memeorandum: Captain Beefheart, a.k.a. Don Van Vliet, dies at 69 (Simon Vozick-Levinson/EW.com)

2:35 AM ET, December 18, 2010

Top Items:

Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:

Sen. Corker Threatens Reid: If You Bring DADT Repeal For A Vote, We'll Walk Away From START — This afternoon, as momentum began to build for repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) threatened that if Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) brings up a vote to repeal the ban …

Discussion: Advocate, Sky Dancing, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, Poliglot, AMERICAblog Gay and Crooks and Liars

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

GOP Senator to Dems: If you try to pass DADT, Republicans won't pass START — UPDATE, 4:11 p.m.: In an interview with me just now, Senator Bob Corker doubled down on his contention that if Dems move on DADT, Republicans will be less likely to support START.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, National Review, Washington Monthly, Raw Story and Eunomia

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

How Mitch McConnell Convinced Republicans To Derail Dems' Spending Plan — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell approached the microphones for his weekly press conference on Tuesday with more sense of purpose than he's had since he tried — but failed — to derail the health care law in March.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Associated Press

Dana Bash / CNN:

Aides: GOP senators may let 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal go forward — Washington (CNN) — Four key GOP senators who have announced their support of a “don't ask, don't tell” repeal are prepared to join Democrats in voting to let the bill proceed, as long as Congress first deals with a measure …

Discussion: TPMDC, The Plum Line, Balloon Juice, AMERICAblog Gay and Towleroad News #gay

Kos / Daily Kos:

DREAM Act whip count — Barb yesterday had phone numbers for Democratic senators currently on the fence on DREAM: … So where are we with Republicans? — Those with big Latino constituencies — None of these four have said they'll vote for it, but all have electoral aspirations …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Student Activism

Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:

Republicans threaten to derail START — Key Senate Republicans are threatening to pull their support of the START nuclear arms treaty because they don't like the way Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is handling the Senate floor schedule. — On the second full day of debate on the treaty …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Note, National Review and Towleroad News #gay

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
McConnell uncertain GOP can block New START, 'Don't ask, don't tell' repeal

Discussion: Hot Air

Jason Millman / The Hill:
Food safety bill looks dead, though Democrats say they haven't given up

Discussion: CNN, National Review, The Note and The Politico

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Republicans Taking Other Hostages, Threaten to Shoot START if DADT Repealed

Discussion: Wonk Room, Hullabaloo and TPMDC

Nick Davies / Guardian:

10 days in Sweden: the full allegations against Julian Assange — Unseen police documents provide the first complete account of the allegations against the WikiLeaks founder — Documents seen by the Guardian reveal for the first time the full details of the allegations of rape and sexual assault …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, CANNONFIRE, The Confluence, Threat Level, Hot Air and Runnin' Scared

Simon Vozick-Levinson / EW.com:

Captain Beefheart, a.k.a. Don Van Vliet, dies at 69 — Avant-garde rock legend and visual artist Don Van Vliet, who performed under the name Captain Beefheart, passed away today at age 69. A representative of New York City's Michael Werner Gallery, which showed his paintings, confirms the sad news to EW.

Discussion: The Agonist, skippy the bush kangaroo, Rolling Stone, Hit & Run and alicublog

Ewen MacAskill / Guardian:
Captain Beefheart dies aged 69

Discussion: First Draft and Boing Boing

Amelia Hill / Guardian:

WikiLeaks: Cuba banned Sicko for depicting ‘mythical’ healthcare system — Authorities feared footage of gleaming hospital in Michael Moore's Oscar-nominated film would provoke a popular backlash — Cuba banned Michael Moore's 2007 documentary, Sicko, because it painted such a “mythically” …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, NO QUARTER, Hot Air, Hit & Run and Outside the Beltway

Jonathan S. Tobin / Commentary:

Palin's Got Bigger Problems Than Charles Krauthammer — Last night on Bill O'Reilly's show, the FOX News host asked Sarah Palin what she thought about columnist Charles Krauthammer's observation that the former Alaska governor's reality TV show, in which she hangs out with fellow TLC network …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway, RealClearPolitics Video Log, The Politico, Washington Post and PostPartisan

The Politico:

Obama signs tax-cut bill in White House ceremony — President Barack Obama celebrated the spirit of compromise Friday as he signed a controversial $858 billion tax-cut and unemployment insurance extension into law — but warned that bipartisan comity could be fleeting.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Hill and Hot Air

Karoli / Crooks and Liars: Senators McCain and Kirk Share a Laugh Over Death of the Omnibus Bill

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
After Spending Bill Implodes, Reid Schedules Vote on DADT Repeal

Discussion: Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Blue Wave News, Firedoglake, Weigel, Crooks and Liars, RedState, Moe Lane, ThinkProgress, The Hill and The Hill

Jillian Rayfield / TPM LiveWire:

