Top Items:
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
More oddities in the U.S. “debate” over Israel/Gaza — (updated below) — This Rasmussen Reports poll — the first to survey American public opinion specifically regarding the Israeli attack on Gaza — strongly bolsters the severe disconnect I documented the other day between (a) …
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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.
Alan M. Dershowitz / Wall Street Journal:
Israel's Policy Is Perfectly ‘Proportionate’ — Hamas are the real war criminals in this conflict. — Israel's actions in Gaza are justified under international law, and Israel should be commended for its self-defense against terrorism. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter reserves …
Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
9 Muslim Passengers Removed From Jet — Others on Flight Say a Remark Was ‘Suspicious’ — Officials ordered nine Muslim passengers, including three young children, off an AirTran flight headed to Orlando from Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark.
Discussion:
Preemptive Karma, Jihad Watch, Donklephant, The Impolitic, JammieWearingFool, theheretik.us and Feministing
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Mike M. Ahlers / CNN:
‘Safest’ seat remarks get Muslim family kicked off plane — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A Muslim family removed from an airliner Thursday after passengers became concerned about their conversation say AirTran officials refused to rebook them, even after FBI investigators cleared them of wrongdoing.
Associated Press:
Governor may be leaning toward Kennedy — Two people close to Paterson tell AP they believe she'll be his choice — ALBANY, N.Y. - Officials say the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy will be the governor's choice to fill the New York Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
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Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Governor Says He's Undecided on Senate Pick and Is Still Interviewing
Governor Says He's Undecided on Senate Pick and Is Still Interviewing
CNN:
Aides: Democrats have plan if Burris shows up — (CNN) — Senate Democratic leaders think Roland Burris, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's pick to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, will likely show up on Capitol Hill Tuesday for the opening day of Congress …
Discussion:
The Swamp, TPM Election Central, Sister Toldjah, Swampland, Firedoglake and Los Angeles Times
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Jeremy Olshan / New York Post:
HAPPY #*%! NEW YEAR TO YOU, TOO! — COMIC KATHY LASHES OUT AT HECKLER ON CNN — Comedienne Kathy Griffin may be doomed to life on CNN's S-list after answering a heckler with a shrieking, vulgar tirade during the network's live New Year's Eve broadcast. — “Screw you,” she told the heckler.
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Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blogs:
D-lister Griffin drops D-bomb on CNN — In case you were out celebrating on New Year's, here's why CNN might need a delay when Kathy Griffin's on the air. (TVNewser, still working at 3:51 am on New Year's Day, notes that the exchange was cut out during the re-air).
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.
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 …
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Republicans to flee DC for inauguration — While millions descend on Washington for the historic inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20, some Republicans see it as an occasion to get out of town. — Out of power on both ends of Pennsylvania Ave and mostly out of favor on K Street …
Discussion:
Welcome Back to Pottersville, TIME.com, TPM Election Central, The Caucus and WTF Is It Now?!?
Janet Hook / Los Angeles Times:
Moderate Republicans may be in big demand in Senate — There are fewer of them, but Democrats may need them to break potential GOP filibusters. — Reporting from Washington — Congress has so few moderate Republicans that at least in the Senate they could squeeze into a Volkswagen Beetle.
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Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Some Conservatives Fear Obama Advisers Lean Too Far Left — To Some Conservatives, Advisers Are Alarmingly Liberal — To some staunch conservatives watching President Bush relinquish the reins of power to President-elect Barack Obama, a few too many ardent liberals are now crashing the gates.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
John R. Bolton / Wall Street Journal:
Obama Promises Bush III on Iran — The diplomacy he favors is exactly what Condi Rice has been pursuing for years. — “You'd have to be an idiot to trust the North Koreans,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said recently. Apparently unaware of the irony, she then predicted eventual success …