Top Items:
Floyd Abrams / Wall Street Journal:
Why WikiLeaks Is Unlike the Pentagon Papers — Everyone knows that Daniel Ellsberg leaked top-secret government documents about the Vietnam War. How many remember the ones he kept secret, or why? — In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg decided to make available to the New York Times …
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Kevin Sack / New York Times:
Terrain Shifts in Challenges to the Health Care Law — The legal challenge to the Obama health care act has invigorated a dispute as old as the Constitution about the framers' most nettlesome grant of power, which gives Congress treacherously broad authority to pass laws “necessary and proper” …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, The Volokh Conspiracy, Greg's Opinion, Law Blog and JustOneMinute
WRAL-TV:
Lunchbox mix-up leads to charges for Sanford teen — SANFORD, N.C. — An athletic and academic standout in Lee County said a lunchbox mix-up has cut short her senior year of high school and might hurt her college opportunities. — Ashley Smithwick, 17, of Sanford, was suspended …
Discussion:
Lean Left, Right Wing News, Instapundit, Outside the Beltway and Joanne Jacobs
Associated Press:
Feds investigate Christine O'Donnell spending — BALTIMORE — A person with knowledge of the investigation says federal authorities have opened a criminal probe of Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell to determine if the former Senate candidate broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CREW, The Hill, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway and Wonkette
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Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
AP: Feds Investigating Christine O'Donnell
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
CNN Poll: Plurality say Obama's policies will likely fail — Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama enters the new year with a growing number of Americans pessimistic about his policies and a growing number rooting for him to fail, according to a new national poll. — Full poll results [pdf]
Discussion:
The Politico, Left Coast Rebel, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Scott Conroy / Real Clear Politics:
Palin Faces Gloomy New Poll Numbers
Palin Faces Gloomy New Poll Numbers
Discussion:
AOL News, The Wire, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, The Daily Dish and Outside the Beltway
Glenn Davis / Mediaite:
Tucker Carlson: “I Think Personally [Michael Vick] Should Have Been Executed” — Tucker Carlson again filled in for Sean Hannity on Hannity tonight, and couldn't resist, as others already had, delving into the issue of President Obama praising Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie …
Discussion:
Hot Air, NewsReal Blog, theblogprof, Outside the Beltway and SportsGrid
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Michael David Smith / ProFootballTalk:
Tucker Carlson: Michael Vick should have been executed — In the two days since Peter King first reported on Football Night in America that President Obama had applauded the Eagles for giving Michael Vick a second chance, the story has moved from the sports world into cable news …
Discussion:
Fanhouse NFL Blog, Politics Daily, Vox Popoli, The Wire, Mediaite and Bleacher Report
Charlotte Hays / National Review:
Mother Nature vs. Nanny — The blizzard is definitely a force for conservatism, and not only because it has had the global-warming crowd scrambling for explanations. The blizzard reveals something basic: Liberals in government want to tell us what to eat, counsel us about how and when to die …
Discussion:
Power Line and Firedoglake
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Gary Bauer / Human Events:
If Christians Were Treated Like Muslims — Few Americans would deny that Judeo-Christian beliefs and values informed the Founding of this country and that they continue to shape much of American life today. Nor would many of us deny that Americans who embrace Islamic values are a distinct minority here.
Discussion:
Babalú Blog, Booman Tribune, Weasel Zippers, The Mahablog and The Jawa Report
Patrick Doyle / Rolling Stone:
Exclusive: Merle Haggard on His Kennedy Center Honor, Meeting Obama and Oprah and More — The singer, who received a lifetime achievement award, takes us behind the scenes of Tuesday's broadcast — Merle Haggard is no stranger to the White House: He was a guest of both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan …
Discussion:
Lean Left and The Political Carnival
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Top NRSC official: Several Senate Dems up in '12 in ‘serious trouble’ — Washington (CNN) - The number two man at the National Republican Senatorial Committee says he thinks several Democratic senators facing re-elections in 2012 are in “serious trouble.” — But NRSC Executive Director Rob Jesmer …
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Republican campaign committee names top 2012 Senate targets
Republican campaign committee names top 2012 Senate targets
Discussion:
CNN
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Response to Wired's accusations — (updated below) — As noted above, the principal tactic of Wired.com Editor-in-Chief Evan Hansen and Senior Editor Kevin Poulsen in responding to my criticisms is to hurl a variety of accusations at me as a means of distracting attention from the issue that matters.
