Officials: Only A Failed Detonator Saved Northwest Flight  —  Screening Machines May Need to Be Replaced; Al Qaeda Aware of ‘Achilles heel’  —  Officials now say tragedy was only averted on Northwest flight 253 because a makeshift detonator failed to work properly.

Four ‘shot dead’ in Iran protests  —  Elderly man among dead, claims reformist website, as security forces clamp down on holy day marches across Iran  —  At least four people were reported dead today after Iranian security forces opened fire on opposition protesters who took to the streets in Tehran for a religious ceremony.

Why The President Went Golfing Today  —  In his Farenheit 9/11, filmmaker Michael Moore juxtaposes images and words of a terrorist attack in Israel with President Bush's first words about the incident, spoken to a press pool on a golf course, with him leaning casually against a tree.

Vacation's Over, Mr. President.  —  What is wrong with this picture?  —  It's December 23rd - I lug my tired butt to the airport, ready to leave for vacation.  Carrying a bottle of very nice wine, I have to leave my place in the security line as I can't bring it as a carry-on, check it in a bag …

Xmas bomb bid complicates Gitmo plan  —  “I'd expect Yemen's handling of returned Guantanamo detainees to come under intense U.S. scrutiny,” said Matthew Waxman, a Columbia law professor who was an assistant Defense secretary for detainee affairs under President George W. Bush.

Dems to W.H.: Drop cap-and-trade  —  Bruised by the health care debate and worried about what 2010 will bring, moderate Senate Democrats are urging the White House to give up now on any effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill next year.  —  “I am communicating that in every way I know how,” …

Why The President's Inability to Lead Highlights the Value of FDL's Reachout to “Strange Bedfellows”  —  The times call for a leader of Churchillian or Rooseveltian magnitude; what we have instead is a cautious risk-averse manager.  Bold progressives must fill the leadership vacuum in order …

Obama scores well for first year on ethics, say watchdog groups  —  President Barack Obama scores well among ethics watchdog groups in his first year in office, though they'd still like to see more from the president.  —  Obama has wielded the power of the White House to craft an executive order …

End the filibuster!  An interview with Sen. Tom Harkin  —  Sen. Tom Harkin has served in the Senate since 1984, and currently chairs the influential Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.  Before coming to the Senate, he served in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1984.

TSA Making Flying More Miserable  —  Not surprisingly, TSA is going to make flying even more aggravating in a stupid overreaction to the Detroit terror plot. … This is mind-numbingly stupid.  As Radley Balko notes, these measures “wouldn't even have done anything to prevent the attempt over the weekend.