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The Palin Network — On the night of the midterm elections earlier this month, Sarah Palin stayed up until 3 in the morning. From her hotel bedroom in Manhattan, she and her husband, Todd, followed the returns while she wrote e-mails on her iPad — congratulating winners, consoling losers …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Ben Smith's Blog, Guardian, Hit & Run, Weasel Zippers, The Politico, msnbc.com, The New Republic, ABCNEWS, Weigel, Outside the Beltway, MyFox Philadelphia, The Note, Anchorage Daily News, The Daily Caller, Salon, Indecision Forever, The Nation, USA Today and GOP 12
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Sarah Palin Says She Could Beat Obama — In Interview With Barbara Walters, Palin Says She Is Seriously Considering Entering Race in 2012 — Sarah Palin says she is seriously considering a run for the White House, and she believes she could beat President Obama in 2012, the former Alaska governor told ABC News' Barbara Walters.

Man Shoots TV Over Bristol Palin Dancing — Suspect surrendered after 15-hour standoff with Wisconsin cops … Like most Americans, Steven Cowan has been perplexed by Bristol Palin's curious ability to keep advancing in TV's “Dancing with the Stars” competition.
Discussion:
Cubachi, Big Hollywood, Mediaite, The Jawa Report, Indecision Forever, Liberty Pundits Blog and Hot Air
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Bristol Palin's dancing prompts man to shoot his TV — By Sharif Durhams of the Journal Sentinel — A rural Dane County man believes Bristol Palin should not be on “Dancing With The Stars.” — He demanded his wife get his pistols to emphasize his point.
Discussion:
City Room, Weasel Zippers and Another Black Conservative

How Palin Conservatives Are Cheating The DWTS Voting System — It's been alleged that the Tea Party's “Operation Bristol” is keeping the teen mom in the competition. However, the real conspiracy is that her conservative supporters have figured out a way to exploit ABC.com's email-voting feature, allowing infinite votes.

Bristol Palin's dancing on TV set off man in standoff, complaint says
Discussion:
theblogprof

Nancy Pelosi Elected to Lead House Dems in New Congress; Boehner to Lead GOP — Updated 4:07 p.m. Eastern Time — Nancy Pelosi has been elected to lead House Democrats in the new Congress despite presiding over the loss of more than 60 House seats in the midterm elections.
Discussion:
Indecision Forever, msnbc.com, Hot Air, Fox Nation, Weasel Zippers, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Queerty and Wake up America
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Nancy Pelosi survives Democratic revolt — Democrats elected Nancy Pelosi as their minority leader on Wednesday, but only after a brutal two days of arguing behind closed doors and a 150-43 vote that revealed a bloc of disgruntled Democrats to be firmly in the anti-Pelosi camp.
Discussion:
The Nation, Weasel Zippers, Weigel, American Power and Gawker

House Dems elect Pelosi as leader — Despite the party's drubbing in the midterm elections, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will remain the Democratic leader in the next Congress. — Members of the caucus voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to make Pelosi minority leader, brushing aside a challenge by Rep. Heath Shuler …

Leader of TSA offers pat-downs to senators — The head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) offered on Wednesday to have airport screeners come to Capitol Hill to give senators a pat-down so they could fully understand the mechanics of the newly deployed, controversial technique.
Discussion:
Liberty Pundits Blog and AmSpecBlog
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Has Airport Security Gone Too Far?
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Firedoglake, CBS News, Danger Room, Associated Press, Israel Matzav, Left Coast Rebel and Prairie Weather

Senators and TSA Defend “Love Pats” at Airports
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The Gateway Pundit, Swampland, Pundit & Pundette, Washington Post and LewRockwell.com Blog

GOP lawmaker: Full-body scanners violate Fourth Amendment
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and AMERICAblog News


Behind delayed summit: Republican distrust of President Obama — The roots of the partisan standoff that led to the postponement of the bipartisan White House summit scheduled for Thursday date back to January, when President Barack Obama crashed a GOP meeting in Baltimore to deliver a humiliating rebuke of House Republicans.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Note, CNN, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Pajamas Media, TPMDC, Politics Daily, Daily Kos, Washington Post, ChattahBox News Blog, The Moderate Voice, Front Row Washington, Associated Press, ABCNEWS, The Caucus, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Washington Monthly
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That's the Story? (#GalacticFail Edition)
Discussion:
CNN, The Note, JustOneMinute, TPMDC, Gawker, Balloon Juice, The Plum Line, The Impolitic, The Politico, Wonkette, Politics Daily, The Mahablog and No More Mister Nice Blog

