Top Items:
Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Joe Scarborough suspended from MSNBC for campaign donations — MSNBC said Friday that it is suspending “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough for two days after he acknowledged giving eight previously unknown $500 contributions to friends and family members running for state and local offices during …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Media Decoder, TPM LiveWire, Salon, OpenSecrets.org, Daily Kos, New Jersey Online, The Plum Line, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, New York Magazine, BlogPost, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Hot Air, Gothamist, CNN, Raw Story, FishbowlDC, The Daily Caller, Wonkette, The Nation, PopEater and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »
Ezra Klein:
The Democrats have picked the wrong strategy on the Bush tax cuts — The Democrats are converging around a strategy on the Bush tax cuts that, if it works, would potentially eliminate the tax cuts for the rich. The votes in the Senate are such that legislators on both sides say the strategy won't work …
RELATED:
Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:
Extend the Bush Tax Cuts Below $1 Million? I'm Intrigued... The idea's been bouncing around for a while, but Politico suggests some Senate Dems are now seriously considering it, even if many of their colleagues aren't wild about it: … The political argument in favor is that it makes …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein and The Politico
Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:
Incoming Labor Committee Chair Says Jobless Benefits Aren't A Priority …
Incoming Labor Committee Chair Says Jobless Benefits Aren't A Priority …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Associated Press, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Don't touch my junk — Ah, the airport, where modern folk heroes are made. The airport, where that inspired flight attendant did what everyone who's ever been in the spam-in-a-can crush of a flying aluminum tube - where we collectively pretend that a clutch of peanuts is a meal and a seat cushion is a …
RELATED:
The Note:
Fmr Sen. Alan Simpson Predicts Govt. Shutdown — ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports: — Former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, the top Republican on the President's bipartisan debt commission, painted a vivid picture of what Washington will look like when the national debt limit must …
Discussion:
The Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog and FORA.tv
RELATED:
Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:
Another shutdown? — Grover Norquist wants a do-over.
Another shutdown? — Grover Norquist wants a do-over.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, A plain blog about politics, TPMDC, Washington Monthly and Washington Wire
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Alan Simpson: Deficit Plan Can Pass After Debt Limit ‘Blood Bath’
Alan Simpson: Deficit Plan Can Pass After Debt Limit ‘Blood Bath’
Discussion:
The Confluence, Daily Kos and CFR.org
New York Times:
Minority Report — As the speaker of the House of Representatives, where Democrats just lost 60-odd seats as well as their controlling majority, you led your party into the worst electoral defeat in decades. And yet you chose to run for Democratic leader in the next Congress. Why not just step down?
Discussion:
The Politico, Hot Air, theblogprof and Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Sharon Theimer / Associated Press:
FEC won't punish Ensign for cash to mistress — WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint against Sen. John Ensign over a $96,000 payment his parents made to his former mistress and her family. — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, Politics Daily and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
FEC dismisses complaint against Sen. Ensign over payments to former mistress
FEC dismisses complaint against Sen. Ensign over payments to former mistress
Discussion:
The Politico
Tim Sahd / Hotline On Call:
Etheridge Concedes To Ellmers — Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) formally conceded this afternoon after results from a completed recount were expected to show he didn't make up any significant ground in his race against Rep.-elect Renee Ellmers (R). — In his concession statement …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, American Power, Weigel, The Gateway Pundit, Sister Toldjah, Right Wing News, JOSHUAPUNDIT and AmSpecBlog
RELATED:
Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
Rep. Etheridge hits ‘distortions’ and ‘dirty politics’ in concession
Rep. Etheridge hits ‘distortions’ and ‘dirty politics’ in concession
Discussion:
Renee Ellmers for Congress and Riehl World View
GQ:
$#!% Joe Biden Says — Can he raise the rafters like his boss? No. But nobody can flat-out talk like Joe Biden. And these days, everybody's listening — There are only two reporters traveling coast-to-coast with the vice president on Air Force Two on a clear day in early October.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Commentary, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine, Reliable Source and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:
U.S. deploying heavily armored battle tanks for first time in Afghan war — The U.S. military is sending a contingent of heavily armored battle tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war, defense officials said, a shift that signals a further escalation in the aggressive tactics …
Discussion:
Yglesias, The Daily Dish, Danger Room, Guardian, Swampland, Newshoggers.com, The Huffington Post, Commentary, Confederate Yankee, BLACKFIVE, The Agonist, Instapundit and Balloon Juice
The Hill:
Waters accuses Ethics of having weak case after calling off her trial — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) accused the ethics committee of having a weak case that is unraveling after the panel abruptly canceled her upcoming public trial. — “The committee's decision to cancel the hearing …
RELATED:
The Politico:
Senate Democrats vent anger with Barack Obama — Senate Democrats - including typically mild-mannered Bill Nelson of Florida - lit into President Barack Obama during an unusually tense air-clearing caucus session on Thursday, senators and staffers told POLITICO.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Eunomia, Commentary, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Weasel Zippers, The Last Tradition, Pajamas Media and The Note
Cathy Bossi / WBTV-TV:
Cancer surviving flight attendant forced to remove prosthetic breast during pat-down … Most Viewed Stories — RSS Feeds — Get sports stories via RSS. — Add headlines to your RSS news reader. More>>
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Gizmodo, Jezebel, Raw Story and Shakesville
BBC:
Spain ‘orgasm’ video criticised by politicians — An excerpt from the video shows the woman getting ‘excited’ about voting — Spanish politicians have criticised a video by the Young Socialists in Catalonia in which a woman simulates an orgasm while casting her vote.
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com
Howard LaFranchi / Christian Science Monitor:
At NATO summit, Obama's ride is talk of the town — Some heads of state are zipping around Lisbon, host city of the NATO summit, in no-emission electric vehicles. Security dictates that Obama travel in the no-efficiency ‘Beast,’ a vehicle that fascinates the local press. — Lisbon
Discussion:
Cato @ Liberty
Ashley Parker / New York Times:
Michele Bachmann's Popularity Puts G.O.P. on the Spot — WASHINGTON — Even from thousands of miles away, through a computer screen, over Skype, and into a packed room in Fresno, Calif., Representative Michele Bachmann knows how to ignite a crowd. — During the run-up to the health care vote this year …
Geoffrey Dunn / The Huffington Post:
Sarah Palin Slams Michelle Obama in Racially Charged Passage From New Book — What's Your Reaction: — In passages leaked from her forthcoming book America by Heart, Sarah Palin — the erstwhile quitter governor of Alaska, who now, by all indications, fancies herself as President of the United States …
Discussion:
Telegraph, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers, The Note, Jack & Jill Politics, palingates and Gawker
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE WRONG QUESTION AT THE WRONG TIME.... CBS News sent around a press release yesterday afternoon about a special “In Focus: Debt and Deficit,” hosted by Katie Couric. — The release noted, “With this year's record-breaking deficit of $1.5 trillion — the biggest ever in U.S. history …
Discussion:
The New Republic and Time
George E. Condon Jr / NationalJournal.com:
Meditation Diet — Now out of prison, a slimmed-down Bob Ney spends his days in India with devotees of the Dalai Lama. — Former Rep. Bob Ney and Tenzin Sherab by the prayer wheels at Sarah College. — Most Americans got their last glimpse of Bob Ney in 2006 when the powerful Ohio …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
KMOV-TV:
Woman says her Lambert security screening was sexual assault — (KMOV) — More Americans are growing angrier, over what the Transportation Security Administration, admits are more intrusive security put downs at airports. — One woman is comparing her experience at Lambert Airport to a sexual assault.
Discussion:
Don Surber, New York Times and LewRockwell.com Blog
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Axis of Depression — What do the government of China, the government of Germany and the Republican Party have in common? They're all trying to bully the Federal Reserve into calling off its efforts to create jobs. And the motives of all three are highly suspect. — It's not as if the Fed is doing anything radical.
Discussion:
Washington Post, NewsBusters.org, Firedoglake, Prairie Weather and The Mahablog
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Forces Showdown With G.O.P. on Arms Pact — WASHINGTON — Just two weeks after an election that left him struggling to find his way forward, President Obama has decided to confront Senate Republicans in a make-or-break battle over arms control that could be an early test of his mettle heading into the final two years of his term.
Erick Erickson / RedState:
Another TSA Outrage — UPDATE: I'm getting a lot of emails asking if this is actually true and is this person actually someone I know. (1) Yes it is true — it is too absurd to be made up. (2) Yes, I know the person. — A friend of mine sent me this about his TSA experience.
New York Times:
Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges — Experts dissecting the computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran's nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control. — Their conclusion, while not definitive …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, ChattahBox News Blog and The Jawa Report