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, Emptywheel, BuzzFlash.org, Jack & Jill Politics, The Daily Voice and Eschaton
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John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Reid vows to lead till at least 2015 — Harry Reid vowed Tuesday that he'll lead the Senate until 2015 and beyond, taunting Republicans who'd like to unseat him and dashing the hopes of Democrats who'd like to succeed him. — The Nevada Democrat, who is up for reelection in 2010 …
Chicago Breaking News:
Senate leader leaves door ajar for Burris — WASHINGTON — A day after the U.S. Senate barred Roland Burris from being seated, Majority Leader Harry Reid left the door open to his admittance. — After a 45-minute meeting this morning between Burris, Reid and his lieutenant, Sen.Dick Durbin …
Discussion:
TPM Election Central, Chicago Sun Times, Hot Air, Real Clear Politics and The Capitol Fax Blog
Walter Dellinger / New York Times:
City of Cold Shoulders — THE scene of Roland W. Burris being escorted from the Senate by the Capitol police on Tuesday could be only the first act of an unpleasant and distracting drama. But in the days since Mr. Burris's appointment to Illinois's junior Senate seat was announced …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:Reid aide denies Senate seating Burris
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Weekly Standard, RedState, Congress Matters, The Huffington Post and Corrente
The Politico:Burris heads into pivotal meeting
Discussion:
Chicago Tribune, CBS News, New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters, D-Day, The Politico, TIME.com and AmSpecBlog
New York Times:
Obama Warns of Trillion-Dollar Deficits — 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 to impose tighter fiscal discipline on the government.
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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 …
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Washington Post:
Obama Is Under Fire Over Panetta Selection — Current, Ex-CIA Officials Criticize ‘Opaque’ Process — President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that he has selected a “top-notch intelligence team” that would provide the “unvarnished” information his administration needs, rather than “what they think the president wants to hear.”
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, MSNBC, Commentary, Wall Street Journal, At-Largely, The Caucus, Spin Cycle and Obsidian Wings
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Jeff Stein / SpyTalk:
CIA Man: Spies' Reaction to Panetta ‘Overwhelmingly Negative’ — A retired senior CIA operations officer who quit last summer after 20 years tracking terrorists says the rank-and-file reaction to President-elect Obama's choice of Leon E.Panetta to run the spy agency has been “overwhelmingly negative.”
Discussion:
MoJoBlog, The Washington Independent, Firedoglake, The Reaction, The Daily Dish and TPM Election Central
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?
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Jules Crittenden, The Agonist, Mondoweiss, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Soccer Dad
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Marc Ambinder:
Ross, Holbrooke, Haass To Serve As Envoys — Transition officials confirm that President-elect Obama has asked Dennis Ross, Richard Haass, and Richard Holbrooke, to serve as his chief emissaries to world hot spots. — It's expected that Ross will get the Iran portfolio, that Holbrooke …
Discussion:
Foreign Affairs, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Washington Independent, TIME.com, Mondoweiss and ATTACKERMAN
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 …
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.
RELATED:
Juan Cole / Informed Comment:Al-Fakhoura School Bombed, 42 Killed, Including Children …
Discussion:
Sandbox
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.
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The DOJ pursues the “real criminal” in the NSA spying scandal — There are few viewpoints, if there are any, which trigger more fervent agreement across the political and media establishment than the view that George Bush, Dick Cheney and other top officials should not be criminally investigated …
Discussion:
theheretik.us
Paul J. Gough / Reuters:
HBO lands rights to inaugural ceremony — NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - HBO will kick off coverage of Inauguration Week with an exclusive Sunday, January 18, telecast of the star-studded opening ceremony, two days before the saturation coverage of President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration begins in earnest.
Discussion:
RedState
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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