Top Items:
Jamie Stiehm / Washington Post:
Oval Office rug gets history wrong — A mistake has been made in the Oval Office makeover that goes beyond the beige. — President Obama's new presidential rug seemed beyond reproach, with quotations from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
In defense of Alan Simpson — (updated below) — The President's Deficit Commission is designed to be as anti-democratic and un-transparent as possible. Its work is done in total secrecy. It is filled with behind-the-scenes political and corporate operatives who steadfastly refuse to talk to the public about what they're doing.
RELATED:
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
America has a cow over Alan Simpson's candor on deficits — There was a time, not too long ago, when a politician could talk about tits in public. — In 1992, Sen. Alan Simpson, a Wyoming Republican, complained in a speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures about how Social Security …
Discussion:
TPMCafe and Firedoglake
BBC:
Tony Blair pelted with eggs at book signing in Dublin — Activists clashed with Irish police as they tried to push down a security barrier outside the bookshop — Eggs, bottles and shoes have been thrown at the former prime minister Tony Blair as he attended a book signing in Dublin.
Discussion:
thenational.ae, Firedoglake, The Impolitic, FrumForum, Suburban Guerrilla and MoJo Articles
RELATED:
Dan / Riehl World View:
My Response To Stephen Bainbridge's Ad Hominem Attack — According to Stephen Bainbridge, suddenly I'm a holier than thou purist with no tolerance and an enemy of the good, ... along with my ilk. It's difficult to see Bainbridge as the good here, given his mis-labeling me so falsely, while ignoring my arguments.
Discussion:
Red Dog Report, The Other McCain, Hotline On Call, Gateway Pundit and Outside the Beltway
Newsweek:
Inside Al Qaeda — Nine years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden's network remains a shadowy, little-understood enemy. The truth, as revealed by one of its fighters, is both more and less troubling than we think. — The incident didn't get much international attention at the time …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
Nick Gillespie / Hit & Run:
Glenn Beck's “Restoring Honor” Rally, a Week Later — Last Saturday, Glenn Beck held his “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington, DC. Reason.tv's segment on the event, which went up a few hours after its conclusion, is above. (Shot by Jim Epstein with help from Josh Swain …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
NO ONE SHOULD BE SURPRISED BY THE SHUTDOWN.... Josh Marshall had an item yesterday that I suspect represents the way many observers consider reports of a government shutdown next year: “When I first heard this talk of another ‘government shutdown’ in 2011, I figured it was just Democrats whipping it up as a cudgel for the election.
Discussion:
KN@PPSTER, A plain blog about politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo and TPMDC
Commentary:
What Kind of Socialist Is Barack Obama? — The assertion that Barack Obama is a socialist became a hallmark of the 2008 presidential campaign. His opponent, John McCain, used Obama's own extemporaneous words to an Ohio plumber as Exhibit A: “When you spread the wealth around,” Obama had said, “it's good for everybody.”
Discussion:
NewsReal Blog
Allysia Finley / Wall Street Journal:
Broke—and Building the Most Expensive School in U.S. History — Benches that talk, a Cocoanut Grove auditorium, and a marble slab engraved with quotes from Ted Kennedy. — Los Angeles — At $578 million—or about $140,000 per student—the 24-acre Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex …
Discussion:
24Ahead and GayPatriot
Directorblue / Doug Ross:
Keith Olbermann and Nate Silver at 538.com get faced by former Car Czar Steve Rattner — Chrysler closings were politically motivated — With word that former White House ‘car czar’ Steve Rattner's tell-all book is on the way, it's worth revisiting the ‘Dealergate’ controversy that broke in May of 2009.
Discussion:
Verum Serum
Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
Palin Derangement Syndrome Outbreak: There Are Still Five A's in Raaaaacism … Some things are predictable — i.e., that the Palin-haters would decide it was a good time to recycle the old SPLC/LGF attacks on me in order to exploit my interview with Todd Palin for a guilt-by-association smear.
Discussion:
GayPatriot
Bridget Johnson / The Hill:
Clinton hosting dinner for Ramadan geared toward young Muslims — The administration's marking of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan continues Tuesday when the State Department hosts an event. — The administration's marking of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan continues Tuesday …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Fire Andrea Mitchell!