GOP to force vote on NPR defunding
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Little Green Footballs and Weasel Zippers


Murkowski's lead more than 10,000 votes — Today's review of write-in ballots ended with Sen. Lisa Murkowski enjoying an apparently insurmountable 10,420-vote lead over Joe Miller. — Murkowski also now has collected more votes that went unchallenged by Miller ballot observers than Miller's total vote count.
Discussion:
The Fix, TPMDC, PostPartisan, Hot Air, Politics Daily, Hotline On Call, Ballot Box, The Other McCain, Gawker and Talking Points Memo
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Lisa Murkowski Defeats Joe Miller, Hangs On To Alaska Senate Seat
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and TPMDC

Lisa Murkowski Makes History, Wins Alaska Senate Race
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and Joe. My. God.

Reed, Casey Seek One-Year Extension of Unemployment Benefits — Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Bob Casey (D-PA) want the Senate to take up and pass a one-year extension of unemployment insurance benefits from 26 to 99 weeks, but they did not sound hopeful on a conference call that this could get done …
Discussion:
The Washington Independent and ECHIDNE of the snakes
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GOP to jobless: Drop dead
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Monthly and National Review

Fighting the Fed — Sarah Palin is leading conservatives' most sinister campaign to date.
Discussion:
TPMDC, National Review, Swampland, Oliver Willis and Weigel


Roger Ailes Lets Rip — UPDATE: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday that he was not surprised by Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes quotes about President Obama to The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz. “I think if you watch most of the programming on the channel …

One Way to Trim Deficit: Cultivate Growth — We look back on the late 1990s as a rare time when the federal government ran budget surpluses. We tend to forget that those surpluses came as a surprise to almost everybody. — As late as 1998, the Congressional Budget Office was predicting a deficit for 1999.
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Yes, DADT repeal could still pass, Senate staffers say — Good news: Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal is not dead yet. — It's widely assumed that the reason the White House and Dems will punt on holding a vote on Don't Ask Don't Tell during the lame duck session is that there aren't 60 votes …
Discussion:
Washington Blade, The Daily Dish, AMERICAblog Gay, Pam's House Blend, Towleroad News #gay and Queerty
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CNN Poll: Only one-third favor tax cut extension for wealthy — Washington (CNN) - Only a third of all Americans think Bush-era tax cuts should be extended for families regardless of how much money they make, according to a new national poll. — A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Politico, The Hill, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, AMERICAblog Gay and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
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White House backs ‘Four Loko’ ban — The White House on Wednesday threw its support behind a ban on beverages that infuse alcohol and caffeine. — Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske said he welcomed a ruling by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that would effectively ban drinks like Four Loko and Joost …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Balloon Juice, Hit & Run, Washington Post, New York Magazine and Gawker
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The Washington Independent, signing off — Nearly three years ago, The Washington Independent was launched as a bold experiment in online journalism. The idea was to combine hard-nosed investigative reporting with all the web had to offer: the nimbleness of real-time coverage …
Discussion:
Weigel, ATTACKERMAN, The Other McCain, Gawker and Oliver Willis, more at Mediagazer »

The speaker who speaks softly — John Boehner doesn't yell. — Unlike other powerful Washington insiders, the soon-to-be-Speaker of the House doesn't berate his staff or colleagues. The Ohio Republican has a management style that is unique, one that will be tested repeatedly in the next Congress.
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No GOP drama: Unanimous vote for John Boehner
Discussion:
Sunlight Foundation


Senate Republicans Vote Unanimously Against Bill To Help Guarantee Fair Pay For Women — Our guest blogger is Rebecca Lefton, a Researcher with Progressive Media. — Today, Senate Republicans voted unanimously against legislation to close the pay gap between women and men.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, nwlc.org, Taylor Marsh, Lez Get Real, ECHIDNE of the snakes and U.S. Chamber of Commerce


Pretty Good for Government Work — My mother told me to send thank-you notes promptly. I've been remiss. — Let me remind you why I'm writing. Just over two years ago, in September 2008, our country faced an economic meltdown. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the pillars that supported …
Discussion:
The Big Picture, Mediaite, Felix Salmon, Ezra Klein and ChattahBox News Blog

Too Good to Check — On Nov. 4, Anderson Cooper did the country a favor. He expertly deconstructed on his CNN show the bogus rumor that President Obama's trip to Asia would cost $200 million a day. This was an important “story.” It underscored just how far ahead of his time Mark Twain …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute and Mediaite