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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:
TPMDC, Washington Monthly, The Daily Dish, Hot Air, iOwnTheWorld.com, AMERICAblog Gay, Outside the Beltway and FrumForum
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
COUNTING VOTES (AND IGNORING GOHMERT).... [Update: Revised head count here.] — The floor of the U.S. House offered quite a debate yesterday on repealing the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy, including some beautiful speeches from Democrats on the importance of respect and equality.
Discussion:
Political Correction RSS, Washington Post and AMERICAblog Gay
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:
Booman Tribune, Ben Smith's Blog, The Note and Lawyers, Guns & Money
The Huffington Post:
Hoyer: Senate Has Votes Needed To Repeal DADT [UPDATED]
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Advocate
The Note:
Multi-Tasking: Senate to Debate START Treaty & Omnibus Spending Bill …
Discussion:
Political Punch and The Hill
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Biden scolds GOP on treaty: ‘Get out of the way’
Discussion:
The Hill, Foreign Policy, Firedoglake and FrumForum
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Lieberman: Repeal 'Don't ask' before ratifying arms treaty
Discussion:
CNN
ABCNEWS:
Poll: Assessment of Afghanistan War Sours — ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Record Six in 10 Say it's ‘Not Worth Fighting’ — A record 60 percent of Americans say the war in Afghanistan has not been worth fighting, a grim assessment — and a politically hazardous one …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air
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Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
White House finds ‘fragile’ gains in Afghan war; appears cautious on July troop withdrawal — A White House review of President Obama's year-old Afghan war strategy concluded that it is “showing progress” against al-Qaeda and in Afghanistan and Pakistan but that “the challenge remains …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, The Nation, Taylor Marsh, Online NewsHour, Booman Tribune, AOL News and AMERICAblog News
Duncan Gardham / Telegraph:
Drone kills white al-Qaeda pair in Pakistan mountains
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and FrumForum
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Afghan Report Sees July Troop Pullouts Despite Perils
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Wonkette, FP Passport and Wonk Room
Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Afghanistan review shows progress, but terror concerns remain
Discussion:
Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, Prairie Weather and The Politico
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:
Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Ben Smith's Blog, Politics Daily, American Power, Threat Level, Online NewsHour, Balkinization, AOL News, newsfeed.time.com, Gawker, Boing Boing, hrw.org, Liberty Pundits Blog, Wonkette, Raw Story, Suburban Guerrilla, Balloon Juice, The Page and Salon, more at Techmeme »
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Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
John Boehner's Crying: Is He Drinking Too Much? … Incoming House Speaker John Boehner's recent interview on “60 Minutes” with Lesley Stahl, where he once again cried publicly, has created a minor controversy among pundits, with observers trying to figure out the cause of his unusual behavior.
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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:
Brilliant at Breakfast and Daily Kos
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:
Fausta's Blog and Althouse
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Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit:
AND YET APOLOGISTS IN AMERICA WERE COMPARING HIM TO THE EARLY …
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Moe Lane
Russell Berman / The Hill:
To appease liberals, House will vote on change to estate-tax provision — The House is set to vote Thursday on President Obama's tax proposal after first giving liberal Democrats one last chance to force a change to the Senate-passed agreement. — The key question is whether the House …
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NationalJournal.com:
DeMint Drops Bid to Delay Action on New START
Discussion:
National Review, Washington Post, Wonk Room, Weasel Zippers and democracyarsenal.org
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate plans weekend work to ratify START, pass spending bill
Discussion:
Power Line, The Politico and Right Wing News
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:
protein wisdom, Sense of Events, Pajamas Media, Right Wing News and Cold Fury
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Obama tells lawmakers not passing tax deal could end presidency, Dem says — In urging lawmakers to vote for his tax deal, President Obama is using one of his go-to lines from the healthcare debate, according to a Democratic lawmaker. — Obama is telling members of Congress that failure …
Wall Street Journal:
Support for Obama's Move to the Center — Majority of Public Backs Obama's Bid to Reach Compromise With Republicans — President Barack Obama has public opinion and the Democratic grass roots with him as he searches for common ground with Republicans in the wake of his party's historic defeats …
Discussion:
The Note, Bloomberg, Weasel Zippers and The Caucus
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Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Sarah Palin goes ‘lamestream’ — After making attacks on what she memorably labeled “the lamestream media” one of her signature issues, Sarah Palin has begun to experiment with a new strategy toward the press - engaging it. — The former Alaska governor has started cautiously cooperating …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Page, Conservatives4Palin.com, The Huffington Post and Ballot Box, more at Mediagazer »
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Servicers Downgraded Credit Score of Man Who Asked for His Note — (Graphic via SEIU's WheresTheNote.com site) — Many homeowners have taken advantage of SEIU's Where's the Note website. It helps you generate letters to your bank to ask for evidence that they hold the mortgage note, or the IOU on the property.
Discussion:
CNBC and The Big Picture
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:
The Powers That Be, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Washington Monthly
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, Ben Smith's Blog, The Atlantic Online and Clusterstock
Confederate Yankee:
God Help Me, I Agree with Greenwald — My feelings about U.S. Army PFC Bradley Manning are well documented by The Google, which has my blog entries Let's Try Bradley Manning for Treason and Brad Manning, I Hope They Hang You High being the #1 and #2 search results for a search on “Bradley Manning traitor.”
Discussion:
The Confluence, GayPatriot, Right Wing News and Don Surber
William J. Broad / New York Times:
U.S. Rethinks Strategy for the Unthinkable — Suppose the unthinkable happened, and terrorists struck New York or another big city with an atom bomb. What should people there do? The government has a surprising new message: Do not flee. Get inside any stable building and don't come out till officials say it's safe.
Discussion:
Instapundit, Gizmodo, Parker Spitzer, Pajamas Media and Unfogged
Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Michael Moore's Comments on Julian Assange Rape Allegations Spark Outrage — Filmmaker Michael Moore is in hot water over comments he made during Tuesday night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. In discussing rape allegations against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Moore appeared to dismiss …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Weasel Zippers, The Other McCain, Theo Spark, The Awl, Pat Dollard, Feministe and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Mike Jensen / Southeast Missourian:
Redistribution on steroids — Rep. Cleaver has proposed a $48 billion earmark — When absurdity gives way to hilarity, you must be talking about politics. — In the midst of a colossal global concern for the economic stability of our great nation, Emanuel Cleaver …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, NewsReal Blog and Flopping Aces
William M. Welch / USA Today:
TSA choir has holiday spirit down pat at LAX — LOS ANGELES — Travelers passing through Los Angeles International Airport are finding that security officers have more than a scan or pat-down for them this holiday season. They're offering musical entertainment, too.
Discussion:
LewRockwell.com Blog and Federal Eye
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