Top Items:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP senators target two Obama nominees — Partisan lines have formed around President-elect Obama's two most embattled Cabinet picks, with Eric Holder and Tim Geithner facing increasing criticism from Republicans. — Democrats, who have not shied away from attacking Obama's economic team …
Discussion:
Right Wing News
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Josh Meyer / Los Angeles Times:
Republicans say they'll grill Holder on Blagojevich ties
Republicans say they'll grill Holder on Blagojevich ties
Discussion:
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, TIME.com, The Washington Independent and AmSpecBlog
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Biden Outlines Plans to Do More With Less Power — WASHINGTON — He was in the Senate for 36 years and visited the White House under seven presidents. But Joseph R. Biden Jr. has never seen the inside of the vice president's office in the West Wing. “I never thought a lot about the vice presidency …
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New York Times:
Israel Strikes U.N. Complex in Gaza Strip — GAZA — Amid reports that a United Nations building had been hit, Israeli forces shelled areas deep inside Gaza City and edged forward toward the city center Thursday, sending thousands of panicked residents fleeing from their homes, witnesses said.
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Isabel Kershner / New York Times:
War on Hamas Saps Palestinian Leaders — JERUSALEM — Israel hoped that the war in Gaza would not only cripple Hamas, but eventually strengthen its secular rival, the Palestinian Authority, and even allow it to claw its way back into Gaza. — But with each day, the authority, its leader …
Discussion:
Yourish.com, Jeffrey Goldberg, Jules Crittenden, Newshoggers.com, Commentary and Firedoglake
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Democrats Finishing Up Stimulus Proposal — President-Elect Is Expected to Tout Plan Tomorrow — Congressional Democrats are putting the final touches on an economic stimulus package worth almost $850 billion, hoping to have the details ready in time for President-elect Barack Obama …
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Andrew Roberts / Telegraph:
History will show that George W Bush was right — The American lady who called to see if I would appear on her radio programme was specific. “We're setting up a debate,” she said sweetly, “and we want to know from your perspective as a historian whether George W Bush was the worst president …
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Michael Stokes Paulsen / Wall Street Journal:
The Minnesota Recount Was Unconstitutional — There's still plenty of time for the state to get it right. — You would think people would learn. The recount in the contest between Norm Coleman and Al Franken for a seat in the U.S. Senate isn't just embarrassing. It is unconstitutional.
David Miliband / Guardian:
‘War on terror’ was wrong — The terrorist attacks in Mumbai seven weeks ago sent shock waves around the world. Now all eyes are fixed on the Middle East, where Israel's response to Hamas's rockets, a ferocious military campaign, has already left a thousand Gazans dead.
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Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Intelligence Court Rules Wiretapping Program Legal — WASHINGTON — A federal intelligence court, in a rare public opinion, is expected to issue a major ruling validating the power of the president and Congress to wiretap international phone calls and intercept e-mail messages without a court order …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Joel Mowbray / Fox News:
U.N. Agency That Runs School Hit in Gaza Employed Hamas and Islamic Jihad Members — The United Nations agency that administers a school in Gaza where dozens of civilians were killed by Israeli mortar fire last week has admitted to employing terrorists to work at its Palestinian schools in the past …
Christopher Buckley / The Daily Beast:
Inaugural Freak Show — Blogs and Stories — You'll never believe how a Christian right congressman and two anti-abortion protestors have prepared the Capitol for the Obama's inauguration. — On January 7, second-term Republican Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia and two friends prayed over a door.
Rich Noyes / NewsBusters.org:
AP Slammed Bush's ‘Extravagant’ Inaugural in '05, But Now It's Spend, Baby, Spend — Four years ago, the Associated Press and others in the press suggested it was in poor taste for Republicans to spend $40 million on President Bush's inauguration. AP writer Will Lester calculated the impact …
Eli Lake / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Panetta faces rendition queries — Panel eyes CIA pick's role in shaping policy during the Clinton era — President-elect Barack Obama's choice for CIA director, Leon Panetta, served as White House chief of staff during the time the Clinton administration accelerated a practice …
Hugh Hewitt / Townhall.com:
Confirm Geithner; Approve The TARP Funds, and Get The Stimulus Right — Flying back to California from D.C. last night on Jet Blue I watched a few hours of the panels on the financial stations chewing over the dispiriting retail news from December, the illness of Steve Jobs …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
New Jersey official: We didn't take the kid because he's named after Hitler — So they say. … Dad, who's never been shy with the media, has conspicuously clammed up on why the kids were taken. Make of that what you will. A local cop told Fox News that he's dealt with the family …
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BBC:
Key step to Chavez term law vote — Venezuela's national assembly has approved a constitutional amendment to remove limits on how many times President Hugo Chavez can serve. — The amendment, which applies to all elected officials, must be approved by a referendum within 30 days, a vote correspondents say is set to be close.
Alexander Wolff / Sports Illustrated:
The Audacity of Hoops … The path is a familiar one: Ancestry in Kansas; influences from Africa; a kind of apotheosis in Michael Jordan's Chicago; eventual acclamation by the world. And while, no, basketball itself won't be sworn in next Tuesday as the 44th president of the U.S. …
Clifford Krauss / New York Times:
Where Is Oil Going Next? — HOUSTON — From the Indian Ocean to the South Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, giant supertankers brimming with oil are resting at anchor or slowly tracing racetrack patterns through the sea, heading nowhere. — The ships are marking time, serving as floating oil-storage tanks.
Discussion:
Don Surber
Dave Rochelson / Change.gov:
New official portrait released — Today we are releasing the new official portrait for President Barack Obama. — It was taken by Pete Souza, the newly-announced official White House photographer. — It is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera.