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6:25 AM ET, December 22, 2010

Top Items:

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Graham: GOP to blame for ‘capitulation ... of dramatic proportions’ in lame-duck — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) lashed out at fellow Republicans Tuesday for a “capitulation ... of dramatic proportions” to Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in the lame-duck Congress.

Discussion: RedState, Weasel Zippers, Nice Deb, Riehl World View, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TPMDC and Flopping Aces

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

Jim DeMint and the war on Christmas vacation — South Carolina GOP Sen. Jim DeMint repeated today his claim that “millions of Americans” are “outraged” that Congress would dare work on major legislation, namely New START, this close to Christmas. He previously called it “sacrilegious.”

Discussion: New York Magazine and Blogcritics

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Lindsey Graham: Senate owes Jon Kyl an apology for moving forward with New START

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos, democracyarsenal.org, Washington Monthly, Wonk Room and ThinkProgress

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
New START clears vote threshold; Kyl won't admit defeat

Discussion: Danger Room, Weigel, Ben Smith's Blog, Eunomia, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, National Review, democracyarsenal.org, Washington Post, Salon and ThinkProgress

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Last-Ditch Move to Block Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Fails — 12:18 a.m. | Updated Just hours before President Obama planned to sign on Wednesday the repeal of the military's 17-year ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces, Republicans tried one last legislative maneuver to block the change.

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
Last-ditch McConnell 'don't ask' amendment blocked

Discussion: Open Congress

Lbentzterp / CNN:

Specter issues parting blow to Roberts, Alito — (CNN) - Sen. Arlen Specter, the outgoing Pennsylvania Republican-turned-Democrat, directed a parting blow Tuesday to members of the Supreme Court's conservative bloc. — In his final speech on the Senate floor, Specter …

Discussion: Philly.com, The BLT, The Reaction, Doug Ross, The Note, Donklephant, Althouse, Balloon Juice and The Impolitic

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — Snarlin' Arlen snarls his way through one final angry speech — This morning I was starting to feel a bit sad about Arlen Specter's departure from the Senate. While I rooted heartily for his defeat in 2004 and 2010, I consider him to be stubbornly independent …

Discussion: The Caucus, The Politico, Hot Air, Power Line, RealClearPolitics Video Log and Pajamas Media

ProPublica:

White House Drafts Executive Order for Indefinite Detention — 8:15 p.m: This story has been updated with the White House's response. — The White House is preparing an Executive Order on indefinite detention that will provide periodic reviews of evidence against dozens of prisoners held …

Discussion: ATTACKERMAN, Political Punch, Sky Dancing, The Sundries Shack, TalkLeft, Gawker and JammieWearingFool

Washington Post:

Obama administration readies indefinite detention order for Guantanamo detainees — The Obama administration is preparing an executive order that would formalize indefinite detention without trial for some detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but allow those detainees …

Discussion: Moe Lane and New York Magazine

David Weigel / Weigel:

Introducing: Your New Congressional Apportionment! — It's official: Here are the states gaining and losing seats (and thus electoral votes) in 2011. I've put states entirely controlled by Republicans in bold and states entirely controlled by Democrats in italics, although in some of these states …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, National Review, New York Times, The New Republic, TPMDC, The Huffington Post, Ezra Klein, Outside the Beltway, The TrogloPundit, The Hill, Wake up America and Guardian

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Democrats Optimistic About Census

Discussion: The Fix

New York Times:
South and West See Large Gains in Latest Census

Discussion: Bloomberg, Left Coast Rebel, The Other McCain, City Room, National Review, New York Magazine, The Impolitic, Booman Tribune, Swampland, Wonkette, Yglesias, FiveThirtyEight and American Power

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Conservative bloggers agree: Haley Barbour is toast — I noted here yesterday that the real problem with Haley Barbour's comments about the Citizens Councils is that they show an unwillingness to avoid urinating on the third rail of race. Today several conservative bloggers came …

Discussion: blogs.abcnews.com, The Politico, Weigel, Balloon Juice, The Atlantic Online, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, Salon, TPMDC, Hot Air, neo-neocon, Betsy's Page, New York Magazine, PostPartisan, The Note, American Prospect, Outside the Beltway and FrumForum

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Barbour clarifies: Citizens councils ‘indefensible’

Discussion: Politics Daily, Talking Points Memo, The Reaction, msnbc.com, AOL News, Washington Monthly, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, National Review, The Atlantic Online, CNN, TPMMuckraker, TPMDC, Little Green Footballs, Colorlines, Salon and Swampland

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Barbour Mistakes Black for White

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, TPMMuckraker, The Politico and Swampland

Brett / Majority In Mississippi:
Barbour's Speech From Philadelphia In 2004

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Hullabaloo

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:

Food Fight Has Mike Huckabee Siding With Michelle Obama — HUCK YEAH — Huckabee Sides With Obama Over Palin — Though he had no comment on the calorie-count of a fried-squirrel platter, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is readily taking sides in a nasty political food war.

