Top Items:
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.
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Washington Post:
Obama signs DADT repeal before big, emotional crowd — President Obama signed the landmark repeal of the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy Wednesday morning, handing a major victory to advocates of gay rights and fulfilling a campaign promise to do away with a practice that he has called discriminatory.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad News #gay and The BLT
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
With Obama's Signature, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Is Repealed — WASHINGTON — The military's longstanding ban on service by gays and lesbians came to a historic and symbolic end on Wednesday, as President Obama signed legislation repealing “don't ask, don't tell,” the contentious 17-year old Clinton-era law …
Discussion:
Indecision Forever, nancynall.com, Colorlines and Balloon Juice
Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
Last-ditch McConnell 'don't ask' amendment blocked — A last-ditch effort by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to complicate the repeal of the “don't ask, don't tell” policy was blocked Tuesday night after Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) objected, Senate aides said.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, CNN, Open Congress and Advocate
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 …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, A plain blog about politics and Mother Jones
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Democrats take victory lap, claiming a ‘do-something Congress’
Democrats take victory lap, claiming a ‘do-something Congress’
Discussion:
Reuters
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Senate to hold make or break vote on 9/11 first responders health bill
Senate to hold make or break vote on 9/11 first responders health bill
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Daily Kos
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
CNN Poll: 56 percent give Obama's lame duck a thumbs up
CNN Poll: 56 percent give Obama's lame duck a thumbs up
Discussion:
The Politico and Outside the Beltway
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Huck: Palin wrong, FLOTUS right — Potential GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says Sarah Palin's wrong and Michelle Obama's right, at least when it comes to the first lady's push to combat childhood obesity. — “With all due respect to my colleague and friend Sarah Palin …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Note, CNN, Israpundit, Weasel Zippers, FrumForum and Outside the Beltway
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Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:
Food Fight Has Mike Huckabee Siding With Michelle Obama
Food Fight Has Mike Huckabee Siding With Michelle Obama
Discussion:
Cubachi, NY Daily News, The Right Scoop, Freedom's Lighthouse, JammieWearingFool, Hot Air, Liberty Pundits Blog, pandagon.net and Das Krapital
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.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Power Line, Denver Post, Post Tech, Fausta's Blog, Betsy's Page, The Anchoress and C-SPAN Recent Events, more at Techmeme »
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Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Why everyone hates new net neutrality rules—even NN supporters
Why everyone hates new net neutrality rules—even NN supporters
Discussion:
Engadget, The Huffington Post, Technology Liberation Front, GigaOM, Gawker and The Atlantic Online, more at Techmeme »
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:
Felix Salmon, New York Magazine, Pat Dollard, naked capitalism, The Big Picture, Newshoggers.com and Calculated Risk
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:
Politics Daily, The Greenroom, Hot Air, Booman Tribune, The Confluence, Lawfare, Moe Lane, The Talking Dog, TalkLeft, TigerHawk and New York Magazine
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ProPublica:
White House Drafts Executive Order for Indefinite Detention
White House Drafts Executive Order for Indefinite Detention
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Lawfare, Emptywheel, Political Punch, ATTACKERMAN, Outside the Beltway, The Sundries Shack, Prairie Weather, Sky Dancing, Gawker and JammieWearingFool
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Detainee Review Proposal Is Prepared for Obama
Detainee Review Proposal Is Prepared for Obama
Discussion:
ATTACKERMAN
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
The rise of the Petulant Party — The lame-duck session of Congress has introduced Americans to the three-party system of government: the Democratic Party, the Republican Party and the Petulant Party. — Eight founding fathers of the Petulants took the stage Tuesday morning in the Senate TV studio …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Prairie Weather
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Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Republicans picked a silly fight over START, and they lost badly.
Republicans picked a silly fight over START, and they lost badly.
Discussion:
Wonk Room, A plain blog about politics, Washington Post, Eunomia and The Plum Line
The Huffington Post:
At Kaplan University, ‘Guerilla Registration’ Leaves Students Deep In Debt — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … Arlen Castillo had just begun an online associate's degree program at Kaplan University when a family emergency forced a change of plans. Her mother in Florida learned she needed extensive surgery …
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:
The Gateway Pundit, theblogprof, Freedom's Lighthouse and Creative Minority Report
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The Politico:
GOP unveils strict new House rules — The new House Republican majority will force lawmakers to vote when they want to raise the nation's debt ceiling, publish committee attendance records, ban former members from lobbying in the House gym and require new mandatory spending to be offset by cuts to other programs.
Discussion:
Wake up America and Outside the Beltway
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Fhardingj / CNN:
CNN Exclusive: Despite voting against its creation, Boehner …
CNN Exclusive: Despite voting against its creation, Boehner …
Discussion:
The Hill and Sunlight Foundation Blog
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Americans See U.S. as Exceptional; 37% Doubt Obama Does — Majority believe U.S. at risk of losing status as greatest country in the world — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans widely agree that the United States has a unique character because of its history and Constitution that sets it apart …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, CNN, Scared Monkeys, The Foundry, Weasel Zippers and USA Today
Kerry Eleveld / Advocate:
Obama: “Prepared to Implement” — ADVOCATE EXCLUSIVE OBAMA INTERVIEW: President Obama tells The Advocate the Pentagon is “prepared to implement” repeal of “don't ask, don't tell” and it will take months not years. He also says he's “wrestling” with the issue of marriage equality.
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared, TPMDC and Pam's House Blend
TMCnet:
From Specter, a blunt goodbye to the Senate — The Philadelphia Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) called his final floor speech Tuesday a “closing argument” rather than a farewell, and it sounded as if it might have been one of the …
Discussion:
The Reaction
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Obama's Overall Job Approval Steady at 46% — Dip in support from liberal Democrats offset by boost from moderate/liberal Republicans — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama's approval rating held steady in the mid-40s during the week ending Dec. 19, his 100th week in office and the week …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Marbury, The New Republic and Daily Kos
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:
The Confluence, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, Raw Story, Danger Room, New York Magazine, AOL News, Mediaite, TPM LiveWire and The Page
Rick Perlstein / Salon:
What Haley Barbour's amnesia tells us — “January 7, 1970, dawned clear and bitterly cold, a cold that rarely comes to Mississippi. It was 16 degrees on South Main Street, the trees along the older avenues were seared and deathly, and the water in the potholes of the roads in the Negro section was frozen solid.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, TPMMuckraker, Right Turn and blogs.abcnews.com