memeorandum: The GOP's Veep Favorite (Mark McKinnon/The Daily Beast)

5:30 PM ET, December 11, 2010

Top Items:

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

In Tapes, Nixon Rails About Jews and Blacks — YORBA LINDA, Calif. — Richard M. Nixon made disparaging remarks about Jews, blacks, Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans in a series of extended conversations with top aides and his personal secretary, recorded in the Oval Office 16 months before he resigned as president.

Discussion: Raw Story, YID With LID, Runnin' Scared, Telegraph, Booman Tribune, Althouse, Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice, Gawker, Pajamas Media, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, L.A. NOW, Harry's Place, Washington Wire, Balloon Juice and The New Republic

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Henry Kissinger to Soviet Jewry: Drop Dead — Okay, I don't usually blog on the Sabbath day (the Torah says Tweeting is okay, because it's so short), but I can't resist posting what I think might become Henry Kissinger's epitaph. This statement was captured on Richard's Nixon secret White …

Discussion: Prairie Weather, Outside the Beltway and Washington Wire

Wall Street Journal:

Life After Madoff's ‘Big Lie’ — Two years ago, Bernard Madoff told his two sons that his multi-billion-dollar investment business was “one big lie,” according to authorities. — That dramatic confession, and Mr. Madoff's arrest the next day, unleashed one of the biggest fraud investigations in history.

Discussion: Clusterstock, Associated Press, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Right Wing News

New York Times:

Madoff's Elder Son Found Dead in Suicide — Mark Madoff, the older of Bernard L. Madoff's two sons, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Saturday, in an apparent suicide on the second anniversary of the day his father was arrested for running a gigantic Ponzi scheme that shattered thousands of lives around the world.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, DealBook, This Just In and Politics in the Zeros

New York Post:

Bernie Madoff's son, Mark, commits suicide — Tweet — Bernard Madoff's son Mark was found dead in the living room of his SoHo apartment this morning — hanging from a black dog leash on the two-year anniversary of his father's stunning downfall, officials said.

Discussion: TalkLeft and TMZ.com

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Lights, camera, Clinton — If not a transfer of power, the whole show seemed at least a temporary handoff. An embattled president, fresh off an electoral shellacking and struggling to sell a controversial tax deal to members of his own party, turned to a former president who, exactly 16 years ago …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online, Firedoglake, The Plum Line and Sky Dancing

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Bill Clinton Holds Forth on Tax Plan, for Starters

Discussion: The Politico, New York Times, BAGnewsNotes, Shot in the Dark, JustOneMinute, American Power, Althouse, Daily Kos, CNN and The Caucus

RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Obama Ditches Tax Cut Presser, Bill Clinton Takes Control

Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Poll: Obama's losing support; Romney would beat him now

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Booman Tribune, TalkLeft, Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, GOP 12 and The Plum Line

Mark Landler / New York Times:

U.S. Envoy in Critical Condition After Surgery — WASHINGTON — Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is in critical condition at a Washington hospital after emergency surgery to repair a tear in his aorta, the State Department said in a statement on Saturday.

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Arshad Mohammed / Reuters:

Diplomat Holbrooke in critical condition — (Reuters) - Richard Holbrooke, President Barack Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was in critical condition on Saturday after doctors performed surgery to repair a tear in his aorta, the State Department said.

Discussion: The Washington Note and Discourse.net

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Push for Strict Abortion Limits Expected in House — WASHINGTON — A leading Congressional opponent of abortion rights, who is in line to take charge of an influential House panel, plans to press for much stricter limits on the procedure. — The selection of the lawmaker, Representative Joe Pitts …

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Outside the Beltway

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:

Appointment Fight Divides Judges — Here is one for the “only in New Jersey” file: A state Supreme Court justice refuses to participate in any rulings because he objects to another jurist's serving temporarily on the court. — The dispute, aired in opinions released on Friday …

Discussion: Politics Daily and National Review

Wall Street Journal:
Justice Stymies New Jersey High Court

Discussion: RedState

Charlie Stross / Charlie's Diary:

Invaders from Mars — “Voting doesn't change anything — the politicians always win.” 'Twas not always so, but I'm hearing variations on that theme a lot these days, and not just in the UK. — Why do we feel so politically powerless? Why is the world so obviously going to hell in a handbasket?

Discussion: Prairie Weather, Cafe Hayek and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Paul Krugman:
Hive-minds and Kleptocrats — It's not often that I get a chance …

Discussion: Sky Dancing, TheMoneyIllusion and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

Family, friends mourn Elizabeth Edwards at funeral — Friends and family said goodbye to Elizabeth Edwards on Saturday with admiration, sorrow and occasional laughter. — On a rainy afternoon in Raleigh, N.C., Edwards was remembered for her love of those close to her and her strength …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, People.com and Politics Daily

Tom Wrobleski / Staten Island Advance:

Baby Jesus ousted from St. George Ferry Terminal — STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Christ is out of Christmas at the St. George Ferry Terminal. — In what Catholics see as political correctness run amok, the city Department of Transportation (DOT) has removed a Nativity scene from the terminal …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

The Right Scoop:

ABC edited out Sarah Palin's mention of Mark Levin's book — Mark Levin said tonight on his show that when Sarah Palin was asked by Barbara Walters what she reads, among the others she mentioned was that she reads Liberty and Tyranny, Mark Levin's book. According to Mark, they edited that out:

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Say Anything, Pajamas Media, Conservatives4Palin.com and The Daily Caller

Mark McKinnon / The Daily Beast:

The GOP's Veep Favorite — Twenty-three months out, the Republican presidential nomination is up for grabs, but there's already a favorite for running mate. Bush strategist Mark McKinnon on how Marco Rubio checks all the right boxes—and fixes the “Palin problem.”

Discussion: Draft Marco Rubio and Rick Perry vs The World

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Rep.-Elect Kristi Noem Delivers Republican Weekly Address (Video) — Republicans chose Representative-Elect Kristi Noem (R-SD) to deliver the Weekly Republican Address on creating jobs, cutting spending, and the Pledge to America. — Noem will represent South Dakota in the 112th Congress.

Discussion: American Power and sisu

The Huffington Post:

Palin Proves Voters Were Right in 2008 — First, let's get the preliminaries cleared out of the way. A week ago, Sarah Palin was never going to be president of the United States. Today, Sarah Palin is never going to be president of the United States. Once you've accepted that fact …