Top Items:
The Note:
Big Boost for Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal: Brown Backs Senate Bill — ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: — Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown today voiced his support for a stand-alone repeal of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, bringing the bill one vote over the 60-vote threshold …
Discussion:
The Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TPMDC, Washington Monthly, Wonk Room, The Hill, Balloon Juice, Salon, No More Mister Nice Blog, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, Weasel Zippers, Gawker, Hot Air, iOwnTheWorld.com, Indecision Forever, AMERICAblog Gay, Little Green Footballs, Advocate, Outside the Beltway and FrumForum
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP will paralyze Senate floor with reading of 1,924-page spending bill — Republicans will paralyze the Senate floor for 50 hours by forcing clerks to read every single paragraph of the 1,924-page, $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill. — Senate clerks are expected to read the massive bill …
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Harry Reid wants a 'don't ask' vote this congress — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told his caucus at a closed-door meeting Thursday that he would try to hold another vote on the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy before the next Congress convenes.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and FrumForum
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
How Harry Reid can make time for DADT repeal — Now that Scott Brown and Olympia Snowe have come out for the stand-alone bill in the Senate to repeal don't ask don't tell, there's no longer any doubt as to whether there are the necessary 60 votes in the Senate to get this done.
Discussion:
Wonk Room, AMERICAblog Gay and Daily Kos
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
Discussion:
The Plum Line, The Daily Dish and A plain blog about politics
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
OBNOXIOUS DELAYS FOR THE SAKE OF OBNOXIOUS DELAYS.... The irony is …
OBNOXIOUS DELAYS FOR THE SAKE OF OBNOXIOUS DELAYS.... The irony is …
Discussion:
The Caucus, Pat Dollard and Balloon Juice
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Reid wages vigorous defense of earmarks in $1.1 trillion omnibus
Reid wages vigorous defense of earmarks in $1.1 trillion omnibus
Discussion:
CNN
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Battle of the Acronyms — The key background issue …
Battle of the Acronyms — The key background issue …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and TPMDC
Russell Berman / The Hill:
House tax vote could be delayed — A final House vote on President Obama's tax proposal could be delayed after Democratic leaders were forced to pull a procedural measure off the House floor Thursday. — The House was set to vote on the rule governing debate on the broad tax bill …
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Post, Swampland, Taylor Marsh, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, The Other McCain, The Page, Weasel Zippers, Open Congress, Shopfloor and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Russell Berman / The Hill:
Pelosi scrambles to save Obama tax package after scrapped vote — Democratic leaders are scrambling to save President Obama's tax proposal after a liberal insurrection forced House leaders to postpone a planned vote on the measure Thursday. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
House Democrats Must Delay Tax Bill
House Democrats Must Delay Tax Bill
Discussion:
Say Anything and Pajamas Media
Fhardingj / CNN:
BREAKING: House Democratic leaders pull the tax bill from the House floor
BREAKING: House Democratic leaders pull the tax bill from the House floor
Discussion:
Firedoglake, msnbc.com, Sky Dancing, USA Today and Nice Deb
Frank Dikötter / New York Times:
Mao's Great Leap to Famine — HONG KONG — The worst catastrophe in China's history, and one of the worst anywhere, was the Great Famine of 1958 to 1962, and to this day the ruling Communist Party has not fully acknowledged the degree to which it was a direct result of the forcible herding …
Discussion:
Questions and Observations, The Peking Duck, Fausta's Blog and Althouse
RELATED:
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit:
AND YET APOLOGISTS IN AMERICA WERE COMPARING HIM TO THE EARLY CHRISTIANS: Mao's Great Leap To Famine: “The worst catastrophe in China's history, and one of the worst anywhere, was the Great Famine of 1958 to 1962, and to this day the ruling Communist Party has not fully acknowledged the degree …
Discussion:
Questions and Observations, Mudville Gazette, Moe Lane and Cold Fury
John Cook / Gawker:
The Daily Beast Has Stopped Editing Meghan McCain — Meghan McCain is the illiterate daughter of a ruined man, which makes her “column” for the Daily Beast something of a challenge for her editors. But by the looks of today's offering, they've given up. — Were you wondering what McCain thinks …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Mock, Paper, Scissors
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
U.S. Tries to Build Case for Conspiracy by WikiLeaks — WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors, seeking to build a case against the WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange for his role in a huge dissemination of classified government documents, are looking for evidence of any collusion in his early contacts …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, American Prospect, CNET News, Guardian, Firedoglake, The League of Ordinary …, News: News blog, AOL News, Sky Dancing, hrw.org, The Politico, National Review, Raw Story, Politics Daily, FP Passport, Yglesias, zunguzungu, Threat Level, Online NewsHour, Ben Smith's Blog, The Caucus, American Power, Crooks and Liars, Gothamist, Balkinization, newsfeed.time.com, The Lede, Wonkette, Gawker, AMERICAblog News, Lawfare, Liberty Pundits Blog, Suburban Guerrilla, Boing Boing, The Other McCain, Balloon Juice, Salon and The Page, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Blue Texan / Firedoglake:
Clueless Time Editor: Julian Assange Will Be a “Footnote” in Five Years
Clueless Time Editor: Julian Assange Will Be a “Footnote” in Five Years
Discussion:
Geekosystem and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Getting to Assange through Manning
Getting to Assange through Manning
Discussion:
news.firedoglake.com, Raw Story and Guardian
Gail Collins / New York Times:
The Crying Game — We've had to adjust to so many strange developments lately. I'm sure we'll get used to having a speaker of the House who weeps a lot. — That would be John Boehner, the new guy. — “He is known to cry,” the outgoing speaker, Nancy Pelosi, told Deborah Solomon in The Times Magazine.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Business Insider, Opinionator, Brilliant at Breakfast, Daily Kos, The Atlantic Wire and Shakesville
RELATED:
Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
John Boehner's Crying: Is He Drinking Too Much?
