Top Items:
Frank Rich / New York Times:
Still the Best Congress Money Can Buy — SO America's latest crisis — until it wasn't — was airport screeners touching our junk. As this long year lurches toward its end, we all agree that something has gone wrong in America, and we're desperately casting about for a coherent explanation for our discontent, if not a scapegoat.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Post, The Impolitic, Balloon Juice, driftglass, Suburban Guerrilla and Opinionator
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
McCain wants ‘regime change’ in North Korea — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is calling for “regime change” in North Korea - and blames the recent crisis on the failings of Pyongyang's lone international supporter, China. — “It's time we talked about regime change in North Korea …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Keith B. Richburg / Washington Post:
U.S., South Korea begin military exercises, as China calls …
U.S., South Korea begin military exercises, as China calls …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, EA WorldView and Associated Press
Martin Wall / The Irish Times:
Ictu questions bailout terms — The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has said that the country cannot afford to pay the terms of the proposed €85 billion EU/IMF bailout package. — Addressing the large-scale rally against the Government's planed austerity measures in Dublin today …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and Suburban Guerrilla
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Phil Aldrick / Telegraph:
First Greece, then Ireland - Europe's debt problem has gone from bad to worse
First Greece, then Ireland - Europe's debt problem has gone from bad to worse
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, Dow Jones Newswires, TheAustralian and The Moderate Voice
John F. Burns / New York Times:
Demonstrators in Ireland Protest Austerity Plan
Demonstrators in Ireland Protest Austerity Plan
Discussion:
Telegraph, Balloon Juice, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Suburban Guerrilla and Eschaton
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Former Republican Sen. Warns GOP May ‘Have Gone So Far Overboard That We Are Beyond Redemption’ — In an age when far-right tea party activists have taken over the Republican Party and demanded lockstep allegiance, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) has been one of the few GOP lawmakers to step out of line.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Politico and Balloon Juice
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Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Senator Lugar Charts His Course Against the Winds — WASHINGTON — Mavericks are not in vogue these days on Capitol Hill, a place where hyper-partisanship and obduracy seem to be their own rewards. — But Senator Richard G. Lugar, an Indiana Republican who played that role long before it had a brand name …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, CNN, Greg's Opinion, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hullabaloo and Raw Story
Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:
Scowcroft on START: ‘Partisan’ …
Scowcroft on START: ‘Partisan’ …
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Washington Monthly, Economist's View and The Hill
David Segal / New York Times:
A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web — SHOPPING online in late July, Clarabelle Rodriguez typed the name of her favorite eyeglass brand into Google's search bar. — In moments, she found the perfect frames — made by a French company called Lafont — on a Web site that looked snazzy and stood at the top of the search results.
Discussion:
Bark Bark Woof Woof and The New Republic, more at Techmeme »
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
A G.O.P. Chairman Seeks New Power for U.S. Watchdogs — WASHINGTON — The Republican who will lead the chief investigative committee in the House is planning to vastly expand scrutiny of the Obama administration by seeking new subpoena powers for dozens of federal agency watchdogs in hopes …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Booman Tribune, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice
Louise Gray / Telegraph:
Helena Christensen calls for action on climate change — Climate change is like ‘groundhog day’ for poor people suffering floods and droughts year after year as the temperature rises, Helena Christensen has said after visiting communities hit by extreme weather.
Discussion:
The Politico and Pirate's Cove
Sandhya Somashekhar / Washington Post:
Despite Alaska Senate race results, Joe Miller presses on in principle — Much of America may have moved on, but Joe Miller has not. More than a week after the last vote was counted in Alaska's closely watched U.S. Senate race, the Republican nominee continues to press his case in court …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Lamar Smith / Washington Post:
The GOP's other Election Day victory — The conventional wisdom has already settled like a blanket over Washington. Allegedly, Hispanics flocked to the polls to punish Republicans for the Arizona immigration law. They “saved” the Senate for Democrats. And on and on. The conventional wisdom, however, is wrong.
Discussion:
Commentary, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Hot Air
Scott Simon / NPR:
Simon Says — That Fat Lip Might Give Obama Some Street Cred … Gauze in hand, President Barack Obama walks to his car after the game of basketball Friday at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. — Just three weeks after getting a shellacking in the midterm elections, President Obama got a fat lip.
Discussion:
Don Surber, Patterico's Pontifications, Scared Monkeys and The Gateway Pundit
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Ex-Justice Criticizes Death Penalty — WASHINGTON — In 1976, just six months after he joined the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens voted to reinstate capital punishment after a four-year moratorium. With the right procedures, he wrote, it is possible to ensure “evenhanded …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Harvard University Gazette and Prairie Weather