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Scott Walker Asked to Leave Local Restaurant — Come looking for an article about Scott Walker being booted from a Madison restaurant? Yes, you came to the right place, but at the request of the restaurant owner due to abusive phone calls, the article has been hidden for the time being.
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Late Night: You'll Never Eat Dinner in This Town Again — Sometimes, it's good to leave detached, cerebral meta-analyses of politics aside and just get a taste of public opinion being expressed the old-fashioned way. — Wisconsin blogger Naomi Houser reports tonight (via Howie Klein on Twitter):
Discussion:
Althouse, American Power and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

The Real Political Math In Wisconsin … WASHINGTON — The real political math in Wisconsin isn't about the state budget or the collective-bargaining rights of public employees there. It is about which party controls governorships and, with them, the balance of power on the ground in the 2012 elections.
Discussion:
The New Republic
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Protesters plan biggest rally at Wisconsin Capitol — MADISON, Wis. — Opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip public unions of bargaining powers has been burning at the Capitol for two weeks. But today, demonstrators are turning up the heat. — Union organizers are hoping to top …
Discussion:
Guardian, Prairie Weather and The Raw Story


Long Bread Lines and Barricades in Libya's Capital — TRIPOLI, Libya — A bold play by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to prove that he was firmly in control of Libya appeared to backfire Saturday as foreign journalists he invited to the capital discovered blocks of the city in open revolt.
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First blow to Emanuel team — Transition aide quits after ethics violation revealed — A veteran politician Rahm Emanuel named to his mayoral transition team resigned her high-level state job last summer and paid a fine for conducting political business on state time, according to a newly filed ethics report.
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill, Weasel Zippers and CBS Chicago

Protesters at the Wisconsin Capitol disrespectfully have taped signs on and piled junk against the Veterans Memorial. — Meade and I confront them, and we're told we're the first people who've had a problem with it. I try to explain how that attempted defense of the behavior is only going to make it look worse.

A PARTISAN WAR ON TWO FRONTS.... To pay even passing attention to American politics is to notice that contemporary congressional Republicans are as right-wing as they've ever been. The GOP caucuses in both chambers have embraced a hysterical, borderline-nihilist worldview, which is often terrifying in its scope and severity.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Balloon Juice and Mother Jones
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Perry reluctant to back Walker's plan
Discussion:
CNN, Teamster Nation, Daily Kos and FrumForum

Labor secretary: GOP govs asking workers to give up their rights — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is trying to force workers in his state to give up their rights, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Saturday. — Solis, speaking at the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Winter Meeting …
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
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Labor protests draw thousands across U.S.
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Gawker

How Budget Battles Go Without the Earmarks — WASHINGTON — The fact that Congress remains a spending disagreement or two away from shutting down the government no doubt strikes some as remarkable. But there is another extraordinary aspect to the fiscal clash unfolding on Capitol Hill …

STATES OF THE UNIONS — Steyn on America — The Democrat palace guard of America's dying monodailies are doing a grand job in reporting the current stand-off in Wisconsin. A headline in The New York Times sums up the media's bizarre enthusiasm for sacrificing what remains of their reputations in order to protect the cause:
Discussion:
American Power and Power Line

To Baldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before — Until a few days ago, RightNetwork, launched with much fanfare a few months ago by its spokesmodel Kelsey Grammer, appeared to be doing a dead man's float. — Nothing new being added by its original contributors, rumors that those blogger contributers …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, rubber hose and Roger Ailes

Gadhafi's Nurse Says She's Going Home — KIEV, Ukraine—Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is set to be deserted by another close ally after his Ukrainian nurse said she was heading home. — Galyna Kolotnytska, described in a diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks as a “voluptuous blond” …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and Weasel Zippers

The “Ventriloquist Journalism” Beat — Kudos to John for staying after Eric Lipton's fast one, which is a classic in the genre of what I call “ventriloquist journalism”—the highly refined technique by which “news” reporters seek out a source to confirm their preconceived story line with a specific quote.
Discussion:
HazZzMat


FLASHBACK: Ronald Reagan Called Union Membership ‘One Of The Most Elemental Human Rights’ — As the Main Street Movement of students, workers, and other middle class Americans erupts across America, many conservatives have invoked the legacy of former president Ronald Reagan to demand …
Discussion:
The Political Carnival, Weasel Zippers, Balloon Juice, The Impolitic, JammieWearingFool and Wonk Room


Why young men have the upper hand in bed, even when they're failing in life. — We keep hearing that young men are failing to adapt to contemporary life. Their financial prospects are impaired—earnings for 25- to 34-year-old men have fallen by 20 percent since 1971.
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared and ECHIDNE of the snakes

Ireland's Ruling Party Headed for Crushing Defeat, Early Poll Shows — DUBLIN — If there were people walking around during the national election on Friday who were passionate supporters of the ruling party, Fianna Fail, they were doing an excellent job of keeping it secret.
Discussion:
Politics Daily and The Confluence


Iran Reports a Major Setback at a Nuclear Power Plant — Iran told atomic inspectors this week that it had run into a serious problem at a newly completed nuclear reactor that was supposed to start feeding electricity into the national grid this month, raising questions about whether the trouble …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and FrumForum