Top Items:
Michael Moore / Open Mike:
Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange — Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail.
Discussion:
Salon, Left Coast Rebel, Stop the War Coalition …, NewsBusters.org blogs, AOL News, Taylor Marsh, The Stir By CafeMom, JammieWearingFool, The Other McCain, Threat Level, CNN, The Daily Caller, The Nation, Guardian, National Review, Gothamist, Shakesville, The Powers That Be, Raw Story and Gawker, more at Techmeme »
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Matthew Weaver / News: News blog:
Julian Assange granted bail: live updates — • Assange granted bail to cheers from supporters — • He remains in custody as Sweden says it will appeal — • Assange criticises Visa, MasterCard and Paypal from cell — • Police worked case against Madeleine McCann's parents
Alexis Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:
Photos: Here's The Manor Where Julian Assange Will Be Staying — So, this is where Julian Assange will be vacationing from prison. It's Ellingham Hall in Suffolk, England, an estate owned by the independently wealthy journalist Vaughan Smith (and his parents, according to the UK title).
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and NewsBusters.org blogs
Lee Fang / ThinkProgress:
Newly-Elected Rep. Allen West: 'We Should Be Censoring The American …
Newly-Elected Rep. Allen West: 'We Should Be Censoring The American …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Yahoo! News, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, Raw Story, Pushing Rope and The American Independent
Meredith Chaiken / Washington Post:
Poll: Americans say WikiLeaks harmed public interest; most want Assange arrested
Poll: Americans say WikiLeaks harmed public interest; most want Assange arrested
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Firedoglake and Prairie Weather
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill — Senate Democrats have filed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through fiscal year 2011, according to Senate GOP sources. — The 1,924-page bill includes funding to implement the sweeping healthcare reform bill …
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The Note:
Thune vs. Romney: First Skirmish of the Campaign for 2012 GOP Presidential Nomination? — ABC News' Jon Karl reports: — We may have just witnessed one of the first skirmishes of the campaign for 2012 Republican presidential nomination. — Speaking on the Senate floor …
Discussion:
CNN, Ben Smith's Blog and The Page
David Rogers / The Politico:
Democrats' budget bill: $1.1 trillion; 1,900 pages — Senate Democrats began rolling out Tuesday a year-end, government-wide spending bill that cuts more than $26 billion from President Barack Obama's 2011 requests, even as it defies earmark bans — or veto threats over Joint Strike Fighter engines.
Discussion:
FrumForum
Fox News:
Revolt: Republicans Angry About Omnibus Spending Bill Decry ‘Total Mess’
Revolt: Republicans Angry About Omnibus Spending Bill Decry ‘Total Mess’
Discussion:
RedState, Associated Press and Hot Air
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year
Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year
Discussion:
Wake up America and Weasel Zippers
Kasie Hunt / The Politico:
John Thune: Tax deal critics want higher taxes
John Thune: Tax deal critics want higher taxes
Discussion:
The Note, AmSpecBlog and National Review
The Hill:
Liberals giving up tax fight — A House liberal who has led the effort to stop President Obama's tax compromise with the GOP says efforts to change the package are futile. — Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who just a week ago circulated a letter signed by 54 Democrats urging opposition to the deal, now says the “die is cast.”
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Online NewsHour, Right Turn, Guardian, National Review and The Other McCain
RELATED:
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
House Democrats urge longer extension of unemployment benefits
House Democrats urge longer extension of unemployment benefits
Discussion:
The Politico and The Democratic Daily
Ezra Klein:
Why the tax deal might fail — I listed some of the conservative critics of the tax deal in Wonkbook today (Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party Patriots, Charles Krauthammer), but Playbook shows their ranks are growing: Mitt Romney has an op-ed in USA Today saying the tax deal gives “President Obama ... reason to celebrate.
Discussion:
The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog, TalkLeft and The Daily Dish
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David Weigel / Weigel:
Most Republican 2012ers Back the Tax Deal
Most Republican 2012ers Back the Tax Deal
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, The American Independent and The New Republic
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Amateur Hour: VA Judge Makes Elementary Error In Health Care Ruling — The Virginia federal district court judge who ruled yesterday that the individual mandate in the health care bill is unconstitutional is catching a lot of flack — and not just for having a financial interest in an anti-health care reform consulting firm.
RELATED:
Jeffrey Toobin / News Desk:
With Health-Care Reform, the Judges Rule
With Health-Care Reform, the Judges Rule
Discussion:
The New Republic, New York Times, The Huffington Post, ACS Blog, The Daily Dish, Ben Smith's Blog and The Politico
Tyler Cowen / The American Interest:
The Inequality That Matters — Does growing wealth and income inequality in the United States presage the downfall of the American republic? Will we evolve into a new Gilded Age plutocracy, irrevocably split between the competing interests of rich and poor?
