Top Items:
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Gingrich Tragedy — Of all the major Republicans, the one who comes closest to my worldview is Newt Gingrich. Despite his erratically shifting views and odd phases, he continually returns to this core political refrain: He talks about using government in energetic but limited ways to increase growth, dynamism and social mobility.
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Gingrich Is Inspiring—and Disturbing — The first potential president about whom there is too much information. — I had a friend once who amused herself thinking up bumper stickers for states. The one she made up for California was brilliant. “California: It's All True.”
Discussion:
The Caucus, The Spectacle Blog, Vodkapundit, GOP 12, Betsy's Page, JustOneMinute, National Review, Slate, Indecision Forever, 2012 Decoded and Connecting.the.Dots
Jonathan Lemire / NY Daily News:
Donald Trump looks into canceling GOP debate he's set to host — The Donald says he may still run for the White House as an independent — Donald Trump smiles at left as Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich talks to media after their meeting in New York, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011.
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Gothamist, The Political Carnival, GOP 12, Campaign 2012, Jammie Wearing Fools and The Politico
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
The reach of the GOP establishment — I remain pretty skeptical about Newt Gingrich's chances of winning the Republican presidential nomination, but on the “Why Newt Will Lose” list of arguments, some points are more compelling than others. — Ezra Klein makes the case today …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Dish and Balloon Juice
Sen. Rand Paul / Des Moines Register:
Rand Paul: Republicans would take a giant step backward by choosing Gingrich — As a U.S. senator elected from and by the tea party, I am often asked about the tea party, the conservative movement and the presidential race. — While conservatives and limited-government activists did …
Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Newt Strikes Back at Romney — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich may be promising to stay positive amidst the barrage of attacks coming his way from former Governor Mitt Romney and other GOP rivals, but not every utterance out of his mouth is a glowing homage to his opponents.
Discussion:
Coffee and Markets, The PJ Tatler, Daily Kos and The Page
Associated Press:
Trump might scrub his GOP presidential debate
Trump might scrub his GOP presidential debate
Discussion:
Indecision Forever, Wonkette, The Right Scoop and Little Green Footballs
Matt K. Lewis / The Daily Caller:
As you probably heard, some Mitt Romney surrogates hosted …
As you probably heard, some Mitt Romney surrogates hosted …
Discussion:
Datechguy's Blog, Hot Air, Jamie Dupree Washington …, Big Journalism, Catholic Bandita, Sister Toldjah and Reuters
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Mitt Romney Goes After Gingrich: 'We're Going To Have To Make Changes Like The Ones Paul Ryan Proposed'
Mitt Romney Goes After Gingrich: 'We're Going To Have To Make Changes Like The Ones Paul Ryan Proposed'
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The New Republic and Washington Monthly
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Trump ‘very disappointed in’ Bachmann
Trump ‘very disappointed in’ Bachmann
Discussion:
CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and GOP 12
A.B. Stoddard / Pundits Blog:
Mitt's moment — Mitt Romney is running out of time to stop New Gingrich.
Mitt's moment — Mitt Romney is running out of time to stop New Gingrich.
Discussion:
The Politico
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Oops: Perry Forgets Justice Sotomayor's Name — Echoing his devastating “oops” moment in an earlier GOP debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) forgot the name of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in an interview today with the Des Moines Register editorial board. He had to be assisted by a reporter who offered the jurist's name.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, Mediaite and Shakesville
RELATED:
Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Repeal of sodomy, bestiality ban sparks fight on Defense bill — One surprising issue is riling both social conservatives and animal rights activists: the repeal of a ban on sodomy and bestiality. — As the final Defense authorization bill gets hammered out in conference committee …
Felix Salmon:
Europe's disastrous summit — I thought disasters were all meant to happen over the weekend? Somehow, in Brussels, EU leaders have contrived to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory on Thursday night, leaving Friday for finger-pointing and recriminations and wondering whether anybody …
RELATED:
Charlemagne / Economist:
Europe's great divorce — WE JOURNALISTS are probably too bleary-eyed after a sleepless night to understand the full significance of what has just happened in Brussels. What is clear is that after a long, hard and rancorous negotiation, at about 5am this morning the European Union split in a fundamental way.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, BBC and Bagehot's notebook
Nicholas Watt / Guardian:
Cameron: ‘Britain better off outside treaty’
Cameron: ‘Britain better off outside treaty’
Discussion:
Financial Times, Firedoglake, News Desk and National Review
Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Ron Paul: 9/11 prompted “glee” in Bush administration — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Thursday evening that Bush administration officials were gleeful after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because it gave them a pretext to invade Iraq. — “Just think of what happened after 9/11.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and The Raw Story
RELATED:
Brent Budowsky / Pundits Blog:
Ron Paul on steady upward trajectory, third-party talk will escalate
Ron Paul on steady upward trajectory, third-party talk will escalate
Discussion:
CNN, ABCNEWS, The Daily Caller and Campaign 2012
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
The Real G.O.P. Dark Horse: None of the Above — Two of my favorite analysts, Rhodes Cook and Josh Putnam, have a good debate going about just how plausible it is that a Republican who is not currently running for president could enter the race later and potentially win it (probably necessitating a brokered convention).
RELATED:
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
Labor Board Drops Case Against Boeing — A top official with the National Labor Relations Board announced on Friday that the agency was dropping its politically charged case against Boeing, in which the agency had accused the company of violating federal labor law by opening a new aircraft production plant in South Carolina.
Discussion:
NLRB, Hot Air, RedState, Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers, The ChamberPost, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, The Right Scoop and The PJ Tatler
RELATED:
Justin Sink / The Hill:
GOP candidates applaud NLRB complaint withdrawl
GOP candidates applaud NLRB complaint withdrawl
Discussion:
The Hill, ThinkProgress, CNN and Reuters
Russell Berman / The Hill:
House GOP releases payroll tax package under Obama veto threat — House Republicans on Friday released their legislation to extend the payroll tax cut, reform and extend unemployment insurance, and fix the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors. — The move sets up a vote on the year-end package as early as Tuesday.
Discussion:
CNN, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
RELATED:
Vicki Needham / The Hill:
GOP seeks to cut unemployment benefits
GOP seeks to cut unemployment benefits
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Gingrich: Palestinians ‘invented,’ promises Netanyahu-style foreign policy — Former Speaker Newt Gingrich dismissed the Palestinian bid for statehood as the effort of an “invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community.”
Discussion:
TJC Newsdesk, The Daily Dish, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite and National Review
Tamara Keith / NPR:
GOP Objects To ‘Millionaires Surtax’; Millionaires We Found? Not So Much — For the second week in a row, the Senate on Thursday voted down proposals to extend the payroll tax holiday through next year. In the case of the Democrats' proposal, Republicans objected to the “millionaires surtax” that would be used to pay for it.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Felix Salmon, The Impolitic, Little Green Footballs, Prairie Weather and Political Mojo
Hillary Chabot / Boston Herald:
Elizabeth Warren slaps down Karl Rove, latest attack ad — A feisty Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren shot back at Republican strategist Karl Rove yesterday — calling his second negative ad “factually wrong and morally wrong” after a University of Massachusetts …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, The PJ Tatler, Business Insider and The Baseline Scenario
Ross Douthat:
The Huntsman 2016 Fallacy — Jon Chait points out, correctly, that Newt Gingrich should be hoping against hope that a Jon Huntsman surge in New Hampshire cuts into Mitt Romney's support. But then he veers off into implausible speculations about Huntsman's 2016 ambitions:
Discussion:
American Prospect, New York Magazine and Patterico's Pontifications