Top Items:
MSNBC:
Richardson withdraws as Commerce nominee — New Mexico governor cites pending investigation of business dealings — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position …
Discussion:
BitsBlog, The Fix, Washington Monthly, The Field on the Narcosphere, Michelle Malkin, Firedoglake, Change.org's Blog Network, Think Progress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Don Surber, PoliGazette, Wizbang, Hotline On Call, JOSHUAPUNDIT, NewsBusters.org, TPM Election Central, Booman Tribune, Swampland, QandO, NO QUARTER and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!
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Fox News:
Bill Richardson Withdraws as Commerce Secretary-Designate — The commerce secretary-designate has withdrawn his nomination because of an investigation into whether Bill Richardson exchanged New Mexico state government contracts for campaign financing. — FOXNews.com
The Caucus:
Richardson Withdraws From Cabinet Appointment — (Tannen Maury/European Pressphoto Agency) — Mr. Richardson says in the statement that he and his administration “have acted properly in all matters,” but that the “ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.”
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Richardson Withdraws Name as Commerce Secretary-Designee — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration as commerce secretary for President-elect Barack Obama, citing an ongoing investigation about business dealings in his state.
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Video: Richardson withdraws from Obama Cabinet — It didn't take long for Barack Obama to have his first brush with scandal in his administration. In fact, he managed to do that before taking the oath of office. Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination as Commerce Secretary …
Times of London:
Israel splits Gaza in three as soldiers battle Hamas — James Hider on the Gaza border and Azmi Keshawi in Gaza City — Israeli troops fought heavy battles with Hamas fighters in two densely populated Gaza towns today as the Army sought to split the strip into three sections to cut off the Islamist group's supply lines.
Discussion:
Guardian, Palestine Monitor, IMEMC, Daled Amos, Gulf News, gazatoday.blogspot.com, Agence France Presse, Firedoglake and Haaretz
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Siun / Firedoglake:
Gaza Update: Cluster Bombs — There's more evidence today of Israeli use of cluster bombs, originally noted by Laura Doty at Oxdown. The Times of London features a photo in it's coverage (see Gaza Conflict slide show) with the following description:
Discussion:
Think Progress, Stop The ACLU, Financial Times, Newshoggers.com, AlterNet.org and Associated Press
New York Times:
Israeli Troops Advance, Bisecting Gaza
Israeli Troops Advance, Bisecting Gaza
Discussion:
Associated Press, Mondoweiss, The Strata-Sphere, The Angry Arab News Service/ and Telegraph
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Orwell, blinding tribalism, selective Terrorism, and Israel/Gaza — (updated below) — Former McCain-Palin campaign spokesman and current Weekly Standard editor Michael Goldfarb notes that Israel, a couple of days ago, dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on a Gazan home which killed a top Hamas leader …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Eunomia, protein wisdom, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Right Wing News, Balloon Juice and The Tank
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Goldfarb Endorses Terrorist Ethics — The Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb makes the case that it's appropriate and praiseworthy for countries to deliberately target the wives and children of people they consider enemies. This kind of moral posture is not unheard of, of course.
Discussion:
Alas, a blog
Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
George H. W. Bush: I'd like to see Jeb elected president.» — This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked former President George H.W. Bush about the possibility of his son, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, running for Senate. The former president expressed his hope …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice and AMERICAblog News
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J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Reid cracks Senate door open for Burris — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated Sunday that there is a chance that controversial Illinois Senate appointee Roland Burris could be seated in the upper chamber. — Reid, who appeared on NBC's “Meet the Press,” …
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John Harlow / Times of London:
Charity homes built by Hollywood start to crumble — RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart. — Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers …
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New York Times:
The End of the Financial World as We Know It — AMERICANS enter the New Year in a strange new role: financial lunatics. We've been viewed by the wider world with mistrust and suspicion on other matters, but on the subject of money even our harshest critics have been inclined to believe that we knew what we were doing.
Discussion:
The Big Picture, The Peking Duck, The Buck Stops Here, Prairie Weather and Silicon Alley Insider
Washington Post:
More Groups Than Thought Monitored in Police Spying — New Documents Reveal Md. Program's Reach — The Maryland State Police surveillance of advocacy groups was far more extensive than previously acknowledged, with records showing that troopers monitored — and labeled as terrorists …
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
SURVEILLANCE STATE RUN AMOK.... In July, the Washington Post reported …
SURVEILLANCE STATE RUN AMOK.... In July, the Washington Post reported …
Discussion:
The Impolitic
Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blogs:
Schumer: Franken is the winner — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the outgoing chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, declared Sunday that Al Franken has won the Minnesota Senate recount against Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.). — “With the Minnesota recount complete, it is now clear that Al Franken won the election.
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Yahoo! News