Top Items:
William Kristol / New York Times:
Will Obama Save Liberalism? — All good things must come to an end. Jan. 20, 2009, marked the end of a conservative era. — Since Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, conservatives of various sorts, and conservatisms of various stripes, have generally been in the ascendancy. And a good thing, too!
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Blogs and Stories:
The Sacking of Bill Kristol — Why The New York Times Sacked Bill Kristol by Scott Horton — Blogs and Stories — The famous neoconservative published his final New York Times column today. Scott Horton reports on real reasons the Gray Lady didn't renew his contract.
Andrew Breitbart / Big Hollywood:
Iraq War Showdown: Bill Kristol Agrees to Debate Matt Damon After Actor's “Idiot” Slam — On Sunday afternoon Weekly Standard editor and New York Times columnist Bill Kristol — in an email exchange with Big Hollywood — agreed to debate Matt Damon on his Hollywood home turf after being informed …
Greg Mitchell / The Huffington Post:
Cut Kristol: As Era Ends at ‘NYT,’ Some of Bill's Greatest Bloopers — As you surely know by now, Bill Kristol wrote his final column today for The New York Times, sparing the paper any further embarrassment. But, as usual, he did not spare us all a good belly laugh: The news of his demise came …
Discussion:
Media Blog
Glenn Garvin / MiamiHerald.com:
The opinionated Mr. Damon — Actor — and Miami Beach resident — Matt Damon likes to mix his art with politics — Matt Damon enters the Coconut Grove recording studio with a smile of obvious relief, notwithstanding the fact that in moments he will have to pronounce words like Kangerdlugssuaq.
Richard Perez-Pena / New York Times:
Kristol Ends Times Op-Ed Column — William Kristol, the conservative columnist, and The New York Times have quietly ended their relationship after little more than a year, the newspaper said on Monday. — A single sentence printed below Mr. Kristol's column in Monday's paper broke the news: “This is William Kristol's last column.”
Shawn Pogatchnik / Associated Press:
EU: US must show Guantanamo detainees pose no risk — BRUSSELS, Belgium — European Union leaders said Monday they are willing to take prisoners being released from the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay — but only after detailed screening to ensure they don't import a terrorist.
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New York Post:
JUST PLANE DESPICABLE — ‘RESCUED’ CITI BUYING $50M JET — Beleaguered Citigroup is upgrading its mile-high club with a brand-new $50 million corporate jet - only this time, it's the taxpayers who are getting screwed. — Even though the bank's stock is as cheap as a gallon of gas …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Don Surber, Right Wing News, Gawker, Hot Air and The Washington Independent
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Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
Citigroup about to complete purchase of brand new $50 million corporate jet.»
Citigroup about to complete purchase of brand new $50 million corporate jet.»
Discussion:
MoJoBlog
Newsday:
Rep. Peter King calls on Paterson to justify Senate pick — While U.S. Senate designee Kirsten Gillibrand met Sunday with the state's top political power brokers in Manhattan, forces opposed to her began plotting against upstate congresswoman. — Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) …
Discussion:
NY Daily News, Washington Wire, New York Times, Senate Guru, The Hill's Pundits Blog, TalkLeft and Spin Cycle
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Jeremy W. Peters / City Room:
After Criticism, Paterson Cancels Trip to Davos
After Criticism, Paterson Cancels Trip to Davos
Discussion:
Spin Cycle
The Huffington Post:
Woodward Suggests Future Scandal For Obama White House — Appearing on the Chris Matthews Show Sunday, Bob Woodward offered a rather cryptic prediction of scandal that will plague the Obama White House. — “This may be tantalizing but vague,” said the Washington Post scribe.
Owen Thomas / Gawker:
Cheney's Veil Lifted on Vice President's Residence — Hope and change has come to Google Maps. The official residence of the vice president, obscured until Dick Cheney's last days in office and residence, now shines in satellite sunlight. — A reader tipped us off that Google Maps …
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:
Feingold Introduces 28th Amendment — I hope you'll excuse the hubristic headline. Constitutional amendments are introduced all the time in the Congress. Most of them are used to make a political point of one kind or another and stand little chance of becoming law.
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Jane Mayer In / New Yorker:
BEHIND THE EXECUTIVE ORDERS — On Thursday, President Barack Obama consigned to history the worst excesses of the Bush Administration's “war on terror.” One of the four executive orders Obama signed effectively cancelled seven years of controversial Justice Department legal opinions authorizing methods …
ABCNEWS:
Blago Says He Thought of Oprah for Senate — Blago Goes on ‘GMA’ and Skips His Impeachement Trial — Illinois' beleaguered Gov. Rod Blagojevich said today that when he was deciding who would take President Obama's Senate seat he considered appointing talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.
Discussion:
The Politico, Clout St, The Swamp, USA Today, NY Daily News, CNN, Lynn Sweet, Chicago Breaking News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air and The Reaction
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
Secretary Clinton names climate czar — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday will name Todd D. Stern, a trusted top aide in her husband's White House, to serve as a special envoy for climate change, Democratic officials said. — Climate was largely ignored by President George W …
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Liz Halloran / NPR:
Ex-AG Gonzales: ‘I Should Have Been More Engaged’ — Listen Now — · Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday rejected critics' charges that he allowed the Justice Department to become politicized under his watch. — Gonzales told host Michel Martin of NPR's Tell …
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Bad Faith Economics — As the debate over President Obama's economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: many of the plan's opponents aren't arguing in good faith. Conservatives really, really don't want to see a second New Deal, and they certainly don't want to see government activism vindicated.
Discussion:
QandO, Wonk Room, The Next Right, Reason, DailyHowler.com, Outside The Beltway, JustOneMinute, The Right Coast, The Seminal, Democracy in America, Wonkette, MyDD and D-Day
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama's Initial Approval Ratings in Historical Context — Rank among the best for a newly elected president since World War II — USA - Government and Politics - Leadership - Presidential Job Approval - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ …
Discussion:
MSNBC
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
STIMULUS AND CONTRACEPTIVES.... House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) appeared on “Meet the Press” yesterday, complaining about a proposed stimulus package. He noted, in particular, a proposal to spend “over $200 million for contraceptives.” He asked, “How will this fix an ailing economy?”
Rasmussen Reports:
44% of Democrats Say Bush Team Guilty of War Crimes — Forty-four percent (44%) of Democratic voters believe President Bush and senior members of his administration are guilty of war crimes. Only 28% of the nation's Democrats disagree. — The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found …
Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
A Lobbying Firm You Can Believe In — Late last week the Hill put out a list of the top 20 lobbying firms in Washington. The list detailed year over year performance for each firm. Most of the firms on the list saw revenue decrease in 2008 by between 5 and 15 percent.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs
Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard:
New, Transparent WhiteHouse.gov Forgoes Press Briefing Transcripts? — Barack Obama's administration may be promising the “greatest ethical standard ever administered to an executive branch,” and increased transparency over his predecessor, but it seems to be forgoing at least one transparency practice …
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder
Jerusalem Post:
Top EU official: Hamas fully responsible for Gaza war — Hamas bears full responsibility for the war in Gaza, a top EU official said Monday in the Strip, calling the group “a terrorist movement.” — “At this time we have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas,” Louis Michel …