John Boehner's Crying: Is He Drinking Too Much?
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
Ross Douthat:
The Strange Case for Mitt Romney — David Frum, puzzling over the inconsistencies in Mitt Romney's recent op-ed attacking the tax deal: … I hear similar things from Romney supporters (or people trying to convince themselves to be Romney supporters) with remarkable frequency.
Discussion:
Eunomia, The New Republic and Commentary
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Could there be a Tet Offensive in Afghanistan? — Once when the French statesman Duc de Richelieu (1766-1822) was planning a military campaign, an officer placed a finger on a map, saying: “We shall cross the river at this point.” Richelieu replied: “Excellent, sir, but your finger is not a bridge.”
Discussion:
Guardian, The Nation and Vox Popoli
RELATED:
Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
Where Freedom Goes to Die: The Center for Science in the Public Interest — I find it deeply disturbing that such a lawsuit was even contemplated in my country, even if it is likely to be thrown out on appeal: … One shudders to consider that when Patrick Henry stood up in St. John's Church and declared …
Discussion:
NY Daily News, Cato @ Liberty, JammieWearingFool and Outside the Beltway
First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: As bad as it gets? — New NBC/WSJ poll: If this is as bad as it gets for Obama, he's in good shape for 2012... If not, watch out... What's benefiting the president right now: a strong base and the fact the public finds him likeable... Palin's poor poll position …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway and The New Republic
Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:
Warning: ‘Greater Exposure’ To Fox News Will Lead To ‘Increased Misinformation’ On Policy Issues — Last week, World Public Opinion (WPO) released a poll exploring political information in a post-Citizens United national election and found that 90 percent of voters “said that in the 2010 election …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune and AlterNet
Michael Graham / Boston Herald:
Liberals cut down to size — Enough! — You can have your own politics, my liberal friends, you aren't entitled to your own facts. And your claims about the Obama/GOP tax deal are pure, fact-free fantasy. — Yesterday morning I endured watching a fertilizer-filled conversation on Fox 25 …
Discussion:
Sense of Events, Cold Fury and Cafe Hayek
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Do The Math — In a minor miracle considering last week's defeat, DADT repeal now appears to have the 60 votes needed for Senate passage. Scott Brown, Lisa Murkowski and Olympia Snowe have all pledged their unconditional support, meaning three no votes have flipped from last week's tally.
Discussion:
TPMDC, Booman Tribune, The Note and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Ezra Klein:
Orszag and Citigroup — James Fallows gently chides me and my paper for not writing more on Peter Orszag's decision to take an executive position with Citigroup. He's probably right to do so, though my silence was in part motivated by terror at having to try and add anything to this brilliant post …
Discussion:
Yglesias, The League of Ordinary …, The Atlantic Online, Ben Smith's Blog, Grasping Reality … and Clusterstock
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
GOP looks to box in Obama on $1.1 trillion government spending bill — Republicans are trying to box President Obama in on congressional Democrats' $1.1 trillion spending bill by dredging up the president's past statements. — The GOP is pointing to the president's previous remarks …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Reuters, The Powers That Be and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Jennifer Haberkorn / The Politico:
Health judge fears ‘broccoli’ mandate — PENSACOLA, Fla. — In a federal courtroom Thursday, Judge Roger Vinson questioned how far Congress's authority would go if it can legally require nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance. — Could they “mandate everybody has to buy a certain amount of broccoli?”
Discussion:
Swampland
Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:
Barbra Streisand glad Hillary not first female president: They'd have ‘blamed her gender’ for economic crisis — On Wednesday's broadcast of “Larry King Live” on CNN, the second-to-final show for host Larry King, singer Barbra Streisand explained why she left the country during November's midterm.
Discussion:
Commentary
Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:
Two Californias — The last three weeks I have traveled about, taking the pulse of the more forgotten areas of central California. I wanted to witness, even if superficially, what is happening to a state that has the highest sales and income taxes, the most lavish entitlements …
Discussion:
JOSHUAPUNDIT, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Left Coast Rebel, Sense of Events, Right Wing News, Vox Popoli, Pajamas Media and Cold Fury
David Weigel / Weigel:
Freshman Democrats Want Filibuster Reform in January — Before heading into a caucus meeting, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) briefed reporters today on ideas for introducing a “constitutional option” to reform the Senate in the next session of Congress.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Plum Line, Washington Monthly, The Agonist and The Huffington Post
Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Sarah Palin's mainstream media détente — After making attacks on what she memorably labeled “the lamestream media” one of her signature issues, Sarah Palin has started to experiment with a new strategy toward the press — engaging it. — The former Alaska governor …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Ben Smith's Blog, The Page, Conservatives4Palin.com and Ballot Box, more at Mediagazer »
Julia Shaw / The Foundry:
Happy Anniversary to the Tea Party — On this day in 1773, a group of colonists disguised as Indians boarded British merchant ships and dumped into the Boston Harbor an estimated £10,000 worth of tea as a protest against British colonial policies.. John Adams declared this event …
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Biden: 'I'm going to say something outrageous' — Vice President Biden, in a network television interview, listed as one of his professional attributes his penchant to “say something outrageous.” — The gaffe-prone vice president sat down with NBC's Andrea Mitchell in an interview …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers