Top Items:
Dan Friedman / NationalJournal.com:
Senate's Returning Democrats Unanimously Favor Filibuster Reform — All except Dodd sign a letter urging Majority Leader Harry Reid to change the rules. — All Democratic senators returning next year have signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to consider action …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Firedoglake, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Raw Story
RELATED:
Ezra Klein:
Senate Democrats support filibuster reform — They say elections have consequences. So too, it turns out, does obstruction. In a move that's as overdue as it is unexpected, every returning Senate Democrat has signed a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid calling for filibuster reform.
Discussion:
RedState
ABCNEWS:
Congress Passes Bill To Care For 9/11 Responders after Gaining Support …
Congress Passes Bill To Care For 9/11 Responders after Gaining Support …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Caucus, CNN, The Note and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Ezra Klein:
Why has the lame-duck session been so productive? — So far, the lame-duck session has managed to pass an $850 billion tax-cuts-and-stimulus deal, the repeal of DADT, the Defense Authorization bill, a continuing resolution to keep funding the federal government, the START treaty …
RELATED:
Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
A lame-duck session with unexpected victories — When the lame-duck session of Congress started more than a month ago, President Obama looked defeated and deflated, publicly acknowledging the “shellacking” his party had taken in the November midterm elections.
Discussion:
Pat Dollard
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
111th Congress comes to a close; new session begins on Jan. 5 — The House on Wednesday evening passed a motion to adjourn the 111th Congress “Sine Die”, bringing to a close Democrats four-year reign in the lower chamber. — It also ended what has been the most productive lame-duck session in recent memory.
Discussion:
CNN and The Other McCain
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
‘We Are Not Doomed to Endless Gridlock’
‘We Are Not Doomed to Endless Gridlock’
Discussion:
Colorlines and The Reaction
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Supreme Court rules against Miller — The Alaska Supreme Court today ruled against Joe Miller on all counts, a decision that leaves his challenge of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's victory on life support. — “There are no remaining issues raised by Miller that prevent this election from being certified …
Discussion:
The BRAD BLOG, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, FrumForum, Conservatives4Palin and TPMDC
RELATED:
Rick Hasen / Election Law:
BREAKING NEWS: ALASKA SUPREME COURT REJECTS MILLER APPEAL …
BREAKING NEWS: ALASKA SUPREME COURT REJECTS MILLER APPEAL …
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy
Brian Moylan / Gawker:
Barney Frank Makes a Fool Out of Conservative Reporter Over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' — A conservative reporter from right-leaning CNS News thought he would play gotcha journalist and ask gay Congressman Barney Frank about gay and straight soldiers showering together. Big mistake. Huge.
Discussion:
CNSNews, New York Times, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, FishbowlDC and Hullabaloo
RELATED:
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Barney Frank completely pwns hapless CNS reporter attempting ‘gotcha’ DADT question
Terry Krepel / Media Matters for America:
Gotcha Fail: Rep. Frank Turns Tables on CNS
Gotcha Fail: Rep. Frank Turns Tables on CNS
Discussion:
Advocate
Stephen C. Webster / Raw Story:
Shock: Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson favors marijuana legalization — Robertson a welcome addition to drug reform circles, former narc tells Raw Story — Count this among the 10 things nobody ever expected to see in their lifetimes: 700 Club founder Pat Robertson …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Hot Air and The Dangerous Servant
Rachel Weiner / The Fix:
Steven Spielberg advising Nancy Pelosi on rebranding Democrats … THE FIX NEWSLETTERS … THE LIVE FIX … POLITICS & PINTS
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, American Glob, Pat Dollard, Deadline.com, Doug Ross, Inside Movies and FrumForum
Sady / Tiger Beatdown:
MooreandMe: And Then He Came Down — Last night, I did something I hadn't done in a very long time. I took a long, hot bath. I just laid there, and I started to feel how tired I was, and I started to feel less tense. And then I got up, and I went to my bedroom, and I laid down next …
Discussion:
American Power, pandagon.net and Mediaite
RELATED:
Amanda Marcotte / Slate:
The women accusing Julian Assange of sexual assault deserve to be taken seriously.
The women accusing Julian Assange of sexual assault deserve to be taken seriously.
Discussion:
Das Krapital, Room Eight blogs, Focal Point, Sky Dancing, Mediaite and The Other McCain
Laura Conaway / The Maddow Blog:
The Michael Moore interview
The Michael Moore interview
Discussion:
Guardian, Mediaite, American Power and The Awl
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Senate Passes Arms Control Treaty With Russia, 71-26 — WASHINGTON — The Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a new arms control treaty with Russia, scaling back leftover cold war nuclear arsenals and capping a surprisingly successful lame-duck session for President Obama just weeks after his party's electoral debacle.
