memeorandum: Son of Obama's Friend Injured in Hawaii (Peter Baker/The Caucus)

6:10 PM ET, December 28, 2009

Top Items:

Crotch-Bomber Fails to Blow Up Plane, in Yet Another Disaster for Obama — There are a few ways to look at the case of the thwarted holiday crotch-bomber. On the one hand, we have a deluded fellow who, allegedly assured of eternal glory by jihadists who bade him sew explosive chemicals into his underwear …

Discussion: Washington Post, American Power, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, AmSpecBlog, The Mahablog, American Spectator, Gates of Vienna, CNN and alicublog

New York Times:

Security System Failed, Napolitano Acknowledges — WASHINGTON — Backtracking from a widely criticized assertion over the weekend, the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, said in a televised interview on Monday that the thwarted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner …

Discussion: Washington Post, Real Clear Politics, Megan McArdle, Jeffrey Goldberg, Bookworm Room, Jules Crittenden, Time, Hit & Run, Althouse, Mediaite, The Caucus, democracyarsenal.org, Swampland, Los Angeles Times and Top Stories from CQ

Kenneth Chang / New York Times:

Explosive on Flight 253 Is Among Most Powerful — Sewn into the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a powerful plastic explosive, the authorities say. — Had Mr. Abdulmutallab, sitting in seat 19A of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Friday from Amsterdam to Detroit …

Discussion: American Power, National Review Online, Danger Room, The Foundry, Townhall.com, Washington Wire and PoliBlog

Lovegetspeace / CBS News:

U.S. Failed to Catch Suspect's Active Visa — Exclusive: 2 State Dept. Checks Before Alleged Terror Attack Didn't Discover Abdulmutallab had Active Visa Allowing Entry — (CBS) By CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian. — CBS News has learned the State Department system designed …

Discussion: Hot Air, Matthew Yglesias, The Washington Independent and Sister Toldjah

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama pledges ‘thorough review’ in wake of attempted airline bombing

Discussion: The Politico and The Swamp

Reuters:
Dutch probe claims of Nigerian bomber accomplice

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Hot Air, NPR Blogs and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:
The Terror This Time — Janet Napolitano says the system worked.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Guardian, The Politico, The Strata-Sphere, Cato @ Liberty, Taylor Marsh, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Israel Matzav and Commentary

ABCNEWS:
Abdulmutallab: More Like Me In Yemen — Accused Northwest Bomber …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, CNN, Commentary, Political Byline, The Plum Line, Hot Air, National Review Online, Wizbang, Gateway Pundit and New York Times

The Hill: Obama pledges “thorough review” of anti-terrorism security measures

TMZ.com:

The JFK Photo That Could Have Changed History — TMZ has obtained a never-before published photograph which appears to show John F. Kennedy on a boat filled with naked women — it's a photo that could have altered world events. — We believe the photo was taken in the mid-1950s.

Discussion: Politics Daily, Little Green Footballs, Gawker, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Fausta's Blog, Atlas Shrugs, The Daily Dish and Riehl World View

The Smoking Gun:

TMZ Falls For JFK Photo Hoax — Photo that “could have changed history” actually from a Playboy shoot — In a colossal screw-up, the gossip web site TMZ.com today published a photo purporting to show John F. Kennedy frolicking on a yacht with a harem of naked women—except …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, Vanity Fair, New York Times and ArtsBeat

TMZ.com:

Kennedy Picture — A Fake — TMZ received an email from someone who said the photo we posted showing a man appearing to be John F. Kennedy on a yacht with naked women was actually a photo from a 1967 Playboy photo shoot. — We have contacted Playboy and a rep says the photo did indeed run in one of its 1967 issues.

Discussion: Gawker

Avi Zenilman / The Plum Line:

Tea Partiers To Republicans: You Better Call For Full Repeal of Reform, Or Else — It's now becoming clear that this could be a major issue for Republicans in 2010: the Tea Party movement, as well as high-profile conservatives, are going to demand that candidates call for a full repeal …

Discussion: The Politico, American Power, Erick's blog, Stop The ACLU, Say It Ain't So Already, Think Progress, Top Stories from CQ, Make Them Accountable and DISSENTING JUSTICE

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE MOST POPULAR ‘MTP’ GUEST OF THE YEAR.... In the previous post …

Discussion: The Plum Line

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE REPEAL LITMUS TEST.... The question of whether Republicans …

Discussion: Think Progress, RedState and The Reality-Based Community

Patrick Gavin / The Politico:

MAX BAUCUS'S SPEECH UNDER CONSERVATIVE FIRE — “DRUNK WITH POWER? TOP DEM SLURS ON SENATE FLOOR...” reads the Drudge Report headline. — Newsbusters.org writes: “How can one explain this incredibly bizarre performance by Max Baucus on the Senate floor?

