Top Items:
Mike Allen / The Politico:
George Will calls for pull-out — George F. Will, the elite conservative commentator, will call in his next column for U.S. ground troops to leave Afghanistan, according to publishing sources. — “[F]orces should be substantially reduced to serve a comprehensively revised policy …
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Anthony H. Cordesman / Washington Post:
A Chance to Avoid Defeat in Afghanistan — The United States cannot win the war in Afghanistan in the next three months — any form of even limited victory will take years of further effort. It can, however, easily lose the war. I did not see any simple paths to victory while serving …
William Branigin / Washington Post:
U.S. General Calls for New Strategy Against Taliban
U.S. General Calls for New Strategy Against Taliban
Discussion:
Below The Beltway
Boston Globe:
Governor sets date for special Senate election, presses for interim appointment — Governor Deval Patrick continued today to press for a change to state law to allow him to appoint an interim replacement for Senator Edward M. Kennedy as he announced that a special election for the seat will be held on Jan. 19.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, The Swamp, The Politico, Salon, TPMDC, Hotline On Call, Wonkette, The Page, Below The Beltway, msnbc.com and Real Clear Politics
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Frank Phillips / Boston Globe:
Senate field hinges on Kennedy decision — With Massachusetts having paid its final respects to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the politics of succession begins in earnest this week - candidates will emerge, a race will take shape, and the Kennedy clan will have to reveal whether it wants to keep the seat in the family.
Discussion:
Capitol Briefing, Associated Press, USA Today, NPR Blogs, Hot Air, Boston Herald, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Bloomberg, Taylor Marsh and AmSpecBlog
Ezra Klein:
Chuck Grassley Fundraises Against Health-Care Reform — Chuck Grassley is facing a potentially difficult primary challenge in 2010. As such, he's been working hard to cover his right flank. That would all be fine except for one thing: As ranking member of the Finance Committee …
Discussion:
Think Progress, Ben Smith's Blog, The Plum Line, Wonkette and The Washington Independent
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Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Gibbs: Enzi's Flipped Over His Cards And Walked Away from the Health Care Table — White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that the “Gang of Six” health care negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee might now be the “Gang of Five.” — During this week's GOP YouTube address …
Associated Press:
Sarah Palin plans first trip to Asia — Former Alaska governor set for initial commercial speaking engagement — HONG KONG - Former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, once questioned about her lack of foreign policy experience, will make her first trip to Asia in September.
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
Palin gets 1,070+ invitations — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin this week will begin accepting and rejecting the more than 1,070 invitations she has received for paid speeches and political appearances since she resigned as Alaska governor, aides said. — Twenty speakers' bureaus made offers to represent her.
Discussion:
The TrogloPundit, Gawker, The Mudflats, Jezebel, Salon, Another Black Conservative, Don Surber and Taylor Marsh
Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Experts see double-digit Dem losses — After an August recess marked by raucoustown halls, troubling polling data and widespread anecdotal evidence of a volatile electorate, the small universe of political analysts who closely follow House races is predicting moderate to heavy Democratic losses in 2010.
Discussion:
NY Daily News, New York Times, Think Progress, Blue Crab Boulevard, Right Wing Nut House, Politics Daily, The TrogloPundit, The Caucus, DownWithTyranny!, Hot Air, Wake up America, Christian Science Monitor, Political Byline, Open Congress, Don Surber, Commentary, Flopping Aces, AmSpecBlog, Another Black Conservative, NPR Blogs, Ezra Klein, Sister Toldjah, American Power, The Corner on National … and Weasel Zippers
Zachery Kouwe / New York Times:
As Banks Repay Bailout Money, U.S. Sees a Profit — Nearly a year after the federal rescue of the nation's biggest banks, taxpayers have begun seeing profits from the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid that many critics thought might never be seen again.
Big Hollywood:
EXCLUSIVE: Carrie Prejean Takes Legal Action Against Miss California USA Officials — RANCHO SANTA FE, CA - Carrie Prejean's attorney, Charles S. LiMandri announced today that the former Miss California USA is filing a complaint in the Superior Court of California against Miss California USA …
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Bruce Bartlett / The New Majority:
Why I Am Anti-Republican — I got an e-mail from a prominent Republican asking why I am so anti-Republican these days. Since many of my friends ask the same thing I thought I would share my reply: — I think the party got seriously on the wrong track during the George W. Bush years, as I explained in my Impostor book.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Outside The Beltway, Townhall.com, Right Wing Nut House, The Daily Dish and Moe Lane
Gabriel Sherman / The New Republic:
The Courtship — The story behind the Obama-Brooks bromance. — In the spring of 2005, New York Times columnist David Brooks arrived at then-Senator Barack Obama's office for a chat. Brooks, a conservative writer who joined the Times in 2003 from The Weekly Standard, had never met Obama before.