Discussion: Hot Air and JammieWearingFool

Meena Hartenstein / NY Daily News:
Sarah Palin mocks Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign on reality …

Discussion: pandagon.net and Das Krapital

Rob Shuter / PopEater:
'Sarah Palin's Alaska' Season Two Looks Likely

Discussion: Cubachi, Hot Air, Telegraph, NewsBusters.org blogs and Liberty Pundits Blog

Nilay Patel / Engadget:

FCC: We didn't impose stricter net neutrality regulations on wireless because Android is open — Rest assured that we're working on a full analysis of the FCC's major net neutrality decision today, but the Commission hasn't actually released the full text of the order yet …

Discussion: Guardian, TechCrunch, Firedoglake, Android Phone Fans and The Moderate Voice, more at Techmeme »

Amy Schatz / Wall Street Journal:
FCC Gives Government Power to Regulate Web Traffic

Discussion: The Greenroom, Patterico's Pontifications, Cubachi, The Daily Caller, Liberty Pundits Blog, Atlas Shrugs, Don Surber and Confederate Yankee, more at Mediagazer »

Cecilia Kang / Post Tech:
FCC passes first net neutrality rules

Discussion: Politics Daily, Free Press, NewsBusters.org blogs, Technology Liberation Front, GigaOM, Tech Daily Dose, Blue Wave News, AOL News, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, The Huffington Post and The Page, more at Techmeme »

The Blaze:

GREEN MAKE BELIEVE: VAN JONES ADMITS LEFT IS ‘PRETENDING’ NEED FOR REGULATIONS IN GREEN MOVEMENT — GEAUXALREADY — Why does he still breath free air? — Report Post » — Log in to Reply — CULTUREWARRIORS — Where is the MSM? Why are they not interested in exposing the communist among us?

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Weasel Zippers and Tennesseans Watching …

Andrew Martin / New York Times:

In a Sign of Foreclosure Flaws, Suits Claim Break-Ins by Banks — TRUCKEE, Calif. — When Mimi Ash arrived at her mountain chalet here for a weekend ski trip, she discovered that someone had broken into the home and changed the locks. — When she finally got into the house, it was empty.

Discussion: naked capitalism and Calculated Risk

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Fox News' Shep Smith Shames Coburn For Blocking 9/11 Bill: ‘This Is The Senator’ Blocking ‘Necessary Funding’ — It appears even loyal Fox News has turned on Senate Republicans for their obstruction of the 9/11 first responders bill. Fox & Friends demanded the bill be passed …

Discussion: Examiner, Daily Kos, Salon, Media Matters for America, Sky Dancing, The Wire and TPM LiveWire

Lucy Madison / CBS News:
Coburn Moves to Block 9/11 First Responders Bill as Some Republicans …

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, The Note, The Politico, Firedoglake and PointOfLaw Forum

WVMetroNews Headline News:

Manchin Admits Mistake and Apologizes — Senator Manchin Apologizes For Skipping Votes — U.S. Senator Joe Manchin apologized to his constituents Tuesday for missing two key votes over the weekend. — Manchin has caught heat from friends and foes alike for failing to be on the Senate floor Saturday …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Hill, TPMDC, HotAirPundit, New York Magazine, FrumForum and Squawk Box

Greg Miller / Washington Post:

CIA launches task force to assess impact of U.S. cables' exposure by WikiLeaks — The CIA has launched a task force to assess the impact of the exposure of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables and military files by WikiLeaks. — Officially, the panel is called the WikiLeaks Task Force.

Discussion: Guardian and The Page

Bryan Fischer / afa.net:

Obama wants to give America back to the Indians — President Obama likes the “U.N. Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” He says it can “help reaffirm the principles that should guide our future.” — The State Department added helpfully that although the declaration is not legally binding …

Discussion: Wonkette and Little Green Footballs

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

U.S. Director of National Intelligence on London terror arrests: Er, what terror arrests? — If you thought the gaffes in Diane Sawyer's interview with our counterterror brain trust couldn't get worse than “364 days a year,” skip ahead to 3:35 and brace yourself.

Discussion: Creative Minority Report

Cassy Fiano / The Greenroom:

Hysterics Over DADT Repeal Are An Insult To The Military — Originally posted at David Horowitz's Newsreal: — There have been a lot of different responses to the news that Don't Ask Don't Tell has been repealed. President Obama is planning to sign the bill this week.

Discussion: GayPatriot, Shakesville, Maggie's Farm, BLACKFIVE and Associated Press

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Marine Corps commandant has to go

Discussion: FrumForum, AmSpecBlog and SWJ Blog

The Huffington Post:

Rep. Holt: Sen. McCain Objected To My Military Suicide Prevention Bill — What's Your Reaction: … WASHINGTON — In 2008, a young sergeant named Coleman S. Bean took his life. After completing his first tour of duty in Iraq, he had come home and been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Steve Wozniak / The Atlantic Online:

Steve Wozniak to the FCC: Keep the Internet Free — To whom it may concern: — I have always loved humor and laughter. As a young engineer I got an impulse to start a Dial-a-Joke in the San Jose/San Francisco area. I was aware of such humor services in other countries, such as Australia.

more at Techmeme »