Discussion: The Washington Independent, NewsBusters.org, News Hounds, Instapundit, Scared Monkeys, Say It Ain't So Already, Left in the West, Runnin' Scared, Riehl World View, The Sundries Shack and Examiner

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Democrat Max Baucus' really, uh, passionate Senate speech …

Discussion: The Washington Independent

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

GOP blame at TSA? — As Republicans seek to put the blame for the widespread perception of ineptness at the Transportation Security Administration on the Obama administration, Democrats are arguing that Republican legislators bear part of the blame and that they're politically vulnerable on the subject.

Discussion: MyDD, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Coop's Corner, TalkLeft, Little Green Footballs, msnbc.com and The Political Carnival

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

“Political Winners” Circle Filled by Figures Close to Obama — Americans divided in labeling Sarah Palin as a political winner or loser — PRINCETON, NJ — In Americans' estimation, the top three political winners of 2009 are all women closely linked with the Obama administration …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Politico, Politics Daily, The Hill, D.C. Now, Boston Globe, Real Clear Politics and The Political Carnival

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Now, Michelle Obama too is sliding in the polls

Discussion: Townhall.com

ABCNEWS:

Two al Qaeda Leaders Behind Northwest Flight 253 Terror Plot Were Released by U.S. — Former Guantanamo Prisoners Believed Behind Northwest Airlines Bomb Plot; Sent to Saudi Arabia in 2007 — Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, The Washington Independent, Political Punch and AMERICAblog News

New York Times:
U.S. Widens Terror War to Yemen, a Qaeda Bastion

Discussion: Hot Air, Doug Ross, Riehl World View, The Sundries Shack, Washington Post, AmSpecBlog, The Washington Independent, The Moderate Voice, Philly.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Raw Story, Gawker, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Washington Monthly, The Strata-Sphere, The Page, Truthdig and Guardian

Washington Post:

Transcript of Obama remarks on airline security and terror watch lists — President Obama's remarks Monday about airline security and this weekend's protests in Iran. The Washington Post maintains a full database of Obama's speeches here. — Good morning, everybody.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Commentary and Jihad Watch

TSA:
TSA Guidance for Passengers on Heightened Security Measures …

Discussion: New York Times, Boing Boing, Online NewsHour, ABCNEWS, Washington Post and WBBM-TV

Peter J. Wallison / The Enterprise Blog:

Administration Won't Estimate Total Losses of Fannie and Freddie — It's a favorite government trick to announce bad news on a Friday afternoon, so it appears in Saturday's paper, the least likely edition to be read. By Sunday and Monday, it's old news. The Obama Treasury just went one better …

Chris Isidore / CNNMoney.com:
Blank check sends Fannie, Freddie soaring

Discussion: Firedoglake, Calculated Risk, Reuters and Eschaton

Laura Northrup / The Consumerist:

AT&T Customer Service: “New York City Is Not Ready For The iPhone” — AT&T has apparently found a workable solution to the reported data congestion in New York City. They've quietly stopped selling the iPhone from their web site to customers in the New York metropolitan area.

Discussion: The Atlantic Business Channel, City Room, CNN, The Huffington Post, Mashable!, TechCrunch, Bits and Runnin' Scared

Al Baker / New York Times:
New York on Track for Fewest Murders on Record

Discussion: Democracy in America, AmSpecBlog and Runnin' Scared

The Huffington Post:

Andy Martin, GOP Senate Candidate, Accuses Opponent Mark Kirk Of Homosexuality — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — If there was any question whether or not the 2010 election season was heating up, it was dispelled on Monday morning when a Republican Senate candidate from Illinois released …

Discussion: WBBM-TV and Raw Story

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Big Zero — Maybe we knew, at some unconscious, instinctive level, that it would be an era best forgotten. Whatever the reason, we got through the first decade of the new millennium without ever agreeing on what to call it. The aughts? The naughties? Whatever.

Discussion: The Atlantic Business Channel, Wall Street Journal, DownWithTyranny!, The Agonist, Connecting.the.Dots, Ezra Klein, The Glittering Eye, Gawker, Prairie Weather and Achenblog

Peter Baker / The Caucus:

Son of Obama's Friend Injured in Hawaii — Updated | 5:37 p.m. President Obama was rushed away unexpectedly from a Hawaii golf course on Monday and brought back to the beachfront compound where he has been staying because the son of one of his friends was hurt and needed stitches.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Talking Points Memo, Gawker and TPM LiveWire

Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:

What are the odds that the best chess player in the world has never played chess? — The more general issues are how well the modern world allocates talent and how much exposure you need to something you eventually will be very good at. — My view is that people who are born into a reasonably …

Discussion: The Buck Stops Here and Matthew Yglesias