Top Items:
Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
TRENDING: CNN 2012 Poll: Obama and Palin going in different directions? — Washington (CNN) - As the start of the next presidential campaign nears, a new national poll suggests that President Barack Obama's tax-cut compromise with congressional Republicans did not hurt his standing among Democrats …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, GOP 12 and Salon
RELATED:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
For Palin there's no place like home...in a bad way — It's a well known fact that Sarah Palin is the most unpopular major political figure in the country...one thing that may be less well known is that one of the states where voters have the dimmest view of her is her own home state of Alaska.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weigel, Outside the Beltway, The Hill and GOP 12
Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Palin takes hit from the right for picking food fight with Michelle Obama — Sarah Palin has come under fire from the right for her attacks on the first lady's anti-obesity campaign. — The conservative opinion page of The Wall Street Journal, which frequently criticizes the White House …
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Optimism for Obama Should Come With Caution — For as poorly as President Obama's Democrats performed on Nov. 2, you can find several assessments of his re-election chances that seem doggone optimistic. — The Washington Examiner's Michael Barone, in a careful analysis, suggests that Mr. Obama won't be easy to defeat.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Althouse
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney sinks in Florida — When PPP first polled Florida Republicans in March about who they wanted as their 2012 nominee 52% of them picked Mitt Romney when given the choices of him, Mike Huckabee (who got 21%), and Sarah Palin (who received 18%). — When PPP next asked Florida Republicans …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, GOP 12, Hot Air and Conservatives4Palin
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The merger of journalists and government officials — The video of the CNN debate I did last night about WikiLeaks with former Bush Homeland Security Adviser (and CNN contributor) Fran Townsend and CNN anchor Jessica Yellin is posted below. The way it proceeded was quite instructive …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, AMERICAblog News, Balloon Juice and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »
Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
Obama weighs in on Michael Vick, and other cultural issues — HONOLULU - President Obama doesn't seem to shy away from the divisive social and cultural topics that Americans are debating in their living rooms, gyms and workplaces. — He has spoken out about the responsibility of fathers …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Weigel, Althouse, Booman Tribune, Reliable Source, TalkLeft and Michelle Malkin
RELATED:
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
W.H. confirms Obama discussed Vick
W.H. confirms Obama discussed Vick
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Weasel Zippers and CNN
Matt Friedman / New Jersey Online:
N.J. senator criticizes Gov. Christie, Lt. Gov. Guadagno for being out of state during blizzard — TRENTON — A Democratic lawmaker is questioning why both Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno are out of state at the same time, leaving Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) …
Discussion:
The Hill, Talking Points Memo, msnbc.com, Paul Mulshine, Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, The Note, Fox News, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, AOL News and National Review
RELATED:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MAYBE CHRISTIE CAN SEND A POSTCARD.... Following up on an item …
MAYBE CHRISTIE CAN SEND A POSTCARD.... Following up on an item …
Discussion:
Metropolis, Zandar Versus The Stupid and TPMDC
Newsweek:
Obama and Income Inequality: No New Brazils! — We're going to be hearing a lot about income inequality over the next few years. It may be an abstract concept, but it gets hits like Sarah Palin and attracts grant money like Cory Booker. Tim Noah's series on the subject was (rightly) so popular he got a book contract out of it.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, AmSpecBlog, Ezra Klein and The Atlantic Online
Daily Mail:
Top Gear stars cause religious row after dressing up in burkas on Boxing Day special — Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear co-stars have sparked religious outrage after dressing up in burkas on the Boxing Day special. — Clarkson and Richard Hammond decided to dress in niqabs …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch
Ron Nixon / New York Times:
Lawmakers Finance Pet Projects Without Earmarks — WASHINGTON — No one was more critical than Representative Mark Steven Kirk when President Obama and the Democratic majority in the Congress sought passage last year of a $787 billion spending bill intended to stimulate the economy.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Plum Line and The Daily Caller
Lee Ferran / ABCNEWS:
National Film Registry Adds 25 Films — National Film Registry Chooses 25 Films for 2010 Additions — It's official. When, in hundreds of years, the future of humanity scours the U.S. Library of Congress for clues as to how primitively we lived back in the early 21st century …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and AmSpecBlog
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Tests of ‘Roe’ more frequent since justices upheld late-term abortion ban in '07 — LINCOLN, NEB. - Mike Flood, the 35-year-old speaker of Nebraska's legislature, had a problem: He wanted to stop the state's well-known abortion provider from offering late-term abortions.
