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Lisa Murkowski: Sarah Palin Lacks “Intellectual Curiosity” to be President — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowki told CBS News' Katie Couric today that she would not support Sarah Palin for president because Palin lacks the “leadership qualities” and “intellectual curiosity” to craft great policy.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Ballot Box, Politics Daily and Liberal Values
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The rest of the 2012 polls... PPP's final six state level 2012 GOP primary surveys, conducted right before this month's election, find Mitt Romney strong in another key early state, Sarah Palin weak at home, and Newt Gingrich's only first place finish out of the 18 states we polled.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, The Tolbert Report and Conservatives4Palin.com

Murkowski receives warm welcome from fellow senators as lame-duck begins — Sen. Lisa Murkowski received a warm welcome from fellow Senators on the Senate floor Monday and congratulations from National Republican Senate Campaign Chairman John Cornyn. — Ballots are still being counted …
Discussion:
CNN, The Politico, The Note, The Other McCain and TPMDC

Lisa Murkowski: Sarah Palin lacks ‘intellectual curiosity’
Discussion:
CNN and Outside the Beltway

OUP USA 2010 Word of the Year: Refudiate … Refudiate — has been named the New Oxford American Dictionary's 2010 Word of the Year! — refudiate verb used loosely to mean “reject”: she called on them to refudiate the proposal to build a mosque. — [origin — blend of refute and repudiate]
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Congratulations, Sarah Palin: “Refudiate” Named Word of the Year — ABC News' Mary Bruce reports: — Sarah Palin has officially changed the modern lexicon, one tweet at a time. While one might expect the New Oxford American Dictionary to refudiate the former Alaska governor's favorite verb …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Impolitic and Conservatives4Palin.com


'Sarah Palin's Alaska' Breaks TLC Ratings Record — Sarah Palin's documentary / travelogue / reality / biopic shattered TLC ratings records Sunday night. — The debut of Sarah Palin's Alaska delivered a whopping 5 million viewers. — The first episode of the eight-part series was the most-watched program launch in TLC's history.


McConnell bows to right on earmarks — As he worked the phones over the past week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell concluded he was in a no-win situation over earmarks. — The Kentucky Republican could dig in and fight a proposed ban on earmarks, opening him up to attacks …
Discussion:
The New Republic, TPMDC, CNN, Power Line, New York Magazine, The Page and James Pethokoukis
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GOP Senate leader McConnell backs down, agrees to earmark ban
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway


McConnell on Earmarks: The People Have Spoken—I'm Listening
Discussion:
National Review, The Politico, Wall Street Journal, Values Voter News, Wake up America, Ben Smith's Blog, Vox Popoli and msnbc.com

2012 Republicans virtually united behind earmarks ban
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, United States Senator … and CNN


House Panel Says Facts in Rangel Case Are Undisputed — In an ominous sign for Representative Charles B. Rangel, the House ethics committee on Monday said the facts presented by a prosecutor accusing Mr. Rangel of violating Congressional rules were not in dispute and that the congressman himself had not refuted the charges.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Commentary, Sister Toldjah, Sunlight Foundation, News Desk and Swampland
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Charles Rangel Ethics Trial: Rangel Walks Out (VIDEO)
Discussion:
NationalJournal.com, Crooks and Liars, Weasel Zippers and Michelle Malkin


Wow! HUNDREDS OF RIDERS WITH US FLAGS Escort Cody Alicea to School Today (Video) — Hundreds of American Legion Riders and fellow patriots escorted Cody Alicea to Denair Middle School this morning. They all had American Flags on their bikes. — A veteran brings Cody to tears when he gives …
Discussion:
The New Editor, Moonbattery, The Jawa Report and Values Voter News

Virginia Thomas stepping down as head of Liberty Central — Virginia Thomas, political activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has decided to relinquish control of Liberty Central, the conservative group she founded less than a year ago, so that the organization can escape the …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, The Caucus, The Note, The Huffington Post, Salon, Weigel, The Politico, PostPartisan, Raw Story, Speakeasy, Politics Daily, Wonkette, Crooks and Liars, The BLT, CNN and The Impolitic


2 Dems claim Huffington stole website idea — Two Democratic consultants are accusing Arianna Huffington and her business partner of stealing their idea for the powerhouse liberal website Huffington Post. — Peter Daou and James Boyce charge that Huffington and partner Ken Lerer designed …


Apple Finally Snares Beatles — Steve Jobs is nearing the end of his long and winding pursuit of the Beatles catalog. — Apple Inc. is preparing to disclose that its iTunes Store will soon start carrying music by the Beatles, according to people familiar with the situation …
Discussion:
Deal Journal, MyFox Philadelphia, Plunderbund, Gizmodo, CrunchGear, Gawker, msnbc.com and TechCrunch, more at Mediagazer »


