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 …
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 …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Outside the Beltway
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
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Scott Brown And Lisa Murkowski Back Standalone DADT Repeal Bill
Scott Brown And Lisa Murkowski Back Standalone DADT Repeal Bill
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Booman Tribune, The Note and The Hill
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. DeMint: 'We're trying to run out the clock' on omnibus
Sen. DeMint: 'We're trying to run out the clock' on omnibus
Discussion:
The Reaction, Foreign Policy, FrumForum and The Politico
The Huffington Post:
Hoyer: Senate Has Votes Needed To Repeal DADT [UPDATED]
Hoyer: Senate Has Votes Needed To Repeal DADT [UPDATED]
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Advocate
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Biden scolds GOP on treaty: ‘Get out of the way’
Biden scolds GOP on treaty: ‘Get out of the way’
Discussion:
Pat Dollard, The Hill and Firedoglake
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Lieberman: Repeal 'Don't ask' before ratifying arms treaty
Lieberman: Repeal 'Don't ask' before ratifying arms treaty
Discussion:
CNN
NationalJournal.com:
DeMint Drops Bid to Delay Action on New START
DeMint Drops Bid to Delay Action on New START
Discussion:
National Review, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, Wonk Room and democracyarsenal.org
The Note:
Multi-Tasking: Senate to Debate START Treaty & Omnibus Spending Bill …
Multi-Tasking: Senate to Debate START Treaty & Omnibus Spending Bill …
Discussion:
Political Punch and The Hill
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate plans weekend work to ratify START, pass spending bill
Senate plans weekend work to ratify START, pass spending bill
Discussion:
Power Line, The Politico and Right Wing News
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:
Firedoglake, American Prospect, The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, Guardian, National Review, Politics Daily, hrw.org, Gothamist, American Power, Threat Level, Balkinization, Lawfare, Online NewsHour, AOL News, newsfeed.time.com, Gawker, Boing Boing, Wonkette, Suburban Guerrilla, Liberty Pundits Blog, Raw Story, The Huffington Post, The Page and Salon, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Mark Tran / Guardian:
Julian Assange granted bail at high court
Julian Assange granted bail at high court
Discussion:
BBC, Crooks and Liars, Bloomberg, Threat Level, Raw Story, The Lede, AMERICAblog News, AOL News, Parker Spitzer, Balloon Juice and TalkLeft, more at Techmeme »
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Getting to Assange through Manning
Getting to Assange through Manning
Discussion:
Guardian, GayPatriot, Right Wing News and The Other McCain, more at Mediagazer »
Henry Chu / Los Angeles Times:
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange is granted bail, will leave jail for country mansion
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange is granted bail, will leave jail for country mansion
Discussion:
Mediaite
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Obama says U.S. is ‘on track’ to achieve goals in Afghanistan — President Obama said Thursday that “we are on track to achieve our goals” in the Afghan war and to “start reducing our forces next July.” — Announcing the results of a one-year review of his war strategy, Obama said, “This continues to be a difficult endeavor.”
RELATED:
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, Hot Air and AOL News
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Afghan Report Sees July Troop Pullouts Despite Perils
Afghan Report Sees July Troop Pullouts Despite Perils
Discussion:
Politics Daily, FP Passport, Wonk Room and Wonkette
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:
Moe Lane
RELATED:
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
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, Ben Smith's Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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:
Left Coast Rebel, protein wisdom, Sense of Events, Pajamas Media, Right Wing News and Cold Fury
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.
RELATED:
Gail Collins / New York Times:
The Crying Game — We've had to adjust to so many strange developments lately.
The Crying Game — We've had to adjust to so many strange developments lately.
Discussion:
Opinionator, Brilliant at Breakfast and Daily Kos
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:
Mediaite, Ben Smith's Blog, The Page, Conservatives4Palin.com, The Huffington Post and Ballot Box
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, Grasping Reality … and Clusterstock
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, Gothamist, AOL News, Gizmodo, Pajamas Media and Unfogged
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
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 …
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
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
Duncan Gardham / Telegraph:
Drone kills white al-Qaeda pair in Pakistan mountains — A pair of white British Muslim converts who joined al-Qaeda have been killed in a drone attack in a mountainous region of Pakistan, according to reports. — The men, one of whom was apparently called Steve, died five days ago …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and FrumForum
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:
msnbc.com, The Note, Weasel Zippers, Bloomberg, The Caucus and Hot Air
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, Stop The ACLU, NewsReal Blog, Weasel Zippers and Flopping Aces
Walter Olson / NY Daily News:
McDonald's suit over Happy Meal toys by California mom Monet Parham new low in responsible parenting — With perfect Grinch timing, a consumer group has sued McDonald's demanding that it take the toys out of its Happy Meals. — The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group …