memeorandum: 2011 looks grim for progress on women's rights in Iraq (McClatchy Washington Bureau)

7:55 AM ET, January 1, 2011

Top Items:

Not a fan: Krauthammer calls Palin ‘rather weak’ and gives her ‘no chance of winning’ in 2012 — Is the idea that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could be America's next president laughable? Not only to many on the left, but also to conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway and The Right Scoop

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Sarah Palin's Nomination Chances: A Reassessment — In November 2009, I wrote an article entitled “10 Reasons That Sarah Palin Could Win the Republican Nomination.” The article wasn't necessarily arguing that she was the favorite to take the nomination, but it did suggest she had a credible chance at it.

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner

Jonathan Bernstein / The Plum Line:

Is Sarah Palin toast? — Thanks, again, to Greg for inviting me and to everyone for reading — and Happy New Year to all. — Before I go, I'll just do a bit of blogging on everyone's favorite subject, the Sage of Wasilla. Nate Silver had an interesting aside in a recent post that's stuck with me over the last few days:

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Pajamas Media

Ginger Gibson / New Jersey Online:

Gov. Christie praises his administration for work done after blizzard, chastises mayors for local efforts — TRENTON — At his first public event since a blizzard slammed the state, Gov. Chris Christie praised state workers and his administration for their response to the storm and said he wouldn't have done anything differently.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Thurman Hart, Paul Mulshine, Washington Wire, Metropolis and No More Mister Nice Blog

Wall Street Journal:

The Liberal Reckoning of 2010 — The year voters saw the left's unvarnished agenda and said no. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent out a press release last week headlined “111th Congress Accomplishments.” It quoted a couple of Democratic Party cheerleaders calling …

Discussion: Moe Lane and Commentary

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Obamacare mess is legacy of Dems' moment of power

Richard Mauer / Anchorage Daily News:

Miller ends challenge in US Senate race — Republican Joe Miller said today, nearly two months after Alaskans concluded voting, that he is giving up his fight challenging the election of Sen. Lisa Murkowski. — Miller thanked his supporters and said the time has come to accept the …

Discussion: TPMDC and Politics Daily

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

2011 looks grim for progress on women's rights in Iraq — Men view a Baghdad display that warns that women who don't wear the hijab, or traditional Muslim head covering, will be punished in the afterlife. The display, which depicts women engulfed in flames, was erected by Islamist leaders …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Jihad Watch

Charles Johnson / Little Green Footballs:

Fox News Stokes the Climate Change Denial Machine — Fox News continues promoting anti-science rubbish to the rubes, with an article about Eight Botched Environmental Forecasts. — What do you notice about these “botched forecasts?” The most recent one they could find dates back to 2000, and all the others are much older.

Discussion: Da Techguy's Blog, Pajamas Media and Liberal Values

David Seifman / New York Post:

Mayor Bloomberg admits that failing to tackle blizzard was ‘character building’

Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Libel Law, Blogging About Incest, Plus Opposition to Government Regulation of Banking: “It Is of Stunning Coincidence” — Connoisseurs of odd legal arguments might appreciate this item, but unfortunately it requires a bit of background explanation. Aviation lawyer Arthur Wolk sued Overlawyered.com and its bloggers for libel.

Discussion: The Other McCain

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

The Senate's Long, Twisted, Bumpy Road To Filibuster Reform — At some point on January 5, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) will take the Senate floor and begin a process that he hopes will end in the successful use of the “Constitutional option” — the prerogative of a majority of the Senate's members …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Open Left and The Plum Line

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Government by regulation. Shhh. — Most people don't remember Obamacare's notorious Section 1233, mandating government payments for end-of-life counseling. It aroused so much anxiety as a possible first slippery step on the road to state-mandated late-life rationing that the Senate never included it in the final health-care law.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Left Coast Rebel