Vicious Infighting at NBC News — MSNBC's president vowed to fire Keith Olbermann after he threatened to take his case to other networks. Howard Kurtz on the civil war that has NBC brass—and his own staff—fuming. — Keith Olbermann was having dinner with his manager at an Upper East Side restaurant …
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Vicious Infighting at NBC News
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Hollywood Reporter, NewsBusters.org and Raw Story


Harry Reid creates special leadership job for Chuck Schumer — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to overhaul the Senate Democratic leadership next year, handing New York Sen. Chuck Schumer an expanded role spearheading the party's messaging efforts. — In a letter obtained by POLITICO …
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
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Sen. Burris says Reid apologized over ethics admonishment
Discussion:
The Politico, Lynn Sweet and Sister Toldjah

Junior Democrats in Senate seek to change the way chamber does business
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and The Page


Amidst National Islamophobic Upheaval, Arizonans Protest Mosque That's Actually A Church — In an era saturated with absurd moments of anti-Muslim fear-mongering, mosques have become a touchstone for Islamophobia. Even unbuilt mosques have set off a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment in Tennessee …
Discussion:
Daily Kos

Top Republican: Hoyer is ‘the only one we really talk to’ — Outgoing House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is the GOP's primary source of contact within the Democratic leadership, a top Republican said Monday. — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the incoming chairman of the House Budget Committee …
Discussion:
The Politico, Taylor Marsh and Beltway Confidential
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Full Frontal Nudity Doesn't Make Us Safer: Abolish the TSA — The Republicans control the House of Representatives and are bracing for a long battle over the President's health care proposal. In the spirit of bipartisanship and sanity, I propose that the first thing on the chopping block …
Discussion:
The Peking Duck, Hot Air, EconLog, Boing Boing, American Power, Left Coast Rebel, Big Government and AmSpecBlog

CNN Poll: Election not a mandate for GOP — Washington (CNN) - Americans approve of the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in the midterms, but only one in six say the election results were a mandate for the GOP, according to a new national poll.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Don Surber, Politics Daily and HotAirPundit

Kalpen Modi Returns To White House Job After Leaving To Film ‘Harold & Kumar’ Sequel — ABC's Michael Falcone reports: — After a brief hiatus to film a sequel to the popular “Harold & Kumar” movie, the actor, Kalpen Modi (also known as Kal Penn), is returning to a job in the White House
Discussion:
Washington Post

Westboro protesters face jeers and slashed tires — Related Story: McAlester soldier mourned — McALESTER - Members of a Kansas church that protests at military funerals may have found themselves in the wrong town Saturday. — Shortly after finishing their protest at the funeral of Army …


Obama shares dreams for his kids in book on 13 Americans — President Obama's picture book for kids, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters (Knopf, $17.99), pays tribute to 13 Americans whose traits he sees in his own children. — The 31-page book, for kids ages 3 and up …
Discussion:
Gawker, Politics Daily and Washington Wire

Is America bribing Bibi or blackmailing him? — THE way the New York Times reports it, you might think that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are treating Israel's prime minister with more solicitude than he deserves. If he will only agree to freeze Israeli settlement building in the West Bank …
Discussion:
Commentary, New York Times, Israel Matzav and News Desk

Obama Blames Himself for Tone in Washington — Just 20 days after his inauguration, with Republicans trying to block his stimulus bill, President Obama refused to acknowledge that he had underestimated how hard it would be to change the way Washington works.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, The Impolitic, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and The Atlantic Online


The best campaign of the 2010 election — The Fix spends an inordinate amount of time thinking and talking about campaign politics. — Given that, we like to think of ourselves as connoisseurs of the political game — we know what's good, what's bad and what's just plain odd.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Althouse

Cops called on 13-year-olds for selling cupcakes — ‘Some Town Board member decided to get on his high horse and wreck their dreams’ — Below: — msnbc.com staff and news service reports — CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. — A politician in a New York suburb called police on two 13-year-old boys …
Discussion:
theblogprof, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, Right Wing News, The Agitator, JammieWearingFool, Hit & Run and Gothamist

Lieberman, Collins seek earlier release of Pentagon 'don't ask, don't tell' report — Two influential senators who want repeal of the military's “don't ask, don't tell' policy have called on the Pentagon to accelerate the release of a report examining the effects of such a sweeping change, and how it can be implemented.
Discussion:
Wonk Room

Tea party groups push GOP to quit culture wars, focus on deficit — In a letter to Republican leaders, tea party members advise the GOP to avoid culture-war social issues such as gay rights and abortion and to focus on reducing deficit and role of government.


Four budget calculators, one story — The New York Times' deficit-reduction calculator is worth playing around with, though the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget's calculator is more comprehensive, and the calculator from the Center for Economic and Policy Research works harder …