Discussion:
CNN, Patterico's Pontifications and Firedoglake, more at Mediagazer »
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David Freedlander / New York Observer:
Soon To-Be Ex-Congressman John Hall Warns Against Creeping Fascism — In a wide-ranging interview before he prepares to leave the House of Representatives, Hudson Valley Congressman John Hall warned that the nation could quickly descend into Fascism if more is not done to curb the influence of corporate money in politics.
Discussion:
Sky Dancing, Left Coast Rebel, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool
David S. Bernstein / thephoenix.com:
The Road to 2012: The New New Hampshire — Mitt Romney and the rest of the GOP field are about to find a whole new set of players standing between them and first-in-the-nation primary victory — For Mitt Romney and other likely presidential contenders, 2011 will be a busy year of campaigning …
Discussion:
Talking Politics
The Business Insider:
GARY SHILLING: And Now House Prices Will Now Drop Another 20% — In October, Gary Shilling of A. Gary Shilling & Co., predicted that house prices would fall another 20%. — In the two months since, house prices have resumed their decline. Below, Gary outlines why he thinks the recent drops are just the beginning.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Felix Salmon and Ezra Klein
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE AYN RAND DISCIPLE LEADING THE HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE.... In my circle of friends growing up, I can think of quite a few folks who, between the ages of 16 and 22, briefly fell under the spell of Ayn Rand. Someone loaned them a copy of Atlas Shrugged; they were convinced it was brilliant …
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla and Sky Dancing
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Kucinich worries his district will be eliminated — (CNN) - The state of Ohio will lose two congressional seats thanks to the latest U.S. Census figures, and liberal stalwart Dennis Kucinich is worried his seat is on the chopping block. — In an e-mail to supporters Wednesday …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and TPMDC
Ezra Klein:
Monetary policy in fiction — “It's too bad, ” writes Matthew Yglesias, that “'You Shall Know Our Velocity' isn't a novel about monetary policy.” — That got me wondering about whether there are any novels about monetary policy. Some believe ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ is an allegory …
Discussion:
Yglesias, Paul Krugman, Marginal Revolution and EconomicPolicyJournal.com
George Washington / naked capitalism:
Guest Post: Underneath the Happy Talk, Is This As Bad as the Great Depression? — The following experts have - at some point during the last 2 years - said that the economic crisis could be worse than the Great Depression: … How could that possibly be, when the stock market has largely recovered?
Discussion:
The Glittering Eye and Corrente
Alan Zibel / Wall Street Journal:
GOP Shifts on Fannie, Freddie Overhaul — Republicans Say Quickly Privatizing Mortgage Giants Would Squeeze Access to Home Loans and Depress Sales, Prices — Earlier this year, leading House Republicans proposed to privatize mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or place them in receivership starting in two years.
Discussion:
Economist's View, The Atlantic Online and Wall Street Pit
David Weigel / Weigel:
House Republicans Could End Lame Duck Sessions — Little-noticed over the holiday week: Rep. Lynn Jenkins tweeting this promise. … Jenkins linked to a story by David Farenthold explaining that the 20th amendment was supposed to end lame duck sessions by truncating the life of expired Congresses …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Plum Line and slacktivist
Richard Mauer / Anchorage Daily News:
14th official state delay keeps Palin e-mail requests in limbo — HUGE VOLUME: State now projects May 31 as compliance goal. — rmauer@adn.com — The governor has come and gone, another has assumed the office and then has been elected in his own right, and activist Andree McLeod …
CNBC:
US Foreclosures Jump in Third Quarter: Regulators — U.S. home foreclosures jumped in the third quarter and banks' efforts to keep borrowers in their homes dropped as the housing market continues to struggle, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday. — The regulators said one reason …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Confluence and Eschaton
Cathy Young / Boston Globe:
No Labels, but still sworn enemies — JUST IN time for the holidays, a new movement has arrived seeking to promote goodwill toward men (and women) across the political spectrum and to counter the nastiness and polarization that pervade our public discourse.
Discussion:
National Review