Top Items:
New York Times:
Obama Defers to Bush, for Now, on Gaza Crisis — WASHINGTON — When President-elect Barack Obama went to Israel in July — to the very town, in fact, whose repeated shelling culminated in this weekend's new fighting in Gaza — he all but endorsed the punishing Israeli attacks now unfolding.
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Washington Post, Commentary, The Huffington Post, TIME.com, BBC, TIME.com, The Politico, Tikun Olam, TalkLeft, The Huffington Post and Wall Street Journal
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Ethan Bronner / New York Times:
With Strikes, Israel Reminds Foes It Has Teeth — JERUSALEM — Israel's military operation in Gaza is aimed primarily at forcing Hamas to end its rocket barrages and military buildup. But it has another goal as well: to expunge the ghost of its flawed 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and re-establish Israeli deterrence.
Discussion:
Slate, Israel Matzav, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Stop The ACLU, Los Angeles Times, Soccer Dad, Tikun Olam, danieldrezner.com, QandO, The Other McCain and Commentary
New York Times:
Israeli Aircraft Continue Raids on Gaza; Arab Anger Rises — The Israeli army said some areas around Gaza had been declared a “closed military zone,” a move which some analysts depicted as a potential precursor to a ground offensive. Above, tanks near the Gaza border. More Photos >
Michael B. Oren / The New Republic:
A Crisis And An Opportunity — The fighting in Gaza finally provides Israel with a chance to embark on a lucid and realizable policy there. — CNN International's coverage of yesterday's fighting in Gaza concluded at midnight with a rush of images: mangled civilians writhing in the rubble …
Peter Yarrow / The Huffington Post:
My Response to the Mean-Spirited “Barack the Magic Negro” — The sending of a Christmas greeting by Chip Saltsman to the members of the Republican National Committee that includes a recording of the so-called parody, “Barack the Magic Negro” is not only offensive, it is shocking and saddening in the extreme.
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Rob Stein / Washington Post:
Study: ‘Virginity pledges’ are ineffective — Youths who promise abstinence are also less likely to use protection — Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Jezebel, Macsmind, Outside The Beltway, Brilliant at Breakfast and AMERICAblog News
Yigal Schleifer / Christian Science Monitor:
Shoes flung at Bush flying from shelves — An Istanbul cobbler capitalizes on the ‘shoe mania’ sparked by the tossing of his work. — ISTANBUL, TURKEY - — For the past 10 years, model 271 has been the bestseller of Ramazan Baydan's Ducati line of shoes.
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Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press:Mrs. Bush, Rice: Bush presidency not a failure
Discussion:
Political Machine, Bark Bark Woof Woof, TPMCafe, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! and Associated Press
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
TV News Winds Down Operations on Iraq War — Quietly, as the United States presidential election and its aftermath have dominated the news, America's three broadcast network news divisions have stopped sending full-time correspondents to Iraq. — “The war has gone on longer than a lot …
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Fifty Herbert Hoovers — No modern American president would repeat the fiscal mistake of 1932, in which the federal government tried to balance its budget in the face of a severe recession. The Obama administration will put deficit concerns on hold while it fights the economic crisis.
William Kristol / New York Times:
George, Abe, Rick & Barack — I'm leaving the country the day of Barack Obama's inauguration. — It's nothing personal. Nor, I hasten to add — lest some people get too excited — is it anything permanent. It's just that I happen to have a speech to give in Canada.
Tim Craig / Washington Post:
McAuliffe's Prowess As Fundraiser Grabs Spotlight in Va. Race — RICHMOND — With his booming voice, quick wit and gregarious nature, Terry McAuliffe established a reputation as one of the world's best political fundraisers, soaking up hundreds of millions of dollars for Democratic causes and candidates.
Clifford Winston / Wall Street Journal:
‘Stimulus’ Doesn't Have to Mean Pork — How Obama can reform government while boosting the economy. — President-elect Barack Obama says he will create or protect some three million jobs by spending a massive amount of federal dollars to build roads and other “shovel ready” government projects across the country.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:
Under Bush, OSHA Mired in Inaction — In early 2001, an epidemiologist at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration sought to publish a special bulletin warning dental technicians that they could be exposed to dangerous beryllium alloys while grinding fillings.
New York Times:
Lessons for Other Smokers in Obama's Efforts to Quit — Will one of President-elect Barack Obama's New Year's resolutions be to quit smoking once and for all? — His good-humored waffling in various interviews about smoking made it plain that Mr. Obama, like many who have vowed to quit at this time of year, had not truly done so.
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