ATTACKERMAN
Reliable Source:
Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach — When Deborah Lawrence got the invitation from the White House, the Seattle-based artist decided to make a lefty political statement. — But she never expected it would hang on the official Christmas tree.
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Gregory to host ‘Meet the Press’ — NBC News plans to name David Gregory as moderator of “Meet the Press,” infusing one of television's most prized franchises with a sharp edge leavened by a youthful style and versatility, according to network executives. — Gregory, 38, celebrated …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, JustOneMinute, Gawker, TV Decoder, TalkLeft, NewsBusters.org, TVNewser, Shakesville, FishBowlDC, TPMCafe, The Heretik and Political Machine
CNN:
Bill Clinton not interested in wife's Senate seat — WASHINGTON (CNN — Former President Bill Clinton has no interest in replacing his wife in the U.S. Senate, his spokesman said, adding any speculation that he would be interested is “completely false.” — As Hillary Clinton prepares …
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Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Bill Clinton Spokesperson: Any Speculation He Wants Hillary's …
Bill Clinton Spokesperson: Any Speculation He Wants Hillary's …
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Pardon My Exception — Soon after Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, the former president and I had a brief telephone conversation. I had been downright heated about the pardon, a lot angrier than I had ever been about Monica Lewinsky. Clinton implied that I had things historically backward.
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Yeas and Nays:
Reid: We won't smell the tourists anymore — The Capitol Visitors Center, which opened this morning, may have tripled its original budget and fallen years behind schedule, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found a silver lining for members of Congress: tourists won't offend them with their B.O. anymore.
MSNBC:
Ford CEO: We may not need bailout billions — Automakers offer Congress turnaround plans to win $25 billion in aid — (L-R) United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, General Motors (GM) CEO Richard Wagoner, Jr., Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally wait …
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Robert Kagan / Washington Post:
The Sovereignty Dodge — What Pakistan Won't Do, the World Should — “We don't think the world's great nations and countries can be held hostage by non-state actors,” Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said yesterday. Fair enough. But what is the world to do when those non-state actors operate …
Tim Fernholz / American Prospect:
INSULTS. — One of the clever things about the Catholic church has been it's ablity to maintain its status as a political force and a tiny state, and have some effect as a kind of diplomatic go-between and agenda setter.Think of the Vatican as the internationl equivalent of D.C. “Congresswoman” Eleanor Holmes Norton, say.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Crooked Timber, Balloon Juice, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Daily Dish and The Debate Link
Veronique de Rugy / Reason:
Are You Better off Than You Were 40 Years Ago? — Government has grown, but freedom has grown faster. — In the November 1968 Mechanix Illustrated, James Berry gave an eerily prescient glimpse of life in the typical American household today: “The single most important item in 2008 households is the computer.
Chris Bowers / Open Left:
Hardball — I am pretty shy, and as such I have turned down every television interview request I have received since February of 2005. However, I sucked it up today in order to appear on Hardball. You can view it here. Right now, I can't seem to get the html embed code to work with soapblox.
Joby Warrick / Washington Post:
Report Sounds Alarm on Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction — The odds that terrorists will soon strike a major city with weapons of mass destruction are now better than even, a bipartisan congressionally mandated task force concludes in a draft study that warns of growing threats from rogue states …
Discussion:
PoliGazette, NewsBusters.org, Townhall.com, PoliBlog (TM), The Swamp, Wake up America and Think Progress
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Lieberman now praising Obama — Sen. Joe Lieberman, the maverick lawmaker from Connecticut, has praised President-elect Barack Obama's national security team after criticizing Obama's ability to lead during wartime earlier this year. — Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent …
Jon Ward / Washington Times:
Fox's Wallace defends Bush at screening — Takes on Hollywood filmmaker — Fox News journalist Chris Wallace on Monday evening defended President Bush against criticism by Hollywood filmmaker Ron Howard that the president has abused his office in a way similar to President Richard Nixon.
Discussion:
FOX Forum, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, Gawker, Townhall.com, Salon and Anne Schroeder's Blogs
CNN:
Limbaugh calls Obama's selection of Clinton ‘a brilliant stroke’ — (CNN) — Rush Limbaugh seems to have given Hillary Clinton his stamp of approval for the second time this year. — The conservative talk show host — who urged supporters during the primary season to back Clinton in an effort …
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Barack Obama: Ebony's Person of Year — Ebony magazine has chosen its first “Person of the Year.” — President-elect Barack Obama. — If the election of the first African-American president does not stand out as a landmark event in the history of a magazine founded for African-American readers …
Discussion:
TIME.com
Greg Mankiw / Greg Mankiw's Blog:
Fiscal Policy Puzzles — As a student of Alan Blinder, Larry Summers, and Stanley Fischer, I was trained to view the short-run effects of fiscal policy through the lens of Keynesian macroeconomic theory. I am sure that many of the economists in the new Obama administration share that intellectual framework.