Top Items:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Depression and Democracy — It's time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression. True, it's not a full replay of the Great Depression, but that's cold comfort. Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high. Leaders and institutions are increasingly discredited.
Discussion:
Catholic Bandita, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Prairie Weather, US Politics, Daily Kos, Vox Popoli and Truthdig
Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Kidding around: Romney defends bet — Mitt Romney on Fox & Friends this morning, responding to controversy surrounding his offer of a $10,000 bet with Rick Perry during last weekend's GOP debate. … He then blamed Barack Obama for advancing a narrative that Romney is out-of-touch.
Discussion:
CBS News, No More Mister Nice Blog and Patterico's Pontifications
RELATED:
Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:
Mitt Romney, ‘human-like’
Mitt Romney, ‘human-like’
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Indecision Forever, The Caucus, Iowa Caucuses, Business Insider, National Review and Reuters
Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:
Under fire for bet, Mitt Romney recalls more austere times
Under fire for bet, Mitt Romney recalls more austere times
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hot Air, The Last Tradition and ABCNEWS
Jason Clayworth / Iowa Caucuses:
Iowa audience members yell at Rick Perry after Ames appearance [includes video] — Ames, Ia. - A packed coffee house where Rick Perry spoke this afternoon turned into a bit of a ruckus that left the candidate heading out the back door and straight to his vehicle after several Iowans screamed questions about his views on gays.
RELATED:
Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:
Perry going for broke in Iowa with 3 weeks to go
Perry going for broke in Iowa with 3 weeks to go
Discussion:
New York Times, Boston Herald and Washington Wire, more at Mediagazer »
David Fisher / New Zealand Herald:
Sperm-donor kept wife in the dark — A conservative Christian politician has a secret life as a sperm donor for lesbian couples - even though he has campaigned against gay marriage. — American politician Bill Johnson has spent most of this year in Christchurch helping run the earthquake recovery …
Discussion:
Business Insider, The Raw Story and Towleroad News #gay
RELATED:
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Speaker John Boehner faces toughest test of his leadership — John Boehner's first year as Speaker has been filled with conflict as the Ohio Republican has battled President Obama, Senate Democrats and members of his House majority. — This week arguably is Boehner's biggest challenge of 2011 …
Discussion:
Bloomberg
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Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Political winds shift to Democrats
Political winds shift to Democrats
Discussion:
Booman Tribune and Prairie Weather
Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
Congress edges toward a compromise on spending
Congress edges toward a compromise on spending
Discussion:
NY Daily News and The Politico
Daniel B. Klein / The Atlantic Online:
I Was Wrong, and So Are You — A libertarian economist retracts a swipe at the left—after discovering that our political leanings leave us more biased than we think. — BACK IN JUNE 2010, I published a Wall Street Journal op-ed arguing that the American left was unenlightened, by and large, as to economic matters.
Discussion:
American Spectator
Paul Rincon / BBC:
Higgs boson: Excitement builds over ‘glimpses’ at LHC — The Higgs search is approaching its endgame at Cern — Scientists are widely expected to present evidence on Tuesday that the most coveted prize in particle physics - the Higgs boson - has been glimpsed.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com and The PJ Tatler
David Carr / New York Times:
When Truth Survives Free Speech — Last week, a story came across my desk that seemed to suggest that a blogger had been unfairly nailed with a $2.5 million defamation award after a judge refused to give her standing as a journalist. A businessman who was the target of the blogger's inquiries brought the suit.
Discussion:
Poynter and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »
Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
Barack Obama's ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Has Me Screaming at My TV Again — Today on Morning Joe, they were playing clips of Steve Kroft's 60 Minutes interview with President Obama, and I literally started screaming. There is only so much of this bulls-t I can endure without talking back to my TV:
Discussion:
Questions and Observations and The Lonely Conservative
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Record 64% Rate Honesty, Ethics of Members of Congress Low — Ratings of nurses, pharmacists, and medical doctors most positive — PRINCETON, NJ — Sixty-four percent of Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of members of Congress as “low” or “very low,” tying the record “low” …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Big Government, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and Hotline On Call
Hans Villarica / The Atlantic Online:
Study of the Day: Drinking Alcohol Fuels the Desire for Unsafe Sex — New research shows that liquor consumption affects a person's intention to have unprotected sex, one of the leading causes of HIV infection — PROBLEM: Alcohol consumption has long been implicated in the incidence of unsafe sex, the leading cause of HIV infection.
Jewel Samad / Investor's Business Daily:
As Americans struggle, the Obamas make do with 37 Christmas trees — The economy may be weak, unemployment strong and the first family soon to vacate the White House for another half-month of vacation in Hawaii. — But the Obamas have gone all out in decorating their house this year …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Jammie Wearing Fools
Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Trump: My debate is defining the race — On Fox News this morning, Donald Trump offered a theory on why Mitt Romney has been stumbling and Newt Gingrich surging. … This is wrong on so many levels. — Most conspicuously, the debate was announced on December 2.
RELATED:
DealBook:
A Romance With Risk That Brought On a Panic — Soon after taking the reins of MF Global in 2010, Jon S. Corzine visited the Wall Street firm's Chicago offices for the first time, greeting the brokers, analysts and sales staff there. — One broker, Cy Monley, caught Mr. Corzine's eye.
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, Business Insider, New York Times and Eschaton
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Wonkbook: The real unemployment rate is 11 percent — Typically, I try to tie the beginning of Wonkbook to the news. But today, the most important sentence isn't a report on something that just happened, but a fresh look at something that's been happening for the last three years.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Via Meadia and The Lonely Conservative
San Francisco Chronicle:
Opposition grows to Occupy's port shutdown plan — Occupy Oakland's plan to shut down the city's bustling port on Monday for the second time in as many months is facing a complicating wrinkle nowhere in sight last time - opposition from several unions and some within the Occupy movement itself.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The Mahablog, Firedoglake, americanthinker.com, Pirate's Cove, Campaign 2012 and American Power
RELATED:
Laird Harrison / Reuters:
Anti-Wall Street activists look to block West Coast ports
Anti-Wall Street activists look to block West Coast ports
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys, Shakesville, The Lonely Conservative and The Other McCain