Discussion:
Law Blog, Althouse and Prairie Weather
John Tierney / New York Times:
Economic Optimism? Yes, I'll Take That Bet — Five years ago, Matthew R. Simmons and I bet $5,000. It was a wager about the future of energy supplies — a Malthusian pessimist versus a Cornucopian optimist — and now the day of reckoning is nigh: Jan. 1, 2011.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, AmSpecBlog and Instapundit
Accounting Today:
GAO Sees Problems in Government's Financial Management — Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Accounting Today's daily newsletter to get the latest news and behind the scenes commentary you won't find anywhere else. — “Even though significant progress has been made since …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Commentary
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
GOP Turns To K Street Veterans To Help Unravel Health Care Law — House Republicans are turning to old friends on K Street to lead their legislative attempts to repeal the new health care law. — Three recently hired Republican aides — two set to work in senior positions on the powerful Energy …
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid
RELATED:
Marilyn Serafini / Washington Post:
Does the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act need title reform?
Does the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act need title reform?
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, NewsBusters.org blogs, NewsReal Blog, Examiner and Weasel Zippers
Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Concision and the Public Intellectual — A friend of mine sent me the video below as an expansion on our conversation around cable news. It's a discussion from the 1980s about why Noam Chomsky had never been on Nightline. I dislike many of the sweeping generalizations which Chomsky makes at the end.
Bill Roggio / 1 The Long War Journal:
US Predators strike again in North Waziristan — The Ghulam Khan area in Pakistan. Click to view larger map. — US Predators struck again today in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan, launching two airstrikes in an area right along the border with Afghanistan.
Discussion:
Commentary, The Jawa Report, Aljazeera and Politics Daily
Mark Mellinger / WANE-TV:
Daniels says debt could wreck America — Also explains “truce” comment … Mark Mellinger: “Many have said you [would] have a lot going against you if you were running for president. And some obstacles you just can't help. One is that you're short.” — Mitch Daniels: “I don't dispute it.
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Social Security reform is the answer to Obama's problems - and the nation's — The main achievements of the lame-duck session of Congress were reminders of what might have been. President Obama gave something to get something. To secure a second stimulus, he accepted Republican economic methods.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post and Daily Kos
Agence France Presse:
London is home to Hamas hub, says Israel — JERUSALEM — Israel's defence ministry has accused a London-based Palestinian centre of “terror-affiliated activities” and being the organisational arm of the militant Islamic Hamas movement in Europe. — Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Bob Herbert / New York Times:
The Data and the Reality — I keep hearing from the data zealots that holiday sales were impressive and the outlook for the economy in 2011 is not bad. — Maybe they've stumbled onto something in their windowless rooms. Maybe the economy really is gathering steam.
Discussion:
Shakesville
Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
Health plans for high-risk patients attracting fewer, costing more than expected — An early feature of the new health-care law that allows people who are already sick to get insurance to cover their medical costs isn't attracting as many customers as expected.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog, NewsBusters.org, National Review, Betsy's Page and CNN
Ryan J. Reilly / TPMMuckraker:
Group Opposed To DADT Repeal To Fight On Against Shower Policy — Since 1993, the Center for Military Readiness has been fighting to keep gay men and lesbians from infiltrating the United States military. So now that “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” has been repealed, what's next for the group …
Discussion:
Brilliant at Breakfast and No More Mister Nice Blog