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Daniel J. Flynn / American Spectator:
Kennedy Catholicism — “I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness,” Ted Kennedy wrote to Pope Benedict XVI, in a letter dramatically read by Theodore Cardinal McCarrick at the senator's burial, “and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed …
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Howard M. Brandston / Wall Street Journal:
Save the Light Bulb! — Compact fluorescents don't produce good quality light. — Printer — Friendly — The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will effectively phase out incandescent light bulbs by 2012-2014 in favor of compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs.
Ylan Q. Mui / Washington Post:
Blue Chip, White Cotton: What Underwear Says About the Economy — For one answer to the nation's most pressing economic question — when will the recession end? — just take a peek inside the American man's underwear drawer. — There may be some new pairs there, judging by recent reports …
Discussion:
Villainous Company, Fausta's Blog, TIME.com, Don Surber, Free exchange and NewsBusters.org
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
HURTING DICK CHENEY'S FEELINGS.... Dick Cheney offered quite a bit of nonsense on Fox News yesterday, but perhaps the most entertaining thing was hearing him talk about how the Obama White House has hurt his feelings. Apparently, the current president was supposed to seek out the former vice president …
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Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Gibbs responds: Why is anyone still listening to Dick Cheney?
Gibbs responds: Why is anyone still listening to Dick Cheney?
Discussion:
Associated Press
Mimi Hall / USA Today:
Ridge backpedals on pressure to raise terror alert level — WASHINGTON — Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge, speaking for the first time about accusations made in his new book, says he did not mean to suggest that other top Bush administration officials were playing politics …
Discussion:
Swampland, Crooks and Liars, Time, The Note, Hot Air, Politics Daily, Washington Monthly, Michelle Malkin and The Swamp
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Missing Richard Nixon — Many of the retrospectives on Ted Kennedy's life mention his regret that he didn't accept Richard Nixon's offer of a bipartisan health care deal. The moral some commentators take from that regret is that today's health care reformers should do what Mr. Kennedy balked …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Key Republican: GOP would repeal health bill if they win in 2010 — Republicans will repeal healthcare reform legislation if they win control of Congress because of that bill, a key Republican pledged late Sunday. — The health bill is “dead on arrival” in Congress, said Rep. Joe Barton …
Michael Powell / New York Times:
A ‘Little Judge’ Who Rejects Foreclosures, Brooklyn Style — The judge waves you into his chambers in the State Supreme Court building in Brooklyn, past the caveat taped to his wall — “Be sure brain in gear before engaging mouth” — and into his inner office, where foreclosure motions …
Discussion:
RaceWire, No More Mister Nice Blog, Vox Popoli, Runnin' Scared, Townhall.com and The BLT
George F. Will / Newsweek:
An Ivy League Huey Long — Washington is seriously unserious. — From the magazine issue dated Sep 7, 2009 — In August our ubiquitous president became the nation's elevator music, always out and about, heard but not really listened to, like audible wallpaper.
Discussion:
Commentary, Outside The Beltway, Power Line, Connecting.the.Dots and Democratic Strategist
BBC:
Hamas resists Holocaust lessons — Gaza's ruling Islamist movement Hamas has resisted suggestions that Palestinian children should be taught about the Holocaust in UN-run schools. — The head of its education committee in Gaza, Abdul Rahman el-Jamal, told the BBC that the Holocaust was a “big lie”.
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Fewer Newspapers Fight to Open Court Proceedings — You don't see newspapers fighting to open court proceedings the way they used to, and people are starting to notice. — “The days of powerful newspapers with ample legal budgets appear to be numbered,” wrote a public defender in Georgia …
Tory Newmyer / Roll Call:
Burner Helping House Liberals Hold Firm on Public Insurance Option — An organizer for liberal House Democrats says the bloc “isn't bluffing” as it prepares to take a reputation-defining stand to protect a public insurance option in the health care overhaul.