Top Items:
Lara Jakes / Associated Press:
Obama preparing order to close Gitmo — WASHINGTON (AP) — Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama say one of his first duties in office will be to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. — That executive order is expected during Obama's first week on the job …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Hullabaloo, TIME.com, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Macsmind, Wonkette, The Raw Story, The Washington Independent and ATTACKERMAN
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Ed Henry / CNN:
Obama to close Guantanamo Bay prison quickly — WASHINGTON (CNN) — President-elect Barack Obama plans to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay as early as his first week in office to show a break from the Bush administration's approach to the war on terror, according to two officials close to the transition.
White House:
Press Conference by the President — James S. Brady Press Briefing Room — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Tapper. We have been through a lot together. As I look through the room, I see Jake, Mike, Herman, Ann Compton. Just seemed like yesterday that — that I was on the campaign trail …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, CNN, Associated Press, Washington Post, Think Progress, Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars and Gateway Pundit
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John Cushman / The Caucus:
A Money Request, and a Swan Song — Obama Requests Money | 11:28 a.m. President-elect Barack Obama asked President Bush to request the $350 billion remaining in the financial rescue package, the White House said Monday, shortly after Mr. Bush finished a news conference.
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
At Obama's Urging, Bush to Seek Rest of Bailout Funds
At Obama's Urging, Bush to Seek Rest of Bailout Funds
Discussion:
Democracy in America
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Dem senators to swear in Burris — The Roland Burris saga is over, as Democratic Senate leaders have accepted his credentials and will swear him in as the junior senator from Illinois by the end of this week. — The decision ends an embarrassing chapter in Democratic politics and allows …
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Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Burris Cleared to Take Senate Seat — Senate Democratic leaders today cleared the way for Roland Burris to be seated as a senator from Illinois, after more than a weeklong spectacle surrounding the state's corruption scandal and the questioning of Mr. Burris's credentials.
Signorile / The Gist:
RNC Chair Candidate: “Homosexuality is a compulsion that can be contained, repressed or changed.” — Yes, that's what Ken Blackwell, the sketchy former Ohio Secretary of State who now has a good shot at running the Republican National Committee, told me a few months back, among some other very interesting and kooky things.
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Associated Press:
Israel bans Arab parties from running in upcoming elections — The Central Elections Committee on Monday banned Arab political parties from running in next month's parliamentary elections, drawing accusations of racism by an Arab lawmaker who said he would challenge the decision in the country's Supreme Court.
Agence France Presse:
Rice shame-faced by Bush over UN Gaza vote: Olmert — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — JERUSALEM (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was left shame-faced after President George W. Bush ordered her to abstain in a key UN vote on the Gaza war, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Associated Press, Think Progress, Commentary, Phawker, Taylor Marsh and Booman Tribune
Telegraph:
Student auctions off virginity for offers of more than £2.5 million — A student who is auctioning her virginity to pay for a masters degree in Family and Marriage therapy has seen bidding hit £2.5million ($3.7m). — Natalie Dylan, 22, claims her offer of a one-night stand …
Lauren Kornreich / CNN:
Joe the Plumber: Ban media from war — Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, is in Israel. (Getty Images/Israeli GPO) — (CNN) - ‘Joe the Plumber’ Wurzelbacher told a group of journalists covering the conflict in Israel and Gaza that he didn't think the media should be allowed to report on war.
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Bill Roggio / Weekly Standard:
A Media Ban Would Do Average Joes A Disservice
A Media Ban Would Do Average Joes A Disservice
Discussion:
Political Machine
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Obama to Address House Republican Conference — House Republicans have invited President-elect Barack Obama to speak before the entire GOP conference, hoping to set a different tone to the partisan wars of the last two years in which congressional Democrats battled President Bush.
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Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blogs:
Portman running to succeed Voinovich
Portman running to succeed Voinovich
Discussion:
The Caucus, Openers, MyDD, Matthew Yglesias, AmSpecBlog, Senate Guru, The Swamp, Swing State Project and Daily Kos
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
On Analogies — I did a post the other day that used an anecdote from my real life to illustrate a point about the concept of self-defense. Since the point was relevant to the debate over the fighting in Gaza, I tried to explicitly say that I didn't want the story to be read as an analogy since …
Discussion:
Kevin Drum
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Mariana Cook / New Yorker:
A COUPLE IN CHICAGO … MICHELLE OBAMA: There is a strong possibility that Barack will pursue a political career, although it's unclear. There is a little tension with that. I'm very wary of politics. I think he's too much of a good guy for the kind of brutality, the skepticism.
buffalobeast.com:
THE BEAST 50 MOST LOATHSOME PEOPLE IN AMERICA, 2008 — 50. Barack Obama — Charges: Beyond a few token acts of bipartisan marketing, Barry's major duty in the Senate was to avoid legislating, so he could pretend Washington-outsider status and nullify attacks on his non-existent policy positions.
Discussion:
My Left Wing
Mike Scarcella / The BLT:
Process Server on Chief Justice Roberts: ‘Definitely a Gentleman’ — There was no clandestine surveillance, no hiding behind bushes or in a parked car. — Daniel Portnoy says he walked up the driveway and knocked on the front door. The homeowner opened the door.
Discussion:
Althouse
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Obama climate czar has socialist ties — Group sees ‘global governance’ as solution — Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society …
Discussion:
Climate Progress, AmSpecBlog, Townhall.com, Wonk Room, Gateway Pundit, Salon, Sister Toldjah, RedState and JammieWearingFool
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Huckabee: I'm not ‘pro-gay.’ — Huckabee: I'm not ‘pro-gay.’» — During the presidential campaign, far-right conservative columnist Ann Coulter made a hobby of criticizing former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as insufficiently conservative, including claiming that the virulently anti-gay Huckabee was “pro-sodomy.”
Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Scarborough: 'That's the silliest thing I've ever heard' that torture doesn't work.» — Today on MSNBC's Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough waged an ardent, six-minute defense of torture, arguing with the Financial Times' Krystia Freeland that torture is always effective …