memeorandum: Is this Iran's Berlin Wall moment? (Times of London)

2:30 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: Gates of Vienna, AmSpecBlog, The Moderate Voice, The Mahablog, Top Stories from CQ, CNN, ABCNEWS, The Sundries Shack, Guardian and alicublog

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, Danger Room, The Foundry, National Review Online, Townhall.com, PoliBlog and Washington Wire

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: Jeffrey Goldberg, Megan McArdle, Washington Post, Jules Crittenden, Los Angeles Times, Hit & Run, Gateway Pundit, democracyarsenal.org and Swampland

Wall Street Journal:

The Terror This Time — Janet Napolitano says the system worked. No, we were brave and lucky. — Printer — Friendly — A U.S. government that has barred the phrase “war on terror” has nonetheless acknowledged that a failed Christmas day bomb attack on an airliner was a terrorist attempt.

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

ABCNEWS:

Abdulmutallab: More Like Me In Yemen — Accused Northwest Bomber Says More Bombers On the Way; Al Qaeda Promises to Hit Americans — American officials have cause to worry there may be more al Qaeda-trained young men in Yemen planning to bring down American jets.

Discussion: Commentary, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, National Review Online and Wizbang

Washington Post:

Uninvestigated terrorism warning about Detroit suspect called not unusual — When Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father in Nigeria reported concern over his son's “radicalization” to the U.S. Embassy there last month, intelligence officials in the United States deemed the information insufficient to pursue.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Power Line, Washington Examiner, American Spectator, The Sundries Shack, The Washington Independent, The Confluence and New York Times

Washington Wire:
Napolitano Reverses Course, Says Air Security Did NOT Work

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Fausta's Blog, NewsBusters.org, Wake up America, Sister Toldjah, National Review Online, Betsy's Page and Another Black Conservative

Reuters:
Dutch probe claims of Nigerian bomber accomplice

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite and NPR Blogs

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Senate Homeland Security panel to hold hearing on failed attack

Discussion: Raw Story and The Corner on National …

John F. Burns / New York Times: Britain Rejected Visa Renewal for Terrorism Suspect

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:
Obama addresses airline security in low-key fashion

Discussion: The Caucus, The Politico, msnbc.com and The Jawa Report

Lovegetspeace / CBS News:
U.S. Failed to Catch Suspect's Active Visa

Discussion: The Washington Independent and Weekly Standard

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
State Department ignored warning on Abdulmutallab

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Sister Toldjah

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
GOP accuses White House of ‘stonewalling’ terror attempt inquiries

Discussion: The Hill

USA Today:
New air scare brings renewed travel hassles

Discussion: Open Left and NPR Blogs

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: Gawker, The Daily Dish, Fausta's Blog, Mediaite, Vanity Fair and Atlas Shrugs

Martin Fletcher / Times of London:

At least eight dead in Tehran street battles — At least eight anti-government protesters, including a nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iran's opposition leader, were shot dead yesterday as the smouldering confrontation between the regime and the so-called Green Movement finally erupted.

Discussion: FRONTLINE, The Daily NiteOwl, Foreign Policy, Gateway Pundit, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Flopping Aces, Jules Crittenden, Hot Air, Harry's Place, QandO, Scared Monkeys, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Doug Ross

BBC:
Iran arrests opposition figures

Discussion: Online NewsHour, FRONTLINE, The Jawa Report and New York Times

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Where Have They Taken Him? — There are two critical lines that were crossed yesterday.

Discussion: Enduring America, NPR Blogs and Jihad Watch

Juan Cole / Informed Comment:
Iran Roiled, Crowds Burn Banks, Police Station; Chanting against …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Gawker, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Dish, Washington Post and Financial Times

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

Mark Whitaker / Washington Post:
Lessons from Obama's first year

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and The Glittering Eye

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, Left in the West, The Sundries Shack, NewsBusters.org, Instapundit, Say It Ain't So Already, Riehl World View and Examiner

New York Times:

U.S. Widens Terror War to Yemen, a Qaeda Bastion — WASHINGTON — In the midst of two unfinished major wars, the United States has quietly opened a third, largely covert front against Al Qaeda in Yemen. — A year ago, the Central Intelligence Agency sent several of its top field operatives …

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

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: Wall Street Journal, Ezra Klein, The Glittering Eye, The Agonist, Connecting.the.Dots, Prairie Weather and Gawker

Akiva Eldar / Haaretz:

U.S.: Israel plan to build in East Jerusalem harms peace process — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to construct an additional 700 apartments in East Jerusalem is another blow to stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the White House press secretary said on Monday.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Israpundit and Reuters

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
White House criticizes construction of new E. Jerusalem settlements

Discussion: Associated Press, Twitter Room and Needlenose

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: Washington Monthly, Erick's blog, Say It Ain't So Already, Think Progress, Ben Smith's Blog, Top Stories from CQ, Make Them Accountable and DISSENTING JUSTICE

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: Raw Story

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

THE MOST POPULAR ‘MTP’ GUEST OF THE YEAR.... In the previous post, I mentioned what disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on “Meet the Press” yesterday. I neglected to ask a relevant question: why on earth was Newt Gingrich on “Meet the Press” yesterday?

Discussion: The Plum Line

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 and msnbc.com