Top Items:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Paul leads in Iowa — Newt Gingrich's campaign is rapidly imploding, and Ron Paul has now taken the lead in Iowa. He's at 23% to 20% for Mitt Romney, 14% for Gingrich, 10% each for Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry, 4% for Jon Huntsman, and 2% for Gary Johnson.
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, The Raw Story, GOP 12, Hit & Run, Hot Air, The Impolitic, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Ballot Box, 2012 Decoded, americanthinker.com, Campaign 2012, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Talking Points Memo, The Other McCain, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, The Mahablog, Political Mojo and Ricochet Conversations Feed
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Washington Examiner:
GOP will take off the gloves if Ron Paul wins Iowa — The Republican presidential primary has become a bit feisty, but it will get downright ugly if Ron Paul wins the Iowa caucuses. — The principled, antiwar, Constitution-obeying, Fed-hating, libertarian Republican congressman …
Discussion:
National Review and LewRockwell.com Blog
Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Bloomberg:
Paul's Raw Milk Freedom Pitch Reflects Offbeat Campaign on Rise
Paul's Raw Milk Freedom Pitch Reflects Offbeat Campaign on Rise
Discussion:
msnbc.com
Associated Press:
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, 69, Has Died — SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69. — Kim's death was announced Monday by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
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BBC:
N Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies — North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69, state-run television has announced. — His death was announced in an emotional statement read out on national television. — The announcer, wearing black, said he had died on Saturday of physical and mental over-work.
Discussion:
Deadspin, News Desk, Hot Air, Catholic Bandita, Tim Blair, The Other McCain, his vorpal sword, ThinkProgress, Gothamist, UrbanGrounds and The Duck of Minerva
New York Times:
N. Korea Says Dictator, Kim Jong-il, Dies — SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader who realized his family's dream of turning his starving country into a minor nuclear-weapons power even as the isolated nation sank further into despotism, died on Saturday of a heart attack …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, World Now, Washington Post, Indecision Forever, NO QUARTER, Towleroad News #gay and The Informer
Reuters:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dead, son hailed as heir
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dead, son hailed as heir
Discussion:
The Enterprise Blog, Mashable!, Ed Driscoll, The PJ Tatler, Shakesville and Sister Toldjah
Bill Austin / Bloomberg:
Kim Jong Il, North Korea's ‘Dear Leader’ Dictator, Dead at 70
Kim Jong Il, North Korea's ‘Dear Leader’ Dictator, Dead at 70
Discussion:
CNN, Don Surber, Doug Ross and neo-neocon
Evan Ramstad / Wall Street Journal:
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il Is Dead
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il Is Dead
Discussion:
Campaign 2012 and Real Time Economics
Jeb Bush / Wall Street Journal:
Capitalism and the Right to Rise — In freedom lies the risk of failure. But in statism lies the certainty of stagnation. — Congressman Paul Ryan recently coined a smart phrase to describe the core concept of economic freedom: “The right to rise.” — Think about it.
Discussion:
The Politico, GOP 12, Campaign 2012, FrumForum and National Review
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Will China Break? — Consider the following picture: Recent growth has relied on a huge construction boom fueled by surging real estate prices, and exhibiting all the classic signs of a bubble. There was rapid growth in credit — with much of that growth taking place not through traditional banking …
Discussion:
naked capitalism, Prairie Weather and Political Mojo
Michael Stone / Examiner:
California politician advocates assassination of Obama and family — Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates. — Facebook faux pas: California libertarian and Tea Party darling Jules Manson is caught calling for the assassination of President Barack Obama and his children.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Truth Wins Out and Angry Black Lady Chronicles
Robert Cruickshank:
Occupy the Progressive Movement — It was during the fifth or sixth major argument within the netroots in 2011 about the Obama Administration that the first protestors attempted to Occupy Wall Street in mid-September. Within days the talk of primary challenges, donor strikes …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Agonist
RELATED:
John Christoffersen / Associated Press:
‘We are the 99 percent’ chosen as year's top quote
‘We are the 99 percent’ chosen as year's top quote
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Don Surber
Chris Casteel / Daily Oklahoman:
Senators block Oklahoma City federal prosecutor from judge post — WASHINGTON — Faced with unrelenting — and mostly unexplained — opposition from Oklahoma's senators, the U.S. Senate on Saturday sent back to the White House the nomination of Arvo Mikkanen to be a federal judge in Tulsa.
Discussion:
National Review and Associated Press
Reuters:
Exclusive: Secret U.S., Taliban talks reach turning point — (Reuters) - After 10 months of secret dialogue with Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents, senior U.S. officials say the talks have reached a critical juncture and they will soon know whether a breakthrough is possible …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers
E.J. Dionne / The Moderate Voice:
Newt and the Revenge of the Base — WASHINGTON — It is one of the true delights of a bizarrely entertaining Republican presidential contest to watch the apoplectic fear and loathing of so many GOP establishmentarians toward Newt Gingrich. They treat him as an alien body whose approach to politics they have always rejected.
Reuters:
Callista Gingrich: A force behind the scenes for Newt — Callista's husband recently suggested to ABC News that she's an amalgamation of Nancy Reagan and Laura Bush, perhaps with a touch of Jackie Kennedy mixed in. — Kellyanne Conway, Gingrich's pollster and a friend of the couple, said …
Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Payroll Tax Cut Rejected by House Republicans — WASHINGTON — The House Republican leader on Sunday flatly rejected a short-term, bipartisan Senate measure to extend a payroll tax break and unemployment insurance, setting the stage for a bitter year-end Congressional collision and the potential loss …
RELATED:
David M. Drucker / Roll Call:
John Boehner: House GOP Will Reject Extenders Bill
John Boehner: House GOP Will Reject Extenders Bill
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid and Outside the Beltway
Lucy Madison / CBS News:
Gingrich: Gov't branches should rule 2 out of 3 — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — Newt Gingrich on Sunday reiterated his argument that there is something “profoundly wrong” with the United States' judicial system, and argued that the balance of power in American government should come down to “two out of three” branches of the government.
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy, Instapundit, The Caucus, The Atlantic Online, FiveThirtyEight and Caffeinated Thoughts
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / Ballot Box:
Gingrich: Congress can send Capitol Police to arrest rogue judges
Gingrich: Congress can send Capitol Police to arrest rogue judges
Discussion:
The Week, DamianPenny.com, Patterico's Pontifications, Outside the Beltway, Political Mojo and Los Angeles Times