Top Items:
The Politico:
Gay activists furious with Obama — Barack Obama's choice of a prominent evangelical minister to perform the invocation at his inauguration is a conciliatory gesture toward social conservatives who opposed him in November, but it is drawing fierce challenges from a gay rights movement that …
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Ugh — Rick Warren will give the invocation at Obama's inauguration. Warren is a man who believes my marriage removes his freedom of speech and cannot say that authorizing torture is a moral failing. Shrewd politics, but if anyone is under any illusion that Obama is interested in advancing gay equality …
John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:
Obama picks homophobe pro-'Prop 8' evangelical preacher to give …
Obama picks homophobe pro-'Prop 8' evangelical preacher to give …
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, Box Turtle Bulletin, Sister Toldjah, Brendan Calling, Hullabaloo, PageOneQ, Jack & Jill Politics and Firedoglake
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Rick Warren to give inaugural invocation
Rick Warren to give inaugural invocation
Discussion:
The Next Right, Towleroad, The Gun Toting Liberal, Bark Bark Woof Woof, site.pfaw.org, Crooks and Liars, Liberal Values, The Swamp, Riehl World View, Firedoglake, The Impolitic, MoJoBlog, Taylor Marsh, Truthdig, MyDD, The Sideshow, Political Machine, Comments from Left Field, Feministing, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly and The Daily Dish
Aretha Franklin / inaugural.senate.gov:
JCCIC ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL PROGRAM
JCCIC ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL PROGRAM
Discussion:
Chronicle of Higher Education
The Huffington Post:
Rick Warren, Obama Invocation Choice, Causing First Real Rift With Progressives
Rick Warren, Obama Invocation Choice, Causing First Real Rift With Progressives
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Top Liberal Group Hammers Decision For Rick Warren To Deliver …
Top Liberal Group Hammers Decision For Rick Warren To Deliver …
Discussion:
Feministe, AMERICAblog News, The Caucus, Firedoglake, Box Turtle Bulletin, Philly.com, Pam's House Blend, Right Wing Watch and Calitics
Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:
Big News in Washington, but Far Fewer Cover It — WASHINGTON — A new president arrived from a new party. The balance of power shifted in Congress. Legions of fresh new faces showed up in the nation's capital with new ideas, eager to upend the way the country does business.
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
The New Legitimacy — Solving social problems by redefining our terms. — Amid all the gloomy economic news, the New York Times brings us an encouraging report on social trends: … What accounts for the turnaround? The Times explains: … The problem of illegitimacy and broken families …
Discussion:
Fausta's Blog, New York Times, Chicago Boyz, The Corner, USA Today, Greg Mankiw's Blog, Washington Monthly, The Reaction, Joanne Jacobs and Fox News
Wall Street Journal:
Madoff Misled SEC in '06, Got Off — Securities and Exchange Commission investigators discovered in 2006 that Bernard Madoff had misled the agency about how he managed customer money, according to documents, yet the SEC missed an opportunity to uncover an alleged Ponzi scheme.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Road closures extend overnight; county schools cancel classes — A rare winter storm swept through Southern Nevada Wednesday, dumping the most snow on the valley in nearly three decades, grounding flights at the airport, forcing the closure of major highways and closing schools for today.
Robert S. Boyd / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Forget the economy: Killer asteroids could pose real danger — WASHINGTON — A blue-ribbon panel of scientists is trying to determine the best way to detect and ward off any wandering space rocks that might be on a collision course with Earth. — “We're looking for the killer asteroid,” …
Natasha Korecki / Chicago Sun Times:
Feds seek to freeze Blago campaign fund, sources say — Federal authorities plan to freeze Gov. Blagojevich's campaign fund, crippling the governor's ability to use the money for his legal bills. — In a letter this week, they put the Blagojevich camp on notice they intend to freeze the money, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Jennifer McLogan / WCBS-TV:
Nassau Cops: PTA Mom, Boy Found Half Naked In Car — Police Come Across Fogged Up SUV On Elementary School Grounds In Baldwin; Residents Shocked, Horrified — A prominent PTA official is facing some serious allegations involving a teenage boy. — Police arrested Joan Tuckruskye …
Los Angeles Times:
California Democrats devise plan to hike taxes — By structuring them as fees, they would skirt GOP opponents and raise $9.3 billion. A court fight looms. — Reporting from Sacramento — California's Democratic leaders were planning a vote today on a brazen proposal to raise gas …
Discussion:
Kevin Drum
Washington Wire:
Shaiken Emerges as Top Candidate for Labor Secretary — Jonathan Weisman reports on the transition. — Harley Shaiken, a prominent expert on unions, Detroit and the U.S.-Mexican border, has emerged as a top candidate for the post of secretary of labor, officials familiar with the vetting process say.
Media Matters for America:
Sean Hannity: Media Matters ' 2008 Misinformer of the Year — As Media Matters for America has demonstrated time and again, Fox News' Sean Hannity has been a prolific and influential purveyor of conservative misinformation. But never has he so enthusiastically applied his talents …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
The Denouement of Howard Dean? — Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the man regarded by many sharp political operatives as the progenitor of President-elect Barack Obama's successful 2008 campaign, finds himself without an obvious next job as his tenure at the head of the Democratic National Committee comes to an end.
Discussion:
Political Machine
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Former chiefs of staff meet with Emanuel — Most of the still-living former White House chiefs of staff had already offered their two cents to Rahm Emanuel at a breakfast earlier this month when it came time for perhaps the most serious man in a room of serious men to speak.
White House:
President Bush Discusses National Security, Homeland Security and the Freedom Agenda at U.S. Army War College — Fact Sheet: President Bush Has Kept America Safe — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please be seated. (Applause.) Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm sorry I'm late.
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
Wall Street Journal:
Risky, Ill-Timed Land Deals Hit Calpers — At the height of the property bubble, California's giant pension fund, Calpers, made a fateful decision: It aggressively poured money into real estate. As a result, today it's one of the biggest owners of undeveloped residential land in America.
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Organizing the White House Is Obama's First Test — All presidents come to realize how much structure matters. — As he organizes his presidency, Barack Obama continues to receive glowing reviews. Three out of four Americans approve of how he's handling his transition.
Jane Sutton / Reuters:
U.S. sends three Guantanamo men home to Bosnia — The United States sent three Algerian-born prisoners to their adopted homeland of Bosnia on Tuesday in the first release under court order from the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. — The three were among five Algerians ordered released …
Shawn Langlois / MarketWatch:
Chrysler to shut assembly lines for at least a month — Rival Ford takes similar steps, extending shutdown times at most plants — SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Chrysler LLC, struggling to keep afloat as it awaits word on a federal lifeline, said Wednesday it will idle all of its 30 plants …