Franken shuts down Lieberman on Senate floor  —  WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Al Franken took the unusual step Thursday of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor.  —  Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition …

Liberal Revolt on Health Care Stings White House  —  WASHINGTON — In the great health care debate of 2009, President Obama has cast himself as a cold-eyed pragmatist, willing to compromise in exchange for votes.  Now ideology — an uprising on the Democratic left — is smacking the pragmatic president in the face.

DeMint promises to delay health bill, force Christmas Eve vote  —  Sen. Jim DeMint said Thursday he is prepared to use every procedural tool to delay a vote on the Democratic healthcare legislation.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning to schedule votes around the clock …

Palin cuts vacation short  —  Sarah Palin announced Thursday night that she ended a Hawaii vacation early because of the ruckus raised after she blacked out “McCain” on her sun visor in an effort to elude paparazzi.  —  After the former Alaska governor was photographed on the beach earlier this week …

Rare gender identity defect hits Gaza families  —  Editor's Note: Watch Connect the World tonight 9pm GMT, 4pm ET.  —  Gaza City (CNN) — Two Palestinian teenagers stroll amid the mounds of rubble left by last year's Israeli military offensive, listening to the tinny beat of a Turkish pop song playing on a cell phone.

GOP senators to block defense bill in bid to delay health-care vote  —  Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would try to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move that several acknowledged was an effort to delay President Obama's health-care legislation.

NELSON PREPARED TO JOIN GOP FILIBUSTER.... Going into the week, Senate Democrats were still hoping to get support for health care reform from Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).  After making some very painful concessions, Lieberman seemed happy.

Five cost controls in the Senate health-care bill  —  One of the impulses you have to resist as a writer is the desire to say things that are new, as opposed to things that you've already learned.  A lot of this post will be stale to longtime readers, but in my chat today, someone asked after the cost controls in the Senate.

Monica's back - says Clinton lied  —  In the years since their bitter battle, both former President Bill Clinton and independent counsel Ken Starr have predicted they'd be vindicated in the history books.  —  Now the first definitive history of the Clinton scandal is about to arrive …

Hurry Up and Wait  —  A woman whose name I didn't recognize left a message on my office telephone a few weeks ago.  Identifying herself as a member of Congress, but without telling me what she wanted, she asked me to call her at a private number, not the 225 prefix for telephones in the House of Representatives office buildings.

Health care and Iraq  —  Steve Benen is right: for the most part the debate among progressives about whether the final product on health reform is worth supporting has been edifying.  Serious people are making serious arguments, in a way that puts conservatives, who have offered nothing but smears and lies, very much to shame.

Rand Paul's spokesperson is a Satanic Metal God in KKK gear (5 UPDATES)  —  I know that sounds like quite a statement, but it's, uh, the straight dope.  —  Chris Hightower is the campaign spokesperson for Rand Paul.  The same campaign spokesperson who made an ass of himself a few weeks ago …

President enters fray in Denmark  —  President Barack Obama will arrive in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday for the culmination of a climate change summit that has captured the world's attention.  —  Obama has made overhauling the U.S. climate and energy economy a signature issue for his presidency …

Homeowners often rejected under Obama's loan plan  —  WASHINGTON — Ten months after the Obama administration began pressing lenders to do more to prevent foreclosures, many struggling homeowners are holding up their end of the bargain but still find themselves rejected …

Morgan Stanley to Give Up 5 San Francisco Towers Bought at Peak  —  Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — Morgan Stanley, the securities firm that spent more than $8 billion on commercial property in 2007, plans to relinquish five San Francisco office buildings to its lender two years after purchasing …

Matthews: The netroots ‘get their giggles from sitting in the backseat and bitching.’  —  Today on MSNBC's Hardball, Chris Matthews brought on John Heilemann from the New Yorker to talk about President Obama's popularity with Democrats.  When Heilemann noted that the “Democratic left” …

DOJ urges federal court to re-open ACORN case  —  The Department of Justice waded into the ACORN legal battle on Thursday, urging a federal court to re-evaluate the constitutionality of lawmakers' move to cut off the organization's funding earlier this year.

Pass the Bill  —  A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy.  Declare that you're disappointed in and/or disgusted with President Obama.  Demand a change in Senate rules that, combined with the Republican strategy of total obstructionism, are in the process of making America ungovernable.

White House Blogger Call: Axelrod Answers Questions on Healthcare Bill  —  Home » Blogs » Susie Madrak's blog  —  You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!  —  DOWNLOADS: 103  —  Information always has a soothing effect on me …

Whitman has wide lead over her GOP rivals  —  (12-16) 21:16 PST SAN FRANCISCO — Republican former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who has spent more than $20 million in her campaign to become California's next governor, holds commanding leads over her two GOP competitors, while nearly half …

Ex-gov. emerges as next Ron Paul  —  Former New Mexico Republican Gov. Gary Johnson is a teetotaling triathlete who looks the part of the laid back Mountain West politician.  —  But don't let the jeans and black mock turtleneck he's sporting on his new website fool you …

Plouffe Counters Obama's Healthcare Critics  —  David Plouffe, the former campaign manager of Obama for America, has one of the lowest drama-to-power ratios in American politics.  As the Senate wrangling over health care hits solipsistic theatrics, even by Lieberman standards, the President's confidante remains decidedly calm.