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 …
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 Politico, Sister Toldjah, Salon, The Swamp, 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, Boston Herald, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Bloomberg and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Gibbs responds: Why is anyone still listening to Dick Cheney? — In an interview with Fox News Sunday yesterday, Vice President Cheney aggressively attacked Attorney General Eric Holder for opening preliminary investigation into CIA interrogation abuses. He called it an “outrageous political act …
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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:
Taegan Goddard's …, Think Progress, The Plum Line, Ben Smith's Blog, Wonkette and The Washington Independent
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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, The Mudflats, Gawker, Jezebel, Salon, Another Black Conservative, Don Surber and Taylor Marsh
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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, Blue Crab Boulevard, Politics Daily, Right Wing Nut House, Think Progress, The TrogloPundit, The Caucus, DownWithTyranny!, Hot Air, Wake up America, Political Byline, Open Congress, Christian Science Monitor, Flopping Aces, AmSpecBlog, Commentary, Don Surber, NPR Blogs, Another Black Conservative, Sister Toldjah and Ezra Klein
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:
Outside The Beltway, Washington Monthly, 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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Ross Douthat / New York Times:
A Different Kind of Liberal — Only 13 days separated the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics, from the death of her brother Ted last week. But amid the wall-to-wall coverage and the stream of retrospectives for the senior senator from Massachusetts …
Discussion:
Shakesville
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Why Don't Markets Clear in Urban Storefronts? — Vacant storefront on 1300 block of U Street; good place for a Wendy's? (cc photo by NCinDC) — One of the enduring mysteries of urban life is the prevalence of vacant storefronts. This is understandable in a truly depressed area where the whole local economy has broken down.
Discussion:
Megan McArdle
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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.
Discussion:
The Enterprise Blog, The Huffington Post, YID With LID, Althouse, Cato @ Liberty and Dr. Melissa Clouthier
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 …
Jon Henke / The Next Right:
Organizing Against WorldNetDaily — This is just hideously embarrassing for the Right. … In the 1960's, William F. Buckley denounced the John Birch Society leadership for being “so far removed from common sense” and later said “We cannot allow the emblem of irresponsibility to attach to the conservative banner.”
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, Time, Crooks and Liars, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, The Note, Washington Monthly, Politics Daily, Michelle Malkin and The Swamp
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 …
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 …
Discussion:
MoJo Blog Posts
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 …
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.
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:
Outside The Beltway, Commentary, 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”.