Discussion:
The Politico, Power Line, The Democratic Daily, Pundits Blog, National Review, Commentary, FrumForum, Gawker and Truthdig
RELATED:
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Obama Nuclear Agenda Only Gets Harder After Treaty
Obama Nuclear Agenda Only Gets Harder After Treaty
Discussion:
New York Times, The Reaction, Firedoglake, The Foundry, AOL News, Daniel W. Drezner, Indecision Forever and National Review
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Obama on vacation: same old, same old — HONOLULU - For Ronald Reagan it was riding horses on his California ranch. For George W. Bush it was clearing brush and biking around his Crawford, Texas, estate. For Barack Obama, the signature image of his presidential vacationing, so far …
Jon Bershad / Mediaite:
Oops! Fox & Friends Accidentally Identifies Elie Wiesel As “Holocaust Winner” — Wow. We all make mistakes and typos. There will probably be at least one in this post alone. However, some typos are worse than others. This is one of those typos. Last week, Fox & Friends …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, Gawker, The Wire and PopEater
ProPublica:
The ‘Subsidy’: How Merrill Lynch Traders Helped Blow Up Their Own Firm — Two years before the financial crisis hit, Merrill Lynch confronted a serious problem. No one, not even the bank's own traders, wanted to buy the supposedly safe portions of the mortgage-backed securities Merrill was creating.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice and Felix Salmon
Robin Bravender / The Politico:
W.H.: Polar bears not ‘endangered’ — The Obama administration is sticking with a George W. Bush-era decision to deny polar bears endangered species status. — In a court filing Wednesday, the Fish and Wildlife Service defended the previous administration's decision to give the polar bear …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit
John Fund / Wall Street Journal:
The Net Neutrality Coup — The campaign to regulate the Internet was funded by a who's who of left-liberal foundations. — The Federal Communications Commission's new “net neutrality” rules, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote yesterday, represent a huge win for a slick lobbying campaign run by liberal activist groups and foundations.
RELATED:
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Nice. Muslim Group Launches “Christmas Is Evil” Poster Campaign — A Muslim group launched a “Christmas Is Evil” poster campaign in Great Britain. — How very leftist of them... A radical Muslim group launched a “Christmas is evil” poster campaign hoping that their efforts would help destroy Christmas.
Discussion:
Doug Ross, POWIP and Daily Mail
Daarel Burnette II / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
In St. Paul schools, the not-so-sweet life — The St. Paul school district will make all public schools “sweet-free zones” by the end of the school year. — Jill Gebeke made it a habit to reward herself with a small piece of chocolate after lunch every day. It's hard work being a school principal, after all.
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com and Hit & Run
Webstock words:
The Blast Shack — We asked Bruce Sterling (who spoke at Webstock '09) for his take on Wikileaks. — The Wikileaks Cablegate scandal is the most exciting and interesting hacker scandal ever. I rather commonly write about such things, and I'm surrounded by online acquaintances …
Discussion:
Grim's Hall and The Atlantic Online
National Review:
The Would-be GOP Kings — Who among us can contain their excitement? The GOP presidential-primary season has begun! — By my count, there are 24 people who are beneficiaries of nontrivial presidential buzz: Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and Power Line
Andy Barr / The Politico:
RNC candidates make social pledges — Some of the top-tier candidates seeking the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee have made their pitches to the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List in hopes of convincing social conservatives of their beliefs.
Discussion:
LifeNews.com and Liberal Values
PARADE Magazine:
Oprah Winfrey on Michael Jackson, Sarah Palin, and Starring in Her Own Reality Show — PARADE's December 26 cover story is a one-on-one sit-down with Oprah Winfrey. The queen of talk discusses everything from her new venture to supporting Obama, and, maybe, becoming an ambassador.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Reliable Source:
For the record, Nina Totenberg loves Christmas; Blogs portray NPR commentator as combatant in War on Christmas — Nina Totenberg, 2005. (Alex Wong/Getty Images for Meet the Press)/ Kris Kringle in ‘Miracle on 34th Street.’ (20th Century Fox) — Breaking news: Nina Totenberg does not hate Christmas!
Discussion:
FishbowlDC
Bloomberg:
WikiLeaks Joins Forces With Lebedev's Moscow-Based Newspaper Novaya Gazeta — Novaya Gazeta, the Moscow newspaper controlled by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and billionaire Alexander Lebedev, said it agreed to join forces with WikiLeaks to expose corruption in Russia.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Crooked Timber, Hit & Run, FrumForum and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »