Top Items:
The Hill:
Scott Brown to be sworn in as Massachusetts senator Thursday — Sen.-elect Scott Brown, the successor to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), will be sworn in to office Thursday afternoon, giving Republicans 41 seats in the upper chamber. — “Once we get his certificate we expect to swear …
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WHY THE SWEARING-IN DATE MATTERS.... When Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R) won his special election in Massachusetts on Jan. 19, it started a routine certification process. Brown personally suggested to the Senate that he could be sworn in on Thursday, Feb. 11, and the leadership agreed.
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Brown Surprise: Seat Me Now! — Now that his election as Senator from Massachusetts has been certified, Scott Brown wants to get to work — and much more quickly than his colleagues in the Senate had prepared for. Brown's campaign counsel asked Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to sign …
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:Republicans find loophole in budget ploy to push through healthcare legislation
Discussion:
The New Republic, Liberal Values, The Hill, CNN, The Reality-Based Community and Hot Air
Larry O'Connor / Big Journalism:
James O'Keefe vs. Max Blumenthal: How the Left Distorts, Invents and Lies — It started with a blog post at something called One People's Project, in which someone named Daryle Jenkins claimed: … The photograph that One People's Project shows as its proof (above) is cropped and just shows O'Keefe from the shoulders up.
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
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Max Blumenthal / Salon:
James O'Keefe's race problem — A photo of the righty stuntman at a white-nationalist confab illustrates a career marked by racial resentment — Many of the conservatives who gleefully promoted James O'Keefe's past political stunts are feigning shock at his arrest on charges …
Discussion:
The Washington Independent, Firedoglake, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Pam's House Blend and Sadly, No!
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Lincoln presses Obama on party ‘extremes’ at Q and A — Centrist Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) on Wednesday asked arguably the most contentious question during a discussion between Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama, hitting at conservatives and liberals.
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Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:
Comedian Jon Stewart takes the hot seat with Bill O'Reilly — In a vigorous, policy-laden debate, ‘The Daily Show’ host blasts Fox's ‘panic attack’ coverage of Obama and the economy. O'Reilly says ‘the narrative of a couple of guys’ doesn't represent the whole network.
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Palin, Emanuel. Pot, Kettle — Did she really just call for Rahm Emanuel to be fired because he allegedly used the term “f**king retarded” to refer to fellow Democrats in a private meeting? Last summer? Did she really? — I don't like the term myself. I think it is offensive.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:Special Olympics: Apology not accepted [UPDATED]
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Hot Air, JustOneMinute, The TrogloPundit, Scared Monkeys, Indecision Forever and Political Punch
Jim Newell / Wonkette:
Official Carly Fiorina Video Wins Current Hour Of Internet — OH MY GOD “Carlyfornia” Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has struck again on the Internet and the results are monstrous. It's best at the beginning and end, especially the end, picking up steam at exactly 2:26.
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Michael Scherer / Swampland:
Carly Fiorina Releases Rare Psychedelic Attack Ad — The best way to view California Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina's awesomely bizarre new primary campaign ad—which includes shots of an alien robot sheep, or something—is by pressing play on your cassette tape of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon just as you click play on YouTube.
Discussion:
National Review Online, The Daily Caller, American Power, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Indecision Forever and Washington Post
Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
‘We Might As Well Be Able To Vote For Disney’: Tea Partiers Slam Citizens United Ruling — Some Tea Partiers are expressing vocal opposition to the Supreme Court's recent ruling striking down the ban on corporate political spending — a stance that puts them at odds with the Republican Party and the broader conservative movement.
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
White House Privately Signaling Support For House Passing Senate Bill With Fix, Aides Say — White House aides have privately told Dem Congressional aides that the White House supports the House passing the Senate health reform bill with a reconciliation fix, something that could give a bit …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The New Republic, Dennis the Peasant, The Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Tough talk comes after Obama exits — Senate Democrats held back from asking President Barack Obama about healthcare reform during a carefully scripted question-and-answer session in front of television cameras. — With the cameras rolling, a group of senators selected in advance …
Christopher Beam / Slate:
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Hold Your Breath … - Lithwick: Why Are Republicans So Afraid of Civilian Trials for Terrorists? - Bogus Trend of the Month: Christian Fight Clubs- No More Trips to the Moon. What's NASA Going To Do With All Its Sweet Lunar Toys? - Military Aid to Colombia.
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Peter Baker / The Caucus:Powell Favors Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Discussion:
Lez Get Real, The Daily Dish, The Daily Caller, TPM LiveWire, The Huffington Post, PERRspectives, A plain blog about politics, Think Progress, Hot Air, The Bilerico Project, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Newsweek Blogs, Little Green Footballs, New York Times, Ben Smith's Blog, Democracy in America, Towleroad News #gay, AMERICAblog Gay, Indecision Forever, The Washington Independent, Room for Debate, Wonkette, Joe. My. God., Confederate Yankee and The Gun Toting Liberal
Bill Roggio / The Long War Journal:
Russian police kill al Qaeda's co-founder in the Caucasus — A wanted Egyptian al Qaeda operative who helped establish the terror group in the Caucasus has been killed by Russian security forces during a clash in Dagestan. — Russia's Federal Security Service killed Mokhmad Mohamad Shabban …
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Jeane MacIntosh / New York Post:
Edwards hit wife during heated fight: report — Disgraced former presidential candidate John Edwards reportedly beat his cancer-stricken wife during a horrific marriage-ending fight. — “John lost his temper big time,” a close friend of Elizabeth's revealed to the National Enquirer.
New York Post:
Muslim chaplain ‘smuggled’ box cutters into jail — A Muslim chaplain for the city Department of Correction was arrested this morning for allegedly trying to smuggle in three box-cutters to a lower Manhattan jail. — The imam, Imam Zul-Qarnain Shahid, has worked as a DOC jail chaplain for three years …
Discussion:
Gothamist, Creeping Sharia, The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, JammieWearingFool and Jihad Watch
Michael Shain / New York Post:
Stand off — Couric, CBS reach crossroads — With a little more than a year to go on her contract, Katie Couric is dressing up her resumé. — The CBS anchor, now 53, is facing a huge pay cut in her unprecedented $15 million-a-year salary. — More importantly …
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Christopher Weber / Politics Daily:
CIA Accused of Cover Up in Deaths of U.S. Civilians in Peru — The CIA was accused Wednesday of lying to Congress and covering up its role in the downing of a plane carrying Christian missionaries nine years ago over Peru, killing an American mother and her infant daughter, ABC News reported.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Las Vegas mayor: Obama is “a real slow learner”; Update: Reid questioning Obama's patriotism? — Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman lambasted Barack Obama yesterday after Obama made a reference to his city in a speech demanding better fiscal discipline earlier in the day.
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard, Mediaite, Flopping Aces, NewsReal Blog, Pundit & Pundette, Don Surber, Gateway Pundit and The Hill
Aaron Deslatte / Orlando Sentinel:
GOP donors say they didn't know of fundraiser's lucrative contract — TALLAHASSEE - For the past year, Delmar Johnson mixed and mingled with the well-heeled and powerful, chasing checks from large Republican donors from fishing piers in Key West to a football stadium in Boston.
Discussion:
Naked Politics
Felicia Fonseca / Associated Press:
Motivational speaker charged in sweat lodge deaths — FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Motivational speaker James Arthur Ray was arrested Wednesday afternoon on three counts of manslaughter for deaths that happened after a sweat lodge ceremony he led in northern Arizona last year.
Agence France Presse:
US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury — WASHINGTON — The US debt is on track to hit a congressionally proposed debt ceiling of 14.3 trillion dollars by the end of February, the Treasury said Wednesday, a day ahead of a key vote to raise it to that level.
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
Newsdesk / Clout St:
New questions in 2005 arrest of Democratic lieutenant governor nominee — UPDATED at 8:24 p.m. with additional Quinn comment; originally posted by David Heinzmann and Ray Long at 7:55 p.m. — The newly minted Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor said Wednesday he doesn't think a …
Daniel Foster / The Corner on National Review Online:
Holder: ‘I made the Decision’ on Abdulmutallab — By: Daniel Foster — Attorney General Eric Holder has taken ownership of the decision to treat Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a civilian criminal. — “I made the decision to charge Mr. Abdulmutallab with federal crimes …
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justice Defends Ruling on Finance — WASHINGTON — In expansive remarks at a law school in Florida, Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday vigorously defended the Supreme Court's recent campaign finance decision. — And Justice Thomas explained that he did not attend State of the Union addresses …
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
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