memeorandum: Strong American Voice in Diplomacy and Crisis (Robert D. McFadden/New York Times)

9:40 AM ET, December 14, 2010

Top Items:

Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:

Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords — Longtime U.S. diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, whose relentless prodding and deft maneuvering yielded the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia - a success he hoped to repeat as President Obama's chief envoy …

Discussion: The Politico, Salon, Hot Air, Raw Story, Nicholas D. Kristof, Firedoglake, PostPartisan, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taylor Marsh, Talking Points Memo, The Washington Note and AMERICAblog News

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

Strong American Voice in Diplomacy and Crisis — Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2009 and a diplomatic troubleshooter who worked for every Democratic president since the late 1960s and oversaw the negotiations that ended …

Discussion: Washington Post, Wonk Room, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Clusterstock, The Atlantic Online, Booman Tribune, The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, Online NewsHour, Balloon Juice and The Caucus

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

Richard Holbrooke Has Died — ABC News has learned that Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died. — On Friday, Holbrooke was rushed to the hospital with a torn aorta. He went through more than 20 hours of surgery.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Weasel Zippers and Firedoglake

ABCNEWS:

Family members said his last words before he headed into surgery were: “You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan,” according to the Washington Post. — President Obama was at a dinner in the East Room of the White House when the news came, said a senior administration official.

Discussion: Pat Dollard and AmSpecBlog

Joe Sterling / CNN:

Holbrooke dies days after aorta tear — (CNN) — Richard C. Holbrooke, the high-octane diplomat who spearheaded the end of the Bosnian war and most recently served as the Obama administration's point man in the volatile Afghan-Pakistani war zone, has died, officials said.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Stir By CafeMom and Parker Spitzer

Hillary Rodham Clinton / US Department of State:
Passing of Richard Holbrooke

Discussion: TPMDC and SWJ Blog

msnbc.com:
U.S. diplomat Holbrooke dies after tearing aorta

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Gawker

Kevin Sack / New York Times:

Judge Voids Key Element of Obama Health Care Law — A federal district judge in Virginia ruled on Monday that the keystone provision in the Obama health care law is unconstitutional, becoming the first court in the country to invalidate any part of the sprawling act and ensuring that appellate courts …

Discussion: Open Left, And So it Goes in Shreveport, White House.gov Blog Feed, Washington Post, The Politico, Talking Points Memo, Online NewsHour, Firedoglake, The Daily Beast, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Reaction, Wall Street Journal, SCOTUSblog, Guardian, ACS Blog, Liberal Values, The New Republic, Politics Daily, Mother Jones, The Powers That Be, OpenMarket.org, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Ballot Box, Wonk Room, No More Mister Nice Blog, Israel Matzav, Examiner, American Power, The Mahablog, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, Michelle Malkin, Suburban Guerrilla, Viking Pundit, Above the Law, The Foundry, Pajamas Media, Althouse, The Other McCain, Hot Air, Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, The American Independent, Fox News, Riehl World View, JustOneMinute, Nice Deb, National Review, Joe. My. God., Balloon Juice, Law Librarian Blog, Wizbang, Questions and Observations, Rasmussen Reports and theblogprof

Ezra Klein:

Is the Hudson ruling good news for health reform? — District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, a George W. Bush appointee, has, as expected, ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional. So why are health reformers so unexpectedly pleased? — There are two reasons, but first, let's put this into context.

Discussion: National Review, Right Turn, The Daily Beast, Firedoglake, PostPartisan, The American Independent, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, The Politico, Greg's Opinion, Gothamist, Sky Dancing and Suburban Guerrilla

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

CHEERING A VICTORY OVER THEIR OWN IDEA.... Many on the right are, not surprisingly, delighted with today's federal district court ruling on the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. That's to be expected — they're hoping to gut the law. The two previous legal defeats notwithstanding …

Discussion: Dennis the Peasant, The New Republic, US Senator Orrin Hatch, Political Correction RSS, ACS Blog, The Moderate Voice and Outside the Beltway

Washington Post:

Health reform will survive its legal fight — In March, New Hampshire preschool teacher Gail O'Brien, who was unable to obtain health insurance through her employer, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. Her subsequent applications for health insurance were rejected because of her condition.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Democratic Daily, National Review, PostPartisan and The Page

John Cook / Gawker:

Judge Who Ruled Health Care Reform Unconstitutional Owns Piece of GOP Consulting Firm — Henry E. Hudson, the federal judge in Virginia who just ruled health care reform unconstitutional, owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform.

