Top Items:
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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
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:
Pat Dollard, Balloon Juice and The Caucus
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, Gawker, Booman Tribune, The Note and The Hill
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
COUNTING VOTES (AND IGNORING GOHMERT).... [Update: Revised head count here.]
COUNTING VOTES (AND IGNORING GOHMERT).... [Update: Revised head count here.]
Discussion:
Political Correction RSS, Washington Post and AMERICAblog Gay
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
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
BROWN BACKS DADT REPEAL.... There's no longer any question …
BROWN BACKS DADT REPEAL.... There's no longer any question …
Discussion:
TPMDC, Indecision Forever, Wonk Room and AMERICAblog Gay
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Lieberman: Repeal 'Don't ask' before ratifying arms treaty
Lieberman: Repeal 'Don't ask' before ratifying arms treaty
Discussion:
CNN
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:
American Prospect, Firedoglake, The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, Los Angeles Times, zunguzungu, National Review, hrw.org, Balkinization, AOL News, Guardian, Threat Level, Online NewsHour, newsfeed.time.com, American Power, Politics Daily, Lawfare, Gawker, Wonkette, Boing Boing, Liberty Pundits Blog, Suburban Guerrilla, Raw Story, The Page, Salon and The Huffington Post, more at Techmeme »
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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 »
New York Times:
WikiLeaks Founder Is Released on Bail
WikiLeaks Founder Is Released on Bail
Discussion:
AOL News, BBC, The Lede, Gothamist, Boing Boing, Foreign Policy, The Awl and Telegraph
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Getting to Assange through Manning
Getting to Assange through Manning
Discussion:
news.firedoglake.com, GayPatriot, Advocate and The Other McCain
Mark Tran / Guardian:
Julian Assange granted bail at high court
Julian Assange granted bail at high court
Discussion:
BBC, Crooks and Liars, News: News blog, Bloomberg, Raw Story, The Lede, AOL News, Threat Level, AMERICAblog News, Parker Spitzer, Balloon Juice and TalkLeft, more at Techmeme »
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:
CNN, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Other McCain, The Page, Nice Deb and Shopfloor
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Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
House Democrats Must Delay Tax Bill — House Democrats were forced to delay consideration of the president's tax bill on Thursday as party leaders figure out a way to mollify the bill's opponents. — The delay isn't expected to scuttle the tax package. “The bill is gonna pass,” …
Discussion:
Say Anything and Pajamas Media
Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama: Afghan mission on target despite difficult days ahead — U.S. and allied forces are making progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Obama and his national security team insisted Thursday. — Obama said the U.S. and allied forces are “on track to meet our goals,” but warned that …
Discussion:
The Politico
RELATED:
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Could there be a Tet Offensive in Afghanistan?
Could there be a Tet Offensive in Afghanistan?
Discussion:
Guardian, The Nation and Vox Popoli
ABCNEWS:
Poll: Assessment of Afghanistan War Sours
Poll: Assessment of Afghanistan War Sours
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, AOL News and Outside the Beltway
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Obama Cites Afghan Gains as Report Says Exit Is on Track
Obama Cites Afghan Gains as Report Says Exit Is on Track
Discussion:
Politics Daily, FP Passport, Wonk Room and Wonkette
Duncan Gardham / Telegraph:
Drone kills white al-Qaeda pair in Pakistan mountains
Drone kills white al-Qaeda pair in Pakistan mountains
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and FrumForum
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:
Brilliant at Breakfast, Daily Kos and Shakesville
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
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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:
Fausta's Blog and Althouse
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
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:
The Atlantic Online, Yglesias, Grasping Reality …, Ben Smith's Blog and Clusterstock
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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, Sense of Events, protein wisdom, Vox Popoli, Right Wing News, Pajamas Media and Cold Fury
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 Daily Dish, The New Republic and Commentary
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
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 »
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