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Economix, Ross Douthat, JustOneMinute, Democracy in America, Free exchange, Marginal Revolution, The Glittering Eye and EconLog
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
ROGER SIMON GIVES A STRAW MAN QUITE A LASHING.... The headline on Roger Simon's latest Politico column — “Class warfare is not the ticket” — was the first hint of trouble. As is probably clear to everyone, when the media establishment refers to “class warfare,” they're invariably complaining …
Discussion:
The New Republic and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Amazing: WaPo Fails to Publish Own Poll on ObamaCare's Lowest Popularity Ever — A new ABC-Washington Post poll found ObamaCare sunk to its lowest popularity yet: 52 percent opposed, and only 43 percent in favor. ABC mentioned the poll without fanfare at the end of a Jake Tapper report …
Discussion:
Behind the Numbers
Wall Street Journal:
Air Force Blocks Sites With Leaked Cables — The U.S. Air Force is blocking its personnel from using work computers to view the websites of the New York Times and other major publications that have posted secret material obtained by WikiLeaks, people familiar with the matter say.
Discussion:
Danger Room, Guardian, Gizmodo, Raw Story, TPMMuckraker and Foreign Policy, more at Mediagazer »
Patrick Healy / ArtsBeat:
Actress Thora Birch Fired From ‘Dracula’ — The producers of the Off Broadway revival of “Dracula” fired their star actress Thora Birch on Friday, four days before the play's first performance, the production's director and Ms. Birch said in interviews on Monday.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Holbrooke's last words — The Washington Post first reported that Richard Holbrooke's last words, according to his family, were to his Pakistani surgeon, asking him to “stop this war.” — State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley clarified today: — I should note that a lot of media coverage …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Gawker, Swampland, The Huffington Post and Checkpoint Washington
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Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:
Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords
Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords
Discussion:
Checkpoint Washington, Wall Street Journal, The Politico, Agence France Presse, Don Surber, TPMDC, Los Angeles Times, msnbc.com, the brain police, FrumForum, The Huffington Post, Mudville Gazette, The American Independent, BlogPost, New Atlanticist, The Daily Beast, Nicholas D. Kristof, The Atlantic Online, AmSpecBlog, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, PostPartisan, Gothamist, Online NewsHour, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress and Raw Story
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Marine Commandant Suggests Presence Of Gays Would Endanger The Lives Of Straight Marines — Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos — who has opposed repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell — suggested that if Congress lifts the ban against open service and allows gays …
Discussion:
67.59.172.92, Wonk Room, Towleroad News #gay, Pam's House Blend, AMERICAblog Gay and Dennis the Peasant
Zachary M. Seward / Digits:
The Top 50 Gawker Media Passwords — Readers of Gizmodo, Lifehacker and other Gawker Media sites may be among the savviest on the Web, but the most common password for logging into those sites is embarrassingly easy to guess: “123456.” So is the runner-up: “password.”
Discussion:
PC Magazine, The Atlantic Online, New York Times and Felix Salmon, more at Mediagazer »
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.
The Huffington Post:
Obama's Judges Blocked At Historic Rate — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … As the first congressional session of Obama's presidency draws to a close, what began as a slow process of confirmation has ballooned into a full-blown judicial crisis. The Senate has overseen the slowest pace …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Washington Monthly, ACS Blog, The Daily Dish, AOL News, Ezra Klein, Hullabaloo and Associated Press
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:
The Huffington Post, Vox Popoli and Balloon Juice
Persecution:
Red Cross Neglects Arrested Afghan Employee for Converting to Christianity — Washington, D.C. (December 14, 2010) - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the Red Cross in Afghanistan (ICRC) has not intervened on behalf of a long-term employee who was arrested and imprisoned because he is Christian.
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs and Weasel Zippers
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Carter: Biggest failure was '80 loss — Former President Jimmy Carter says his biggest failure during his term in the White House was that he didn't get to spend another four years there. — “I guess my biggest failure was not getting reelected,” he said in an interview with Big Think, referring to the 1980 presidential election.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
CNBC:
Moody's May Cut US Rating on Tax Package — Moody's warned Monday that it could move a step closer to cutting the U.S. Aaa rating if President Obama's tax and unemployment benefit package becomes law. — The plan agreed to by President Obama and Republican leaders last week could push up debt levels …
Discussion:
Right Wing News
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Towns Stepping Down from Oversight, Setting Up Three-Way Battle for Ranking Member — Reps. Maloney, Cummings, and Kucinich all have interest in Oversite post. — Ed Towns will give up his post as the Democratic ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, setting up a potential battle for that spot …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online and PoliticsPA