Top Items:
The Hill:
'I don't work for Obama' — Democrats must be “very, very careful” to avoid overreaching and will not rubber-stamp President-elect Obama's policies, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday. — In an interview with The Hill, Reid said it is essential for Obama …
Discussion:
Macsmind
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Burris Backs Reid Into a Corner — Lost amid the scads of cameras and scrambling reporters seeking to get a glimpse or a word from former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris over the last 24 hours is one simple fact: Burris — and, by extension, embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog
Alan K. Ota / CQ Politics:
Liberals Relish New Clout as Session Starts — The Democratic Party's liberal wing will begin a hard push this week to consolidate power in the House and advance its agenda with a quiet assist from a longtime champion, Speaker Nancy Pelosi . — Leaders of the Democrats' liberal faction …
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Feinstein bucks Dems on Burris
Feinstein bucks Dems on Burris
Discussion:
Flopping Aces, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, JammieWearingFool, The Capitol Fax Blog and TPM Election Central
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Obama Wants Journalist Gupta for Surgeon General — President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation. — Gupta has told administration officials …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Political Machine, The Blue Marble, The Raw Story, The Reaction, On Deadline, Outside The Beltway, Washington Monthly, NewsBusters.org, skippy the bush kangaroo, The Caucus, The Corner, RHRealityCheck.org blogs, Federal Eye, WSJ.com, CNN, The Swamp, Hot Air, TIME.com, TVNewser, PoliticalBase.com Blog, The Sundries Shack, The Volokh Conspiracy, Corrente, CBS News, Michelle Malkin, Spin Cycle, The New Republic, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Washington Independent, Michael Calderone's Blogs, Swampland, Wonkette, Democracy in America and Boston Globe
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Paul Krugman:
The trouble with Sanjay Gupta — So apparently Obama plans to appoint CNN's Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General. I don't have a problem with Gupta's qualifications. But I do remember his mugging of Michael Moore over Sicko. You don't have to like Moore or his film; but Gupta specifically claimed that Moore …
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Specter Attacks Choice for Attorney General — WASHINGTON — A leading Republican senator issued a broad attack on Tuesday on President-elect Barack Obama's pick as attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., questioning his political independence. — The senator, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog
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Quin Hillyer / www.dcexaminer.com:
Quin-essential cases: Re-nominating Keisler would be change GOP can believe
Quin-essential cases: Re-nominating Keisler would be change GOP can believe
Discussion:
Power Line
New York Times:
Obama Warns Trillion-Dollar Deficit Potential — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday braced Americans for the unparalleled prospect of “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come,” a stark assessment of the budgetary outlook that he said would force his administration …
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Jeffrey Goldberg:
The World's Pornographic Interest in Jewish Moral Failure — Okay, yesterday I was depressed. Today, I'm just pissed off. It's absolutely astonishing to me how interested the world is in Israel's failings. This is the source of a bitter but hilarious observation I once heard a Kurdish leader make …
Hadeel Al-Shalchi / Associated Press:
Report: Al-Qaida No. 2 blames Obama for Gaza fight — CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader lashed out at President-elect Barack Obama in a new audio message Tuesday, accusing him of not doing anything to stop Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to an intelligence monitoring center.
Discussion:
This ain't Hell …, Fox News, Tammy Bruce, Wizbang, Jules Crittenden and Patterico's Pontifications
William Booth / Washington Post:
Many Cubans Expect Obama to End Bilateral Hostilities — Many Islanders Expect Better Relationship With U.S. Under New President — HAVANA — Vicente González says that although Barack Obama is no Karl Marx — “he is a capitalist and likely an imperialist” — he has high hopes …
Michael Hirschorn / The Atlantic Online:
End Times — VIRTUALLY ALL THE predictions about the death of old media have assumed a comfortingly long time frame for the end of print—the moment when, amid a panoply of flashing lights, press conferences, and elegiac reminiscences, the newspaper presses stop rolling and news goes entirely digital.
Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
Obama Seeks to Mend Rift Over Panetta — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and his top aides called lawmakers, deployed surrogates and offered public testimonials on Tuesday as they scrambled to mend a divide in Democratic ranks over the nomination of Leon E. Panetta …
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Avi Shlaim / Guardian:
How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe — The only way to make sense of Israel's senseless war in Gaza is through understanding the historical context. Establishing the state of Israel in May 1948 involved a monumental injustice to the Palestinians.
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Obama's Choice for Solicitor General Has Left a Breach in a Long Paper Trail — WASHINGTON — The New Republic called Elena Kagan a “wonderwonk” for her work on tobacco legislation in the Clinton administration. She was, the magazine said, “a nerd who can talk tough.”
Daily Mail:
Synagogue set ablaze and anti-Semitic assaults soar in UK following Israel's invasion of Gaza … The number of anti-Semitic attacks in London has risen sharply following Israel's land assault on Gaza, Jewish community groups said today. — Their leaders have compiled a dossier of attacks …
David Rogers / The Politico:
An economic game plan emerges — A closed door-meeting of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday will be an early test of President-elect Barack Obama's economic plan, with Chairman Max Baucus hoping to use the executive session to judge support for the tax cuts and major health provisions at the heart of the $775 billion package.
Discussion:
TIME.com
Rudolph Bush / Dallas Morning News:
Bush wants gate on route to Dallas home — Just like his father, President George W. Bush will return to Texas when he leaves office. — And just like his father, he wants a gate to be installed along a public street to limit access to his neighborhood. — Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm …
Discussion:
Think Progress
Jonathan Adams / Christian Science Monitor:
Charter 08 worries China — Police have detained activists behind the democracy petition, which has drawn diverse support. — BEIJING - — On Dec. 8, the police took Zhang Zuhua into a room in Beijing and sat him in a chair. — For 12 hours, they questioned him. They brought him water, but no food.
Discussion:
The Peking Duck
Allon Sinai / Jerusalem Post:
Terror in Turkey for Bnei Hasharon team — Bnei Hasharon experienced two hours of terror in Ankara on Tuesday evening. — Moments before the tip-off of the Israeli team's Eurocup encounter against Turk Telekom some 3,000 Turkish fans shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ and, by some accounts …
Marc Lynch:
“We have no grand political scheme” — I spent the morning at a lecture organized by GWU's outstanding Homeland Security Policy Institute's Ambassador's Roundtable Series featuring Israel's Ambassador to the United States Sallai Meridor. It was a profoundly dismaying experience.
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
‘Senator’ Biden's trip raises concerns — Joe Biden has always had a flair for doing things differently - but his upcoming trip to South Asia may set a new standard. — The vice president-elect will be traveling to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But he won't really be traveling …
JTA:
Dems plan pro-Israel resolution — WASHINGTON (JTA) — Top Democrats are planning to introduce a non-binding congressional resolution supporting Israel's goal in its Gaza Strip operation. — U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the U.S. House of Representatives majority leader …
Bob Owens / Pajamas Media:
Reuters: In the Service of Hamas — The news giant is once again blatantly mislabeling defensive measures from Israeli aircraft as offensive weapons. — A series of captioned photos from Reuters over the past few days in the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip proves that the news organization …
Hana Levi Julian / Arutz Sheva:
Livni: World Must Choose between Israel and Terror — (IsraelNN.com) Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Monday evening, hoping to find a way to persuade Israel to consider at least a temporary ceasefire in its Operation Cast Lead against the Hamas terrorist organization ruling Gaza.