Top Items:
Runnin' Scared:
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:
American Spectator, AmSpecBlog, Gates of Vienna, The Moderate Voice, The Mahablog, Top Stories from CQ, CNN, ABCNEWS, The Sundries Shack and alicublog
RELATED:
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 …
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, Taylor Marsh, The Strata-Sphere, Cato @ Liberty, Israel Matzav and Commentary
Washington Post:
Warning on Detroit suspect didn't rise above the ‘noise’ — 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, BBC, The Sundries Shack, The Confluence and The Washington Independent
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:
Political Byline, Commentary, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, National Review Online and Wizbang
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Where Have They Taken Him? — There are two critical lines that were crossed yesterday. The first was widespread savagery and violence by the junta on the day of Ashura. This breaks a profound taboo, violates the integrity and core meaning of the religious festival, and places the regime symbolically as the enemy of Shia Islam.
RELATED:
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:
The Smoking Gun, Gawker, The Daily Dish, Fausta's Blog, Mediaite, Vanity Fair and Atlas Shrugs
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, Boston Globe, The Politico, The Hill, D.C. Now, Real Clear Politics and The Political Carnival
RELATED:
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.
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?
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 …
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
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 …
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.
RELATED:
Jonathan Gruber / Washington Post:
‘Cadillac’ tax isn't a tax — it's a plan to finance real health reform — As we prepare for the final round of debate over health reform, perhaps the most contentious issue will be financing. Both the Senate and House agree that most of the financing for reform should come from scaling …
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 …