memeorandum: Justice Dept. rejects South Carolina voter ID law, calling it discriminatory (Jerry Markon/Washington Post)

11:45 PM ET, December 23, 2011

Top Items:

Perry disqualified from Va. primary ballot — Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry failed to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, state GOP officials said Friday evening. — Perry's campaign told state election officials it had submitted 11,911 signatures …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, The Other McCain, Booman Tribune, Patterico's Pontifications, The PJ Tatler, Outside the Beltway and Richmond Times-Dispatch

Rockland County Times:

Two's Company, is Three a Crowd? — CORRECTION FROM EARLIER VERSION— Gingrich has not yet been certified as qualifying — The Virginia State Republican Party has indicated that of the seven candidates Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the only two GOPers to qualify for their March 6 GOP primary ballot as of mid-Friday evening.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Right Scoop

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Perry knocked off Va. primary ballot — Rick Perry has been knocked off the Virginia GOP primary ballot, a key bar for candidate credibility past the early states - and a surprising state of affairs for the only campaign other than Mitt Romney that has had the resources with which to organize.

Discussion: RedState

Steve Contorno / Campaign 2012:

Rick Perry won't make ballot in Virginia — Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed to get on Virginia's presidential primary ballot after the state Republican Party determined Friday that he didn't submit at least 10,000 valid signatures. The GOP earlier announced former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney …

Discussion: Bob Owens and Hot Air

Kevinliptak / CNN:
Perry ballot petition rejected in Virginia

Discussion: The Politico and Indecision Forever

The New Republic:

TNR Exclusive: A Collection of Ron Paul's Most Incendiary Newsletters — For years, Ron Paul published a series of newsletters that dispensed political news and investment advice, but also routinely indulged in bigotry. Here's a selection of some especially inflammatory passages …

Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Ron Paul Denies Writing Letter On ‘Coming Race War’

Discussion: Indecision Forever, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Slate, Washington Monthly, Guardian and Stinque, more at Mediagazer »

Timothy Egan / Opinionator: Soldiers' Choice — So this is Christmas, season of peace …

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
Ron Paul's Iowa Edge: A Rock-Solid Caucus Campaign

Discussion: Political Mojo, TechCrunch, The Huffington Post, Iowa Caucuses, Slate and Salon.com

Ginger Gibson / The Politico:
Ron Paul 2012: Six comments he needs to explain

Discussion: Hot Air, Pirate's Cove, The Daily Caller, Riehl World View, ABCNEWS, This Is So Gay and CBS News

Jerry Markon / Washington Post:

Justice Dept. rejects South Carolina voter ID law, calling it discriminatory — REUTERS/Benjamin Myers (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) — The Justice Department on Friday entered the divisive national debate over new state voting laws, rejecting South Carolina's measure requiring …

Discussion: New York Times, Election Law Blog, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Wall Street Journal, Blue Virginia, The Lonely Conservative and Instapundit

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Justice Department blocks South Carolina's voter identification law

Discussion: The Politico

Justin Sink / The Hill:
New York Times sues Justice Department over targeted-killing memo

Discussion: New York Magazine, Firedoglake and Courthouse News Service

Kevinliptak / CNN:

TRENDING: Trump dumps GOP — (CNN) - Donald Trump continued to tease a potential presidential run by changing his voter registration Thursday from Republican to “unaffiliated” and publicly denouncing the behavior of members of his former party. — Michael Cohen, an aide to Trump …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Iowa Caucuses

ABCNEWS:
Donald Trump Bolts Republican Party, Eyeing Other 2012 Options

Discussion: Mediaite, Liberal Values, SQUATLO RANT, M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S …, Roger L. Simon, GOP 12 and The Lonely Conservative

Rachel Leven / Ballot Box:
Trump registers as an Independent, keeping door open to White House run

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Sara Sorcher / The Atlantic Wire:

Obama Blames Hawaii for his ‘Deep Down’ Laziness — The personality trait President Obama says he most deplores in himself and others is not exactly one you'd expect from, presumably, one of the busiest people in the world: laziness. — “You're lazy?” Barbara Walters incredulously asked Obama …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Ed Driscoll, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, The Right Sphere and The Hill

Holly Bailey / Yahoo! News:

Congressman apologizes for criticizing Michelle Obama's ‘large posterior’ — A Republican congressman from Wisconsin has offered a personal apology to First Lady Michelle Obama after he was overheard at an airport lounge criticizing her “large posterior.” — Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner …

Discussion: The Humble Libertarian, THEROOT.COM and Outside the Beltway

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

GOP lawmakers frustrated with Boehner-Cantor soap opera — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are being prodded by their House GOP colleagues to work through their battle-scarred relationship. — Republican lawmakers said they are frustrated …

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, Campaign 2012, The Caucus and Connecting.the.Dots

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Suicidal House Republicans — The payroll tax debacle is now the third suicidal episode undertaken by the House Republicans since they took control at the beginning of the year. The first was when they voted almost unanimously for Paul Ryan's budget, which was filled with grist for attack ads …

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, The Mahablog, The Atlantic Online and The Daily Dish

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House approves payroll tax bill, sends to Obama for signature

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Hot Air

CNN:
Obama signs payroll tax cut extension

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Post, ABCNEWS, Scared Monkeys, The Humble Libertarian, The Politico, ThinkProgress, Althouse, American Prospect, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Daily Kos, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and The Hill

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Media continues letting Romney claims skate by unchecked — Steve Benen flags a Mitt Romney interview with Mark Halperin, in which Romney pushed back on criticism of his Bain years by claiming that Obama didn't create “any new jobs.” Romney said: … Halperin didn't bother challenging Romney on this claim.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Politico

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Post-Truth Campaign — Suppose that President Obama …

Discussion: Daily Kos, US Politics, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:

Bob Vander Plaats' Pay-For-Play Scandal: Charged A Million Bucks For Endorsement, Asked Candidates To Drop Out — Bob Vander Plaats' endorsement of Rick Santorum has produced a backlash among conservatives in Iowa, some of whom are accusing the FAMiLY LEADER president of engaging in …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Indecision Forever, Outside the Beltway and Good As You

ABCNEWS:
Iowa Conservative Leader Mired in Controversy After Rick Santorum Endorsement

Discussion: Stinque, Catholic Bandita, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, FiveThirtyEight, Iowa Caucuses, GOP 12 and Iowa Caucus 2012

Solange Uwimana / Media Matters for America:

Fox Celebrates Holidays With Outrageous Race-Based Attack On Obama — Fox News' animosity toward President Obama, three years into his presidency, is by now well-known. This is the network that routinely calls Obama a socialist, accuses him of being involved in all sorts of conspiratorial plots, and claims that he hates America.

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Crooks and Liars and Washington Monthly

Larry Pearce / Governors' Wind Energy Coalition:

Former Sen. Tim Wirth outlines ambitious 2nd Obama term on climate change — President Obama has a “last window of opportunity” to get it right on climate change, U.N. Foundation President Tim Wirth warned this week. — The former Democratic U.S. senator from Colorado and undersecretary …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Grist

John Wildermuth / San Francisco Chronicle:

Gay-friendly clergy disinvited from Castro church — Most Holy Redeemer Church, a Catholic parish in the middle of the Castro, is in trouble again with church leaders over how best to minister to its heavily gay and lesbian congregation. — In the latest incident, Archbishop George Niederauer …

Discussion: ABCNEWS and ThinkProgress