Top Items:
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Cites ‘Systemic Failure’ in U.S. Security — HONOLULU - President Obama on Tuesday blamed a “systemic failure” in the nation's security apparatus for the attempted bombing of a passenger jet on Christmas Day and vowed to identify the problems and “deal with them immediately.”
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Armen Keteyian / CBS News:
U.S. Intel Lapses Helped Abdulmutallab — CBS News Exclusive: CIA Had Info on Person of Interest Dubbed “The Nigerian” in August But Officials Failed to Connect Dots — (CBS) CBS News has learned that as early as August of 2009 the Central Intelligence Agency was picking up information …
Wall Street Journal:
Obama Slams Security Breach — ‘Catastrophic’ Lapse Enabled Bomb Try; Father Told CIA of Suspect's Radicalization — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said a “potential catastrophic breach” allowed the alleged Christmas Day bomber to set his attack into motion, as it emerged …
Discussion:
The Rhetorican
Washington Times:
Awlaki personally blessed Detroit attack — The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner had his suicide mission personally blessed in Yemen by Anwar al-Awlaki, the same Muslim imam suspected of radicalizing the Fort Hood shooting suspect, a U.S. intelligence source has told The Washington Times.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Weekly Standard, Gates of Vienna, The Long War Journal, American Power and The Corner on National …
Chuck Bennett / New York Post:
Ex-Gitmo goons did it! — Freed Qaeda creeps hatched undie-cover plan …
Ex-Gitmo goons did it! — Freed Qaeda creeps hatched undie-cover plan …
Discussion:
The washington times Blogs
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Rove granted divorce in Texas — Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, has been granted a divorce in Texas after 24 years of marriage, a family spokesperson said. — Dana Perino, the spokesperson, said: “Karl Rove and his wife, Darby, were granted a divorce last week.
Discussion:
Salon, Liberal Values, Raw Story, Newsweek Blogs, The Impolitic, Wonkette, The Daily Dish, TPM LiveWire and Shakesville
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Avi Zenilman / The Plum Line:
Skittish Democrats Refuse To Defend Obama On National Security — Are Democrats so cowed by Republican attacks on Obama's foreign policy that they're unwilling to defend him? — It's now been five days since the attempted bombing of Flight 253 in Detroit, and Congressional Democrats …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Pajamas Media, The Anchoress, CNN, Gateway Pundit, Washington Monthly, The Swamp, Talking Points Memo, ATTACKERMAN, msnbc.com and Raw Story
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Avi Zenilman / The Plum Line:
Beltway Dems: If We Let GOP Criticism On Terror Go Unanswered We Win
Beltway Dems: If We Let GOP Criticism On Terror Go Unanswered We Win
Discussion:
MLive.com, Ben Smith's Blog, The Washington Independent, Washington Monthly and Make Them Accountable
The Grand Rapids / MLive.com:
Complete text of U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra's fundraising letter sent …
Complete text of U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra's fundraising letter sent …
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, Hotline On Call, Associated Press, Washington Monthly, The Swamp, CBS News, Raw Story, Liberal Values, Think Progress, Stop The ACLU, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Fix, democracyarsenal.org, The Hill, Top of the Ticket, TPMDC, Daily Kos and MyDD
Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
Obama takes the heat Bush did not — Eight years ago, a terrorist bomber's attempt to blow up a transatlantic airliner was thwarted by a group of passengers, an incident that revealed some gaping holes in airline security just a few months after the attacks of September 11.
Discussion:
Philly.com
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Deborah Solomon / New York Times:
Power of Attorney — Your new book, “Crisis and Command,” is an eloquent, fact-laden history of audacious power grabs by American presidents going back to George Washington. Which president would you say most violated laws enacted by Congress? — I would say Lincoln.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns and Money, Ezra Klein, FP Passport, Gawker, Truthdig, Main Justice, The Washington Independent and The BLT
Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:
Move Your Money: A New Year's Resolution — Last week, over a pre-Christmas dinner, the two of us, along with political strategist Alexis McGill, filmmaker/author Eugene Jarecki, and Nick Penniman of the HuffPost Investigative Fund, began talking about the huge, growing chasm between …
Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Published Document States Khamenei Is Planning to Escape to Russia ...Update: Khamenei's Jet Put on Standby — A letter published on the Iranian websites claims that Ayatollah Khamenei is planning a possible escape to Russia. — There were rumors floating around yesterday that Ayatollah Khamenei was preparing to flee Iran.
Discussion:
rnw.nl, Planet-Iran.com, NewsReal Blog, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Israel Matzav, The Jawa Report and Weasel Zippers
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Susananne / susananne's Diary:
Yes, Byron, The GOP Deserves Blame, But You Need to Go Further — Byron York's article in the Washington Examiner highlights Republican shortcomings in recent years causing the shift to a Democrat-controlled Congress. While I agree with some of his points, I think York needs to go further with a few critical elements.
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Politiken.dk News in English:
Obama greater than Jesus — The U.S. president - the practical saviour of our times — He is provocative in insisting on an outstretched hand, where others only see animosity. — His tangible results in the short time that he has been active - are few and far between.
Discussion:
National Review Online, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, The Jawa Report and Is Barack Obama the Messiah?
Jon Walker / Firedoglake:
Medicare vs. Medicaid: A Stark Warning About Having States Execute Reform — Political map of the United States, ca. 2002 (source: Univ. of Texas at Austin) — The Social Security Act of 1965 created two public insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid. One proved to be a big success, and the other, not so much.
Discussion:
American Power
The Huffington Post:
The Cash Committee: How Wall Street Wins On The Hill — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — The question was simple: Should the lending practices of auto dealers be regulated? — It was already October and the 42 Democrats and 29 Republicans on the House Committee on Financial Services had spent …
Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Sen. Feinstein: Halt transfers to Yemen — The senior Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee wants no more Guantanamo Bay detainees released to Yemen in the wake of a Christmas day terrorist attack hatched in that country. — “Guantanamo detainees should not be released to Yemen at this time …
Associated Press:
Obama Moves to Curb Federal Secrets — Move Expected to Declassify more than 400 Million Pages of Cold War-Ear Documents — (AP) President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered the federal government to rethink how it protects the nation's secrets, in a move that was expected to declassify …