Top Items:
Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
The media's giftgate — I know, my head hurts, too, reading the ‘coverage.’ (I'm waiting for some reporter to combine the gift ‘story’ with a detailed description of what Michelle Obama was wearing when she gave the Queen of England the gift.) — Aside from the fact that key facts …
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Ariel Leve / Times of London:
Protocol is abandoned as Michelle Obama cosies up to Queen — Protocol seems to be dispensed with when the Obamas come to town. — When the President and his wife, Michelle, attended a reception at Buckingham Palace, the First Lady and the Queen slipped their arms around each other towards the end of the evening.
Discussion:
BBC, The Swamp, Power Line, Jules Crittenden, On Deadline, Washington Post, Fox News, Political Punch and Gateway Pundit
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Michelle Obama's Favorable Rating Eclipses Her Husband's — Both president and first lady are quite popular — USA - Favorability - Government and Politics - Presidential Ratings - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans have very positive impressions …
Howard Chua-Eoan / Time:
The Queen and Mrs. Obama: Did the First Lady Break Protocol? — Michelle Obama with Queen Elizabeth II during an audience at Buckingham Palace — The rules are set in stone and so the eagerly watching British media sputtered when the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Michelle's recovery — The newest Gallup numbers show Michelle Obama …
Michelle's recovery — The newest Gallup numbers show Michelle Obama …
Discussion:
marbury
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The President Is ‘Keeping Score’ — Chicago politics has moved into the White House. — “Don't think we're not keeping score, brother.” That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press.
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Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: DIPLOMATIC DECATHLON
FIRST THOUGHTS: DIPLOMATIC DECATHLON
Discussion:
Raleigh News & Observer, Associated Press, Taylor Marsh, Weekly Standard and Capital Journal
Quinnipiac University:
Dodd Falls Way Behind As Approval Drops To Lowest Ever, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Are Angry At AIG Bonuses And Blame Dodd — Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 - 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race …
Natasha Korecki / Chicago Sun Times:
Indictment in Blagojevich case coming later today — The U.S. Attorney's office said this morning it plans to make an announcement about a “significant criminal matter” later today, which sources said is the indictment of ex-governor Rod Blagojevich. The indictment will likely be handed down within the next several hours.
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Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Cantor: Dems ‘overreacting’ to crisis — GOP Whip Eric Cantor thinks his party can retake the House in next year's midterm elections — and accused Democrats of “overreacting” to the economic crisis by embarking on a federal spending spree. — UPDATED: I cleaned up the transcript and transcribed his full quote from the tape.
Victoria McGrane / The Politico:
Former AIG chief says bailout ‘failed’ — Former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg says the bailout has “failed” and he's proposing a 10-point alternative focused on saving, not breaking apart, the mega-insurer. — Greenberg will reveal his plan during a hearing before the House Oversight …
Discussion:
TIME.com
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Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Romney breaks with GOP on the issue of deregulation — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said Wednesday that his party needs to take a fresh approach to government regulations in the wake of the economic crisis that has rattled the U.S. and world economies.
Discussion:
Anne Schroeder's Blog
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Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
THE OPPOSITE OF NO NUMBERS IS NOT IMAGINARY NUMBERS. — About a week ago, House Republicans emerged with a budget that was widely mocked because it contained no numbers and made no sense. This week, Representative Paul Ryan is proposing a budget that will be widely mocked because the numbers it contains make no sense.
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Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Sen. Stevens ‘got screwed’ by Justice — The Justice Department's stunning decision to drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had GOP senators hailing the news as a vindication while government watchdogs fretted over the impact on other corruption cases against public officials.
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Peter Hamby / CNN:
Gingrich warns of third party in 2012 — (CNN) — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is warning of a third party mutiny in 2012 if Republicans don't figure out a way to shape up. — “If the Republicans can't break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would …
Danny Shea / The Huffington Post:
Ed Schultz To Be MSNBC 6 PM Host — The #1 story on Countdown was Keith Olbermann introducing Ed Schultz as the new host of “The Ed Show” on MNSBC weeknights at 6PM ET. — Olbermann joked that the qualifications for MSNBC hosts are being “an ex-sportscaster born on the 27th of January” …
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Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blog:
MSNBC gives Schultz the 6pm slot
MSNBC gives Schultz the 6pm slot
Discussion:
MSNBC, The Ed Schultz Show, New York Times, Salon, Barack Obama's … and The Democratic Daily
The New Republic:
How to Fight a Smear — Dahlia Lithwick has a really good piece lamenting the fact that the mainstream media has failed to take on the right-wing smear campaign against Yale Law prof—and Obama's nominee to serve as the State Department's top lawyer—Harold Koh:
Discussion:
The Plum Line
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Manu Raju / The Politico:
Franken puts Pawlenty in a jam — The legal fight between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is headed to the desk of Gov. Tim Pawlenty — a no-win predicament for a Minnesota Republican with his eye on a White House run in 2012. — Franken won big Tuesday when a three-judge panel allowed …
Discussion:
CBS News, Democratic Strategist, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Donklephant, TIME.com and The New Republic
Fox News:
The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S. — While 90 percent of the guns traced to the U.S. actually originated in the United States, the percent traced to the U.S. is only about 17 percent of the total number of guns reaching Mexico. — FOXNews.com
Megan McArdle:
Department of awful statistics — Every time you find yourself saying that there must be some causal relationship between two strongly correlated variables, you should go back and look at this graph: — As Atlantic Business contributor Derek Lowe, from whom I stole that graph, notes,
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
A. Pawlowski / CNN:
Jupiter's stormy Great Red Spot is shrinking — (CNN) — Everything about Jupiter is super-sized, including its colorful, turbulent atmosphere. But there's fresh evidence that one of the planet's most recognizable features, the Great Red Spot, is shrinking.
Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
U.S. Military to Request More Troops for Afghanistan — Request for 10,000 Not Yet Submitted To White House — Gen. David H. Petraeus disclosed yesterday that American commanders have requested the deployment of an additional 10,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Obsidian Wings, Think Progress, Jules Crittenden, The Foundry and The Washington Note
Ted Barrett / CNN:
Senate rejects controversial fast-track budget procedure — WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Senate overwhelmingly voted Wednesday not to use a fast-track budget procedure to pass President Obama's “cap and trade” plan to combat global warming. — The vote was a victory for Republicans …
New York Times:
Earmarks of Scandal — Speaker Nancy Pelosi should listen to the wise Democrats who are pushing for an ethics inquiry into the far-too-cozy relationship between lawmakers and the PMA Group of superlobbyists. — The Justice Department is investigating whether PMA used illegal straw donors …