Top Items:
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
I want to play poker with Harry Reid. Really I do. — Rather than call for a special election in Illinois, Reid sends a letter to Blagojevich signed by everyone in the Democratic caucus asking him to step down. They assert that they will not seat anyone he appoints. — Harumph.
Discussion:
On Deadline, The Swamp, GayPatriot, The Sundries Shack, Emptywheel and The Huffington Post
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The Huffington Post:
Dem Aide: Obama Team Pushed To Seat Burris
Dem Aide: Obama Team Pushed To Seat Burris
Discussion:
CBS News, WBBM-TV, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Moderate Voice, Congress Matters and Weekly Standard
Walter Dellinger / New York Times:
City of Cold Shoulders
City of Cold Shoulders
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Michael Barone, Chicago Sun Times, TalkLeft, Althouse, New York Times and The Swamp
Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Report: Burris Will Get Obama Senate Seat
Report: Burris Will Get Obama Senate Seat
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, WGN Radio, Chicago Sun Times, Pajamas Media, Mercury News, Lawyers, Guns and Money, RBO and Daily Kos
Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
Reid And Durbin: No Seating Of Burris Yet — But We Really Like Him
Reid And Durbin: No Seating Of Burris Yet — But We Really Like Him
Ali Frick / Think Progress:
White House Asked Howard To Stay In Blair House To Give ‘Some Plausible Reason’ For Refusing Obama — In December, President-elect Obama asked the White House if he and his family could move into Blair House — the White House's guest house — a week early, so that his daughters Malia and Sasha could start school.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Caucus, The New Republic, DownWithTyranny!, Matthew Yglesias, D-Day and The Raw Story
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Washington Post:
Blair House Mystery Solved: It's John Howard — The veil is lifted. We now know who is booked at Blair House, kicking President-elect Barack Obama and his family to the waiting list and across Lafayette Park to the Hay-Adams Hotel. — The only overnight visitor at the presidential guest manse …
Discussion:
Liberty Street, Outside The Beltway, Fausta's Blog, Political Machine, Macsmind and TPM Election Central
Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blogs:
Matthews: Todd ‘just lost his virginity’ — After a record-setting number of transition press conferences in Chicago, Obama answered questions from reporters in Washington for the first time as President-Elect. On hand were several new members of the White House press corps.
Associated Press:
Joe the Plumber to become war correspondent — TOLEDO, Ohio - Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter's notebook. — The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.
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Associated Press:
Joe the Plumber named war correspondent in Israel for conservative Web site — Joe the Plumber is taking on a new job. — The Ohio man, who became famous during the U.S. presidential campaign after asking Barack Obama about his tax plan, is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for a conservative Web site called pjtv.com.
Michelle Malkin:
Joe the Plumber heads to Israel — Joe The Plumber will cover the Gaza conflict for PJTV. He'll be there for 10 days. Stay safe, Joe!
CNN:
Porn industry seeks federal bailout — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion …
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Thomas E. Ricks / Foreign Policy:
Fiasco at the Army War College — Did faculty members at the Army War College curtail their criticism of the Iraq war for fear of institutional retaliation? — That seems to be the bottom line in a situation I stumbled across just a few days ago. A friend passed along a 2005 e-mail note …
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Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
THE CASE FOR TENURE. — In 2005, the Army War College's …
THE CASE FOR TENURE. — In 2005, the Army War College's …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Washington Wire:
Obama's Remarks on His Pick for Chief Performance Officer — The prepared remarks of President-elect Barack Obama in Washington on his pick for White House chief performance officer. — Good morning. — By now, we all know that we are facing a crisis in our economy …
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Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
The Mideast's Ground Zero — The fighting, death and destruction in Gaza is painful to watch. But it's all too familiar. It's the latest version of the longest-running play in the modern Middle East, which, if I were to give it a title, would be called: “Who owns this hotel? Can the Jews have a room?
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Andy Barr / The Politico:
Kemp diagnosed with cancer — Former GOP vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp, 73, has been diagnosed with cancer. — According to a statement from his consulting firm, Kemp Partners, doctors are still testing Kemp before determining a course of treatment.
Martin Kramer / Sandbox:
ABC: Anything But Cole — Juan Cole is running two campaigns on his blog. One is against Israel—business as usual for Cole. The other is promoting his blog in the 2008 Weblog Awards competition (Middle East category), where there are ten finalists (I am one).
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Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Sweet on Caroline — Ask not, you know, what your country can, like, do for you. Ask what you, um, can, you know, do for your country. — After a lifetime of shying away from the public spotlight, Caroline Kennedy asked herself what she could do for her country.
Discussion:
The Fix, Commentary, Gothamist, Politics on the Hudson, Whiskey Fire, Wonkette, NewsBusters.org, Buck Naked Politics, Spin Cycle and Jon Swift
Yaakov Katz / Associated Press:
IDF steps up anti-tunnel ops, warns civilians to vacate area — The IDF stepped up its operations against weapons smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor on Wednesday night after dropping flyers on Rafah urging residents of the town living near the corridor to vacate the area.
Discussion:
Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, Mere Rhetoric, Ynetnews, Israel Matzav, Atlas Shrugs and Reuters
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Erica Werner / Associated Press:
Feinstein says she supports Panetta for CIA — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday she intends to support President-elect Barack Obama's choice for CIA chief …
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Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
PARTISAN SELF-DECEPTION. — Matt Yglesias notes that left-of-center commentary has been notably more pessimistic on the state of the economy than right-of-center commentary. He offers three hypotheses (left-wing positions are psychologically correlated to pessimism, pessimism was correct …
Kevin Vance / Weekly Standard:
Team Sarah Infiltrated — Administrators of Team Sarah have uncovered evidence on a left-wing online thread that some Internet trolls sought to discredit the organization by posing as conservative racists on Team Sarah's forums. — Team Sarah, an online community supportive of Gov. Sarah Palin …
Michael Falcone / The Caucus:
McCain Starts ‘Country First’ PAC — Less than two weeks from the inauguration that he hoped would usher in his own presidential administration, Senator John McCain announced the formation of a new political action committee that will work to promote Republican causes.
David Harsanyi / Denver Post:
Get out of the way, you old fogies — Warning: This column is replete with ageism — a hazardous prejudice to have in a nation growing progressively older. — The average American's life expectancy (or, as it's referred to in Washington, the “junior senator") is now a crusty 77 years.
Discussion:
Reason