Top Items:
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
AN OCCUPIED NATION AND A THREATENED ONE. — This blog is on a light schedule today and tomorrow due to various New Years related program activities, but it's worth quickly responding to Jonathan Chait's post on Israel and Palestine. Chait makes a common claim, which is that all analysis …
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Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Moral Clarity in Gaza — Late Saturday, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language cell-phone messages from the Israeli military, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons. — Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not.
Oliver Kay / Times of London:
Gaza rockets put Israel's nuclear plant in battle zone — Growing concern over Hamas's new arsenal — There were growing fears in Israel last night that Hamas missiles could threaten its top-secret nuclear facility at Dimona. — Rocket attacks from Gaza have forced Israelis to flee …
Haaretz:
IAF bombs Gaza mosque used as terror hub — Israel Air Force aircraft struck a mosque in Jabaliya late Thursday night used as a terror-hub by the Hamas terror organization. — The mosque was used as a storehouse for a large amount of Grad missiles, Qassam rockets and additional weaponry.
Ben Protess— Propublica / The Politico:
Burris sought death for innocent man — Former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris, embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pick to replace Barack Obama in the Senate, is no stranger to controversy. — Public fury over the governor's alleged misconduct has masked the once lively debate …
Discussion:
Buck Naked Politics, The Gun Toting Liberal, Liberty Street, Daily Kos, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL and Don Surber
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Ian Welsh / Firedoglake:
Harry Reid's Doing the Right Thing — digg it — I've had my problems with Reid over the years, but he's not in the wrong on Blagojevich and Burris. This is not a racial issue. Long before Burris, a black man, was appointed by a corrupt governor, Reid said he wouldn't allow anyone, anyone, appointed by Blagojevich, to be seated.
Slate:
How the Senate Can Stop Blagojevich
How the Senate Can Stop Blagojevich
Discussion:
Althouse, FiveThirtyEight.com, Balkinization, TalkLeft, Daily Kos, Concurring Opinions, The Volokh Conspiracy and Majikthise
Chicago Tribune:
Roland Burris battles roadblocks to U.S. Senate; stall tactics likely by others
Roland Burris battles roadblocks to U.S. Senate; stall tactics likely by others
Discussion:
Don Surber
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Blocking Blago: Senate has Plan B for 90-day delay
Blocking Blago: Senate has Plan B for 90-day delay
Discussion:
Commentary, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, Baltimore Sun, D-Day, Progress Illinois, The Capitol Fax Blog and TPM Election Central
New York Times:
A Focus on Violence by G.I.'s Back From War — FORT CARSON, Colo. — For the past several years, as this Army installation in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains became a busy way station for soldiers cycling in and out of Iraq, the number of servicemen implicated in violent crimes has raised alarm.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Bigger Than Bush — As the new Democratic majority prepares to take power, Republicans have become, as Phil Gramm might put it, a party of whiners. — Some of the whining almost defies belief. Did Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general, really say, “I consider myself a casualty …
Discussion:
driftglass
The Politico:
Obama's paparazzi presidency — ABC's Jake Tapper predicted this week that Barack Obama will be “the Britney Spears of 2009.” — Considering that Obama was deemed by some to be the Britney Spears of 2008, it wasn't much of a leap. — But a funny thing happened on the way to the cover of Us Weekly.
James Randerson / Guardian:
Nasa's James Hansen warns Barack Obama on climate change — Current approaches to deal with climate change are ineffectual, one of the world's top climate scientists said today in a personal new year appeal to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the urgent need to tackle global warming.
Patrick Healy / MSNBC:
Calif. Taxpayers Due Refunds May Get IOUs — If you expect you'll be getting a refund from California when you file your 2008 state income tax return, be prepared: you may instead receive a “registered warrant.” Translation: an IOU. — California is rapidly running out of money.
Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Two Advisers Reflect on Eight Years With Bush — White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley remember conferring with President Bush during the darkest days of the Iraq war, in 2005 and 2006, when violence was out of control.
Discussion:
TIME.com
Kenneth Chang / New York Times:
New Evidence of Meteor Bombardment — At least once in Earth's history, global warming ended quickly, and scientists have long wondered why. — Now researchers are reporting that the abrupt cooling — which took place about 12,900 years ago, just as the planet was emerging from an ice age …