Breaking? Study Finds Fox News Viewers Are The Most Misinformed — To perhaps nobody's surprise, a study released this week finds that Fox News viewers are the most misinformed of any news consumers. — The University of Maryland study, called “Misinformation and the 2010 Election,” …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, 24Ahead, mean ol' meany, TPMDC and Wonkette

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
Study: Some Viewers Were Misinformed by TV News

Discussion: The Informer and Ben Smith's Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Thoma / Economist's View:

“The Obama Renaissance” — James Kwak argues that Obama hasn't compromised his principles in recent deals with the GOP — he was always far more conservative than his supporters were willing to acknowledge: … The GOP will do its very best to take ownership of anything positive that comes …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Firedoglake, Angry Bear and The Baseline Scenario

Ezra Klein:
Obama brand remains surprisingly strong

Discussion: ThePeoplesView.net, Hot Air and TalkLeft

Kevin Sack / New York Times:

Judge Hints He May Rule Against Health Law — PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge asserted on Thursday that it would be “a giant leap” for the Supreme Court to accept the Obama administration's defense of a central provision of the new health care law, suggesting he may become the second judge to strike it down as unconstitutional.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Don Surber, ACS Blog, AmSpecBlog, ThinkProgress, JustOneMinute, Wonk Room and The Politico

Jason Mazzone / New York Times:
Can Congress Force You to Be Healthy?

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, PrawfsBlawg, Hit & Run, Law Blog, Opinionator, The Volokh Conspiracy and The BLT

Ezra Klein:

Republicans embrace ObamaCare, call it Ryan-Rivlin — If you're looking for a description of the Ryan/Rivlin Medicare reforms that have gained so many admirers on the right, Matt Yglesias has a good write-up of the idea. But I'd add another way of explaining the proposal: The Ryan-Rivlin plan basically turns Medicare into Obamacare.

Discussion: ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Yglesias

The Huffington Post:

House Republicans Block Child Marriage Prevention Act — What's Your Reaction: … WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the House took up the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010. The bill would ensure that child marriage is recognized as a human rights violation …

Discussion: PostPartisan and Feministing

Fhardingj / CNN:

CNN and Tea Party Express to host first-of-its-kind Tea Party presidential primary debate — Washington (CNN) - CNN is teaming up with the Tea Party Express for a first-of-its-kind presidential primary debate, both organizations announced Friday. The Tea Party debate …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Salon, Riptide 2.0, The Daily Caller, They gave us a republic, Ballot Box, Orlando Sentinel, Politics Daily, The American Independent and Gawker

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
CNN and Tea Party Express to host 2012 debate

Discussion: Weigel, Washington Monthly, USA Today and alicublog

Richard E. Cohen / The Politico:

House GOP: Bills will have to cite Constitution — Fulfilling one of their most prominent campaign promises, House Republican leaders have unveiled a new rule to require that each bill filed in the House “cite its specific constitutional authority.” — And for those who may have skipped …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Doug Ross

KOCO Oklahoma City's Channel 5:

Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse — Federal Examiners Say Religious Decoration Inappropriate — PERKINS, Okla. — A small-town bank in Oklahoma said the Federal Reserve won't let it keep religious signs and symbols on display. — Federal Reserve examiners come every four years …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, The Volokh Conspiracy, theblogprof, Weasel Zippers, AmSpecBlog, The Gateway Pundit and Left Coast Rebel

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:

Why Is This Tax Different From All Other Taxes? — I'm getting two arguments about the insurance mandate a lot. First, I'm hearing that it's like car insurance, which is silly. Car insurance is liability insurance requiring you to, effectively, post a bond in exchange for the privilege …

Discussion: EconLog

Molly Ball / The Politico:

John Bolton eyes 2012 presidential run — No, it's not just an attention-getting stunt. John Bolton is seriously considering running for president. — Bolton, the fiery, archconservative former United Nations ambassador, sees an opening in the 2012 Republican field.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

When it comes to politics, Obama's ego keeps getting in the way — The tax deal is reasonable policy, supported by majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents - an easy sell by presidential standards. And still President Obama managed to blow the politics of the thing.

Discussion: The Anchoress, The New Republic and Daily Kos

New York Times:

Pakistani Role Is Suspected in Revealing U.S. Spy's Name — WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency's top clandestine officer in Islamabad was pulled from the country on Thursday amid an escalating war of recriminations between American and Pakistani spies, with some American officials convinced …

Discussion: Guardian, Sky Dancing, Lawfare, Indecision Forever, Raw Story, Weasel Zippers and Hullabaloo

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Biden surprises birthday boy Chris Matthews — Vice President Joe Biden surprised MSNBC host Chris Matthews with a birthday cake on Friday to celebrate the longtime host's 65th birthday. — Biden, who was at NBC headquarters in Washington to tape his appearance on Sunday's “Meet the Press” …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and Weasel Zippers