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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …