memeorandum: With friends like these … (Digby/Hullabaloo)

10:20 AM ET, November 30, 2010

Top Items:

With friends like these — When the only people who defend you are the Villagers, you know you're on the wong track — With Friends Like These ... I'm watching an exasperated John King on CNN right now visibly stunned that the liberals don't see the savvy genius of Obama's move to freeze Federal Workers' pay.

The Politico:

GOP pushed pay freeze months ago — Washington Democrats have antagonized House Minority Whip Eric Cantor with the nickname “Dr. No.” But the White House may have to amend that to “Dr. Know” after reversing course and calling for the very same federal pay freeze Cantor promoted earlier this year with his oft-ridiculed YouCut program.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Betsy's Page and The Hill

Ezra Klein:
Wonkbook: Dem compromise would extend 90% of Bush tax cuts …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Post and Green

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Everyone Hates Obama's Pay Freeze Plan... Except Republicans

Discussion: The New Republic, Outside the Beltway, Lance Mannion, AmSpecBlog, Washington Monthly, Newsweek, American Spectator, Mother Jones, Ezra Klein, Yglesias, Wonk Room, Scarecrow's myFDL diary, The Monkey Cage, The Reaction, Daily Kos, The Plum Line and New York Times

The Politico:
Some see triangulation in pay freeze

Discussion: Hot Air and Brilliant at Breakfast

Don Surber:
Liberals fight for the highest-paid employees

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Guardian, ECHIDNE of the snakes and TPMDC

Washington Post:
Obama proposes two-year pay freeze for federal workers

Discussion: Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Politico and Federal Eye

Washington Post:

Where we and Democrats can work together — When congressional leaders of both parties meet at the White House today, all of us will have an opportunity to show the American people that we got the message of the elections earlier this month. — Republicans heard the voters loud and clear.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Fix, The Hill, The New Republic, The Page, Questions and Observations, USA Today, The Hill, Hotline On Call, Associated Press, National Review and Booman Tribune

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Tax fight pits Bush vs. Obama — The looming Senate debate on taxes sets up a showdown between George W. Bush and President Obama on tax policy — and the former president could come out the winner. — The Senate is expected to hold dueling votes on extending the cuts before they expire on Dec. 31 …

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, USA Today and Prairie Weather

CNN:
Obama, lawmakers meet with big to-do list

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and msnbc.com

Washington Post: Obama, GOP leaders to work on map for days ahead

Roll Call: Road Map: Still No Agenda for Lame Duck

The Politico:
President Obama and GOP leaders finally to meet

Discussion: Guardian

Joe Scarborough / The Politico:

GOP should take on Palin — Republicans have a problem. The most-talked-about figure in the GOP is a reality show star who cannot be elected. And yet the same leaders who fret that Sarah Palin could devastate their party in 2012 are too scared to say in public what they all complain about in private.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Politics Daily, CNN, Mediaite, Raw Story, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Moderate Voice and Writes Like She Talks

Sarah Palin / Facebook:

Serious Questions about the Obama Administration's Incompetence in the Wikileaks Fiasco — We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe. However, the latest round of publications …

Discussion: CBS News, Wake up America, Outside the Beltway, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, sisu, The Moderate Voice, The Right Scoop, Riehl World View, Liberty Pundits Blog, Salon, The Page, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Cubachi and Politics Daily

Washington Post:

WikiLeaks founder could be charged under Espionage Act — Federal authorities are investigating whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange violated criminal laws in the group's release of government documents, including possible charges under the Espionage Act, sources familiar with the inquiry said Monday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Betsy's Page, Federal Eye, The Other McCain, FrumForum and New Atlanticist

Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
Palin: Latest WikiLeak Is Obama's Fault

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and FrumForum

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Sarah Palin blasts Obama administration for WikiLeaks ‘fiasco’

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Note and Wonkette

blogs.forbes.com:

Andy Greenberg — When will WikiLeaks return to its older model of more frequent leaks of smaller amounts of material? — If you look at the average number of documents we're releasing, we're vastly exceeding what we did last year. These are huge datasets. So it's actually very efficient for us to do that.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Firedoglake, Gawker and Hullabaloo

Reuters: WikiLeaks plans to release a U.S. bank's documents

Andy Greenberg / The Firewall:
An Interview With WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Hit & Run, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story, msnbc.com, Guardian, Yahoo! News, Doug Ross, Newshoggers.com, American Power, Alastair Campbell, New York Times, The Nation and The Independent

Andy Greenberg / The Firewall:
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Wants To Spill Your Corporate Secrets

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Impolitic, Taylor Marsh and DealBook, more at Mediagazer »

Jack Shafer / Slate:

The leaked cables make it impossible for Hillary Clinton to continue as secretary of state. … Like This Story Follow Slate's Press Box … - How Post-9/11 Information Sharing Has Made Leaking Government Secrets Easier- What Happened to All That Republican In-Fighting the Tea Party Was Supposed To Cause?

Discussion: A Chequer-Board of Nights …, Washington Post, New York Times, Politics Daily, The Huffington Post and Daily Pundit

Scott Neuman / NPR:
Clinton: WikiLeaks ‘Tear At Fabric’ Of Government

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NBC Connecticut, DAWN.COM, Los Angeles Times, Politics Daily, Global Voices in English and Mondoweiss

Jason Kottke / kottke.org:

Has NASA discovered extraterrestrial life? — Here's a curious press release from NASA: … I did a little research on the news conference participants and found: — 1. Pamela Conrad (a geobiologist) was the primary author of a 2009 paper on geology and life on Mars

Discussion: Gawker and Suburban Guerrilla

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Americans not impressed with Bloomberg — Massive amounts of attention have been given over the last few years to a possible Michael Bloomberg Presidential run in 2012. And a new PPP poll finds that he is indeed a unifier- Democrats, Republicans, and independents all don't like him.

Discussion: TPMDC, Hot Air and Gothamist

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama leads all Republicans

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Saint Petersblog

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

A Witness Lies, the Court Shrugs and Veterans Are Outraged — Elven J. Swisher wore a replica of a Purple Heart on the witness stand when he testified that the defendant had tried to hire him to kill three federal officials. — Asked about the medal, Mr. Swisher pulled a document …

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Vitamin D - Just Hype? — The NY Times covers some pushback against the latest “it” vitamin, but I don't buy it: — Extra Vitamin D and Calcium Aren't Needed, Report Says — By GINA KOLATA — The very high levels of vitamin D that are often recommended by doctors and testing laboratories …

Discussion: New York Times

Al Kamen / Washington Post:

In slideshow, Rep. Joe Barton declares war on the Obama administration — If the Obama administration was hoping to see hints of bipartisanship from the Hill, it might want to skip over the House Energy and Commerce Committee. — The committee's ranking Republican, Rep. Joe L. Barton …

Discussion: Politics Daily and Raw Story

Directorblue / Doug Ross:

Say, About That Old ‘Bush Lied’ Trope, Looks Like Wikileaks Proved Obama Repeatedly Lied About Middle East Policy — Runner-up headline: Obama lied, diplomacy died — Anyone remember that exactly one year ago President Obama's original deadline for Iran expired?

Discussion: Foreign Policy and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Netflix Partner Says Comcast ‘Toll’ Threatens Online Video Delivery — Level 3 Communications, a central partner in the Netflix online movie service, accused Comcast on Monday of charging a new fee that puts Internet video companies at a competitive disadvantage.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Seeing the Forest and Gizmodo, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Rangel hopes punishment will come in writing rather than on House floor — In the curious annals of congressional drama, this week's debate on the fate of New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel will be odder than most. The House will agonize, and Rangel will emote, over this question: