Top Items:
James Janega / Chicago Tribune:
Suit contesting Barack Obama's citizenship heads to U.S. Supreme Court Friday — Justices will decide whether to consider the case — The U.S. Supreme Court will consider Friday whether to take up a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship …
RELATED:
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
The sadly obligatory SCOTUS birth-certificate post — The Chicago Tribune briefly revives the Obama-birth-certificate kerfuffle in an update today, if only to throw more cold water on it. Tomorrow, the Supreme Court confabs over whether to grant a review to Leo Donofrio's lawsuit after having …
James Wright / Afro American Newspaper:
Thomas Refers a Previously Rejected Case Challenging Obama Eligibility — In a highly unusual move, U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked his colleagues on the court to consider the request of an East Brunswick, N.J. attorney who has filed a lawsuit challenging …
Discussion:
Left in the West
CBC News:
GG agrees to suspend Parliament until January — Decision gives Tories reprieve, prevents opposition from toppling government on Monday — Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean has granted a request from Stephen Harper to suspend Parliament until late next month, the prime minister announced on Thursday …
RELATED:
Rob Gillies / Associated Press:
Canadian PM shuts Parliament in attempt to keep power
Canadian PM shuts Parliament in attempt to keep power
Discussion:
PoliBlog (TM)
Dallas Morning News:
Bushes confirm purchase of Dallas home in Preston Hollow — tgillman@dallasnews.com; rbush@dallasnews.com — The White House confirmed Thursday that the Bushes have purchased a house in Dallas' Preston Hollow neighborhood for the couple to live in after his presidency ends in January.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Washington Wire, Reliable Source, MSNBC, The Caucus and New York Magazine
RELATED:
The Smoking Gun:
Dubya's New Digs — First couple drops $2.07 million on 1.13 acre Dallas spread — This is the Texas home that George W. Bush has purchased for his fast-approaching post-White House years. The home, on a Dallas cul-de-sac, sits on 1.13 acres and offers 8501 square feet of living space, according to city appraisal records.
Discussion:
Political Machine
The Politico:
Matthews advised to quit MSNBC — Chris Matthews is dead serious about running for the Senate in Pennsylvania - and shopping for a house in the state and privately discussing quitting MSNBC as proof of his intense interest, according to NBC colleagues, political operatives and friends.
RELATED:
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
WHAT IS LIFE WORTH? — What is six months of your life worth? And don't say priceless. It's not priceless. Not if you're not paying. So let's sharpen the question: What should six months of your life be worth to your insurer, be that insurer the government or Aetna?
RELATED:
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Liberal Rationalism II — Move over, Jon Cohn. Ezra Klein points out the sublime rationality of socialism: … One reason I'm a conservative is the British National Health Service. Until you have lived under socialism, it sounds like a great idea. It isn't misery …
Discussion:
The Corner
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Looking for the Ideal Spot to Make a Speech — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's aides say he is considering making a major foreign policy speech from an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office. — So where should he do it? The list of Islamic world capitals is long …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, Weekly Standard, The Moderate Voice, Commentary, Riehl World View, Atlas Shrugs, Booman Tribune, TIME.com, Don Surber and Townhall.com
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WARREN ENDORSES HANNITY'S WARMONGERING.... Pastor Rick Warren has a reputation for being far more stable and grounded than religious right leaders and TV preachers like Pat Robertson, but it's worth remembering that he's not exactly a moderate. — Last night, on Fox News …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish
RELATED:
Paul Krugman:
Worries about next year — I've been ruminating over economic prospects for next year, and I'm getting scared. — Two points: — 1. The economy is falling fast. We'll see what tomorrow's employment report says, but we could well be losing jobs at a rate of 450,000 or 500,000 a month.
Discussion:
Democratic Strategist, Matthew Yglesias, Talking Points Memo, Open Left and Left in the West
RELATED:
The Politico:
RNC chair discloses comeback plan — Sen. Saxby Chambliss' reelection this week was a tremendous victory for the people of Georgia. Voters went to the polls on Tuesday and selected a strong leader prepared to deal with both the domestic and the foreign challenges our nation faces in the months and years to come.
RELATED:
Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
Can Romney Save the Republican Party?
Can Romney Save the Republican Party?
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Curtis Brainard / CJR:
CNN Cuts Entire Science, Tech Team — Despite network's intention to launch wire service, compete with the AP — CNN, the Cable News Network, announced yesterday that it will cut its entire science, technology, and environment news staff, including Miles O'Brien, its chief technology …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Back on Capitol Hill, Auto Executives Still Find Skeptics — WASHINGTON — As the Senate banking committee debated a potential rescue package for American automakers, the committee chairman, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, suggested Thursday that it would be difficult for lawmakers …
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Crypt's Blogs, Commentary, Capital Gains and Games, A Blog For All and Below The Beltway
RELATED:
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Alito ribs Biden for plagiarism — At a gala dinner hosted by the American Spectator Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. cracked wise at Vice President-elect Joe Biden's expense, raising the Delaware senator's past brushes with academic dishonesty to the delight of his conservative audience.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Barack Obama and the Cult of Competency — Barack Obama won the White House last month in large part by running against George W. Bush and tapping into the public perception that his administration has been ineffectual in handling important policy questions.
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Why do Feinstein and Wyden sound much different on the torture issue now? — [updated below - Update II (w/ statement from Sen. Wyden's office) - — Update III] — Time constraints prevented me yesterday from writing about Dianne Feinstein's comments concerning torture in yesterday's New York Times …
Joan Vennochi / Boston Globe:
A bitter brew for Kerry — SENATOR John Kerry's fate illustrates the new political order under President-elect Barack Obama: Reward your enemies, not necessarily your friends. — Hillary Clinton, Obama's tough primary opponent, became Obama's choice for secretary of state; Kerry, an avid Obama ally, was passed over.
Discussion:
NO QUARTER
Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
U.S. to Raise ‘Irregular War’ Capabilities — The Pentagon this week approved a major policy directive that elevates the military's mission of “irregular warfare” — the increasingly prevalent campaigns to battle insurgents and terrorists, often with foreign partners and sometimes clandestinely …
Wall Street Journal:
Hillary and the Constitution — Members of the Senate are not above the law. — What's a little matter like the Constitution among friends? That's a question a few legal eagles are asking as they note that Hillary Clinton can't become Secretary of State thanks to something called the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
Mark Fitzgerald / Editor and Publisher:
‘Several Cities’ Could Have No Daily Paper As Soon As 2010, Credit Rater Says — CHICAGO Newspaper and newspaper groups are likely to default on their debt and go out of business next year — leaving “several cities” with no daily newspaper at all, Fitch Ratings says in a report on media released Wednesday.
Jim Manzi / The American Scene:
GM'S MAGICAL THINKING — I've been working my way through GM's much-heralded restructuring plan that is being submitted to Congress tomorrow. It's a lot less work than I thought it might be (though I'm blogging late at night as I'm reading it, so all of my comments are subject to revision).