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:
CNN, The Politico, Wonk Room, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Hot Air, Balloon Juice, The Hill, Salon, No More Mister Nice Blog, Booman Tribune, Gawker, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, Weasel Zippers, iOwnTheWorld.com, Indecision Forever, AMERICAblog Gay, Advocate, FrumForum and Outside the Beltway
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The Hill:
Sen. Wyden to have surgery for prostate cancer, will miss votes — Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will undergo surgery next week to treat early-stage prostate cancer, forcing him to miss Friday's Senate session and parts of next week. — Wyden's impending absence threatens to significantly …
Discussion:
The Note, CNN, AMERICAblog Gay and FrumForum
Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:
Ron Wyden announces cancer surgery — Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore., announced Thursday that he must have surgery for early-stage prostate cancer next week. — Wyden said he expects a full recovery, but he will undergo surgery Dec. 20 - making the path to 60 votes more difficult for Democrats starting Friday and through next week.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Good news and bad news on DADT
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Politico, Washington Monthly, AMERICAblog Gay and Daily Kos
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Reid wages vigorous defense of earmarks in $1.1 trillion omnibus
Discussion:
CNN
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Do The Math — In a minor miracle considering last week's defeat …
Discussion:
TPMDC, The Note and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
How Harry Reid can make time for DADT repeal
Discussion:
Wonk Room, The Politico, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Towleroad News #gay, Pat Dollard, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog Gay
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
Discussion:
The Daily Dish and A plain blog about politics
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. DeMint: 'We're trying to run out the clock' on omnibus
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Foreign Policy, The Reaction, FrumForum, The Politico and Outside the Beltway
Wall Street Journal:
The 111th Congress's Final Insult
Discussion:
The Hill, Don Surber, Right Turn, Betsy's Page and Hot Air
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, Swampland, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Taylor Marsh, Weasel Zippers, Open Congress, The Other McCain, The Page, Daily Kos and Shopfloor
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Russell Berman / The Hill:
Pelosi scrambles to save Obama tax package after scrapped vote — The House will take another stab at passing President Obama's tax proposal Thursday night after Democratic leaders agreed to change the amendment process to satisfy demands by liberal critics of the deal.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Fhardingj / CNN:
BREAKING: House Democratic leaders pull the tax bill from the House floor
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Hot Air, The Politico, Firedoglake, USA Today, Sky Dancing and Nice Deb
Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
House Democrats Must Delay Tax Bill
Discussion:
Say Anything and Pajamas Media
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 …
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
OBNOXIOUS DELAYS FOR THE SAKE OF OBNOXIOUS DELAYS.... The irony is …
Discussion:
The Caucus, Pat Dollard and Balloon Juice
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
GOP looks to box in Obama on $1.1 trillion government spending bill
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Reuters, The Powers That Be and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
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:
The Daily Dish, Questions and Observations, Mudville Gazette, Moe Lane and Cold Fury
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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
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:
Cold Fury
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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
Sally C. Pipes / Forbes:
The Fatal Move From The FDA — Some women will face shorter, more painful lives without Avastin. — On Dec. 17 the Food and Drug Administration is expected to take the radical step of revoking approval for an advanced drug in the treatment of one of the country's most deadly diseases.
Discussion:
Big Government, theblogprof and AOL News
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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, The Daily Dish and Commentary
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
Blue Texan / Firedoglake:
Clueless Time Editor: Julian Assange Will Be a “Footnote” in Five Years — Pictured: Richard Stengel (by david_shankbone) — This is what a dinosaur sounds like when it's dying. … Wow. — Notes Greenwald, … It's pretty clear that under its current leadership, TIME will be a footnote five years from now.
Discussion:
Geekosystem and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Getting to Assange through Manning
Discussion:
American Prospect, news.firedoglake.com, Raw Story, CNET News and The Other McCain
Aljean Harmetz / New York Times:
Blake Edwards, Prolific Comedy Director, Dies at 88 — Blake Edwards, a writer and director who became a Hollywood master of screwball farces and rude comedies like “Victor/Victoria” and the “Pink Panther” movies, died Wednesday night in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 88. — Enlarge This Image
Discussion:
Gothamist, AOL News, First Draft and Gawker
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, CNN, Opinionator, Daily Kos, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Atlantic Wire and Shakesville
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Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
John Boehner's Crying: Is He Drinking Too Much?
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny! and Taylor Marsh
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
McCain: Filibuster omnibus, even if it prompts gov't shutdown — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) threatened on late Thursday a filibuster that, if successful, could threaten a government shutdown this weekend. — McCain said he would filibuster the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill pending in the Senate …
Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
Bernie Sanders Puts Barack Obama to Shame — In an era of Democratic waffling and compromise, the Independent from Vermont actually stands up for what he believes in — Not long ago I was sitting at home writing something for publication - I won't say what, except that it was a passage about a certain politician on the Hill.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Is Yahoo Shutting Down Del.icio.us? [Update: Yes] — For a couple of days now, we've been hearing rumors that the Yahoo layoffs included the entire Delicious team. Now Former Yahoo employee and Upcoming founder Andy Baio has tweeted out the above Yahoo! product team meeting slide that seems …
Discussion:
Lifehacker, Bits, Gizmodo, Geekosystem, The Next Web and Greg's Opinion, more at Techmeme »
Fran Spielman / Chicago Sun Times:
Meeks says minority contracts should only go to blacks — Mayoral challenger James Meeks scrambled Thursday to put out a political fire touched off by his suggestion that only African-Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Say Anything and JammieWearingFool
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
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
Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Just 29 Percent of Voters Think Obama Will Win Re-Election — Barack Obama's second year as president is ending on a low note in the eyes of American voters, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday. — The president continues to suffer from upside-down job ratings …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit
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