Top Items:
Jimmy Carter / Washington Post:
An Unnecessary War — I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided. — After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Stop The ACLU, Jules Crittenden, Macsmind, New York Times and Yourish.com
RELATED:
Steven Erlanger / New York Times:
Rockets Fired From Lebanon Into Northern Israel — JERUSALEM — Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza threatened to broaden on Thursday as at least three rockets were fired into the north of Israel from Lebanon. — The rockets, presumably launched in support of Hamas, could presage the opening of a second front.
Discussion:
Townhall.com, Associated Press, Think Progress, Daled Amos, A Blog For All, Pajamas Media, PoliBlog, abu muqawama, Ynetnews and BBC
Ynetnews:
Rockets hit northern Israel — At least two Katyushas fired at Western Galilee region, one rocket hits nursing home in Nahariya, lightly injuring two people. IDF estimates Palestinian group behind attack. Lebanon says committed to ceasefire resolution — A Katyusha barrage was fired Thursday …
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Obama to Name Lawyer Friend To Regulatory Affairs Position — President-elect Barack Obama will name Cass R. Sunstein, a close friend and one of the nation's top constitutional lawyers, to a senior-level post in charge of government regulation, a transition official said.
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy
RELATED:
Christi Parsons / Chicago Tribune:
Barack Obama asks longtime University of Chicago professor Cass Sunstein to join his administration — Law scholar will handle regulation issues, transition official says — WASHINGTON — Cass Sunstein, a longtime University of Chicago legal scholar and prominent author …
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Obama Digs In for His BlackBerry — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has yet to relent, but he conceded that he might be losing the battle to keep his independent lifeline to the outside world. — “I'm still clinging to my BlackBerry,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday. “They're going to pry it out of my hands.”
New York Times:
Obama Promises Bid to Overhaul Retiree Spending — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday that overhauling Social Security and Medicare would be “a central part” of his administration's efforts to contain federal spending, signaling for the first time that he would wade …
RELATED:
Bill Carter / New York Times:
NBC's Matthews Won't Run for Senate — Chris Matthews, the host of the MSNBC program “Hardball,” told his staff on Wednesday night that he would not run for the Senate in 2010 from Pennsylvania. — For much of the last year, Mr. Matthews had been considering entering the Senate race …
RELATED:
David Rogers / The Politico:
Obama, Dems face hard sell on stimulus — Faced with record deficits and a skeptical public, Democrats are doubling up efforts to sell their economic recovery plan, with President-elect Barack Obama taking the lead in a speech Thursday designed to lay out the case for government action.
RELATED:
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Daschle to Face Tough Questions on Competition in Health Insurance — WASHINGTON — When Tom Daschle shows up for a confirmation hearing on Thursday, senators are likely to grant him all the courtesies due a former Senate majority leader. — But that does not mean Mr. Daschle should expect only softball questions.
RELATED:
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Is Reported Set to Revise Counterterrorism Efforts — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to scrap the way President Bush oversaw domestic security in the White House and name a former Central Intelligence Agency official to coordinate counterterrorism, people close to the transition said Wednesday.
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
President Bush Tried to Rein In Fan and Fred — Democrats and the media have the housing story wrong. — Mythmaking is in full swing as the Bush administration prepares to leave town. Among the more prominent is the assertion that the housing meltdown resulted from unbridled capitalism under a president opposed to all regulation.
Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
Army Sends ‘Dear John Doe’ Letters to Families of Fallen Troops — The Army mistakenly sent letters addressed “Dear John Doe” to 7,000 family members of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, unleashing calls from troubled relatives and prompting a formal apology yesterday from the Army's top general.
Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
“It Goes with the Turf” — Cheney still doesn't take it personally. — Vice President Dick Cheney believes he hasn't “fundamentally changed” since he came to Washington 40 years ago. Only his job has changed. As vice president, he doesn't talk freely to the press about what he's doing.
Washington Post:
Obama Builds Powerful Team of White House Advisers — Influential Advisers May Compete With Cabinet — President-elect Barack Obama is assembling a new and influential cadre of counselors just steps from the Oval Office whose power to direct domestic policy will rival, if not exceed, the authority of his Cabinet.
Jamal Simmons / The Politico:
Clinton-era tips for landing an Obama job — The post-campaign vacation is done, the holidays are over and now it's time for every Obama campaign staffer to find an answer to the most frequently heard question at the holiday dinner table: “What are you going to do in the administration?”
Chicago Tribune:
Senate's Democratic majority clears path for Roland Burris — Pressure by President-elect Barack Obama leads to about-face — WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate's Democratic majority opened the way Wednesday for Roland Burris to become Illinois' next senator, pressured by President-elect Barack Obama …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post, The Politico, New York Times, The Note and Think Progress
Randal C. Archibold / New York Times:
U.S. Plans Border ‘Surge’ Against Any Drug Wars — The soaring level of violence in Mexico resulting from the drug wars there has led the United States to develop plans for a “surge” of civilian and perhaps even military law enforcement should the bloodshed spread across the border …