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Prairie Weather, Right Wing Watch, Washington Wire, Capital Tonight, TPMDC, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Salon

New York Times:
Law Will Proceed, Administration Says

Discussion: Maggie's Farm

Nick Baumann / Mother Jones:
The Radicalism of Judge Hudson's Health Care Law Decision

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Concurring Opinions, The Plum Line, NationalJournal.com and The Smoking Gun

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
The Significant Error in Judge Hudson's Opinion

Discussion: Balkinization, TalkLeft, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, NewsBusters.org blogs, Liberty Pundits Blog, Weasel Zippers, Power Line and protein wisdom

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Huge Senate majority votes to advance $858B tax package — President Obama's $858 billion tax package won a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate Monday evening, setting it up for a contentious debate in the House. — In a 83-15 vote, the Senate quashed a filibuster by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Va.).

Discussion: The Politico, The Other McCain, The Sundries Shack, The Nation, The Democratic Daily, FrumForum and Moe Lane

David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus:
Senate Advances Tax Cut Package

Discussion: Wonkette, Balloon Juice and Washington Monthly

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Senate votes for tax cut deal. What's route through House?

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo

The Politico:
Tax deal advances in Senate

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Power Line, Climate Progress, Democracy in America, The Note, Hot Air, Pat Dollard, New York Times, Betsy's Page and Taylor Marsh

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:
Tax-Cut Bill Draws Wide Support in Senate

Discussion: American Prospect, TPMDC, Grist, The Politico and Cato @ Liberty

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate expected to advance $858B tax, benefits package

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

New nonpartisan “No Labels” group has its own “anthem” by Akon for some reason — No joke. That's what they're calling it — the “No Labels Anthem,” presumably to be played whenever Mike Bloomberg walks into a room or “Morning Joe” goes to commercial or, I guess, as mood-setting music …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Times, Althouse, The Other McCain, The Politico, Washington Times and Weasel Zippers

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Designer: No Labels lifted penguins of bipartisanship

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Moe Lane

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
No Labels: No Specifics, No Coherence, No Point.

Discussion: Nice Deb and The Sundries Shack

John Del Signore / Gothamist:
Did No Labels Rip Off Design From More Party Animals?

Discussion: New York Observer, City Room, Washington Post and Verum Serum

CNN:

TRENDING: Steele admits stumbles, announces re-election bid — Washington (CNN) - Michael Steele broke a weeks-long silence Monday night and announced that he will seek a second term as chairman of the Republican National Committee. — Steele revealed his intentions in a lengthy private conference call …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Politico, The Note and ABCNEWS

Doug McKelway / Fox News:
Steele Seeks Second Term As RNC Chair

Discussion: FrumForum, Sister Toldjah, Hotline On Call, Firedoglake, The Note, DownWithTyranny!, National Review, Ballot Box, Hot Air, The American Independent, Gawker and msnbc.com

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Tax Cut Deal Wildly Popular — ABC News and the Washington Post have the first poll out about public reaction to the Obama tax cut deal. ABC created a colorful chart of the results, so I'll link to them: — Support for the overall package was extremely high: 68% among Democrats and Independents and 75% among Republicans.

Discussion: Dennis the Peasant, Sky Dancing and The Atlantic Online

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
Poll: Broad Backing for Obama-GOP Tax Deal

Discussion: The Numbers, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Hill and Wake up America

James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:

Atheist Ads on Buses Rattle Fort Worth — FORT WORTH — Stand on a corner in this city and you might get a case of theological whiplash. — A public bus rolls by with an atheist message on its side: “Millions of people are good without God.” Seconds later, a van follows bearing a riposte: “I still love you.

Discussion: Vox Popoli and Joe. My. God.

Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:

Brain Oddities: Spelling is Irrelevant to Comprehension — In trying to make sense of the world around us, our brains have evolved to do some very odd things. The more we learn about our cognitive processes, the more it seems we have inherited a very weird wetware set, filled with bizarre and misleading foibles.

Tim McGinnis / Carolina Live:

Governor Mark Sanford talks about future — Governor Mark Sanford will be out of job next month. He's served as South Carolina's head of state since 2003. — NewsChannel 15's Tim McGinnis interviewed Sanford on Monday. Sanford spoke about his tenure, including the effect the admission …

Becky Bohrer / Associated Press:

Miller appeals ruling on write-in vote count — Republican Joe Miller is taking his challenge to Alaska's U.S. Senate race to the state Supreme Court. — Miller filed his appeal Monday, three days after a lower court ruled against his lawsuit challenging how the state counted write-in ballots for his rival, Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Discussion: Weigel, The Immoral Minority, The Note, USA Today and Ballot Box

Clout St:

Emanuel bid for mayor challenged at residency hearing — Posted by Jeff Coen and Kristen Mack at 5 a.m. — Rahm Emanuel has battled the toughest politicians in Washington but today he comes face to face with a new challenge — more than 20 Chicagoans or their attorneys seeking to knock him off the ballot for mayor.

Discussion: USA Today and Washington Wire