memeorandum: Where Masturbation and Homosexuality Do Not Exist (Alice Dreger/The Atlantic Online)

9:35 PM ET, December 5, 2012

Top Items:

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

WH ‘Absolutely’ Willing To Go Off ‘Fiscal Cliff’ — President Obama's lead negotiator in the “fiscal cliff” talks said the administration is “absolutely” willing to allow the package of deep automatic spending cuts and across-the-board tax hikes to take effect Jan. 1, unless Republicans drop …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Reuters, The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS and The Maddow Blog

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

A losing GOP hand — O holds all the fiscal-cliff cards — Republicans have a bad hand to play when it comes to the “fiscal cliff” coming up Jan. 1, when taxes will rise automatically on everyone and whopping defense cuts will be imposed automatically. — Did I say a bad hand?

Discussion: First Read, Applesauce, JustOneMinute, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Post and The Week

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

Obama Rejects GOP ‘Doomsday’ Plan — With the economy hanging in the balance, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner today tangled over who's to blame for the “fiscal cliff” standoff and what to do if lawmakers can't reach a broad deficit-reduction agreement in 27 days.

Discussion: CNN, Politico, ABCNEWS, Washington Free Beacon, Speaker.gov and Naked DC

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

In Tax Fight, Republicans Seeking Fallback Position — WASHINGTON — With President Obama insisting on higher tax rates for affluent Americans and winning public support for the idea, Congressional Republicans find themselves in an increasingly difficult political spot and are quietly beginning the difficult search for a way out.

Discussion: The Hill, Wonkblog, Bloomberg, The Plum Line, First Read, News Desk, The New Republic, Hot Air, Firedoglake, The Democratic Daily, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Vox Verax, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, The Fix and Washington Post

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Boehner to members: Leadership is watching your voting patterns

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Politico, Riehl World News, Post Politics, Detroit Free Press, Talking Points Memo, FreedomWorks and RedState

CNN:
The rich will pay more taxes, Boehner says

Discussion: Reuters, Roland Martin Reports, Politico, Shakesville and The Hill

Rebecca Berg / BuzzFeed:
Senate Democrats: Republicans Won't Put Up A Fight On Debt Ceiling

Discussion: Daily Kos and Booman Tribune

Byron Tau / Politico:
Geithner: ‘Absolutely’ willing to go off the fiscal cliff

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS and ABCNEWS

New York Times:
Don't Use Debt Ceiling as Weapon, Obama Tells G.O.P.

Discussion: Hot Air, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Taking Note

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Rubio: I Don't ‘Pass Judgment’ On The ‘Sin’ Of Homosexuality (Except When I Do) — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who has called for the Republican Party to be more inclusive of minorities, said Wednesday that while his faith teaches homosexuality is a sin, he does not judge sinners.

Discussion: Mock, Paper, Scissors, The Atlantic Online, Towleroad News #gay and Taylor Marsh

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Marco Rubio Clarifies The Earth's Age: It's ‘At Least 4.5 Billion Years Old’

Discussion: Taking Note, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo and The Raw Story

Emily Schultheis / Politico:
Rubio: Science, faith ‘not inconsistent’ on earth

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and the daily howler

Howard Reich / Chicago Tribune:

Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck dead at age 91 — Arts critic — Dave Brubeck, a jazz musician who attained pop-star acclaim with recordings such as “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” died Wednesday morning at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn., said his longtime manager-producer-conductor Russell Gloyd.

Discussion: BBC, Los Angeles Times, Gothamist, Truthdig, Stinque, Gawker, The Week, The Maddow Blog, Blazing Cat Fur, Balloon Juice and Althouse

Ben Ratliff / New York Times:
Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway, The Democratic Daily and The Volokh Conspiracy

David Carr / Media Decoder:

Train Wreck: The New York Post's Subway Cover — “It all happened so fast.” — That's what R. Umar Abbasi, a freelance photographer for The New York Post, said of the fatal subway incident on Monday that he caught with his camera. One man threw another into harm's way, causing him to be run over by an oncoming train.

Discussion: Mashable!, BBC, The Week, New York Times, Poynter and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

R. Umar Abbasi / New York Post:
Anguished fotog: Critics are unfair to condemn me

Discussion: Jack Shafer, Mediaite, msnbc.com, Capital New York, New York Magazine, TIME, Poynter, Daily Mail, Gawker, The New Republic, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Runnin' Scared, Forbes, Erik Wemple and Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

PunditTracker Blog:

Vote: Worst Political Prediction of 2012 — We have narrowed down our list of the best & worst political predictions this year and would like your help in making the final call. — Here are our three final candidates for the Worst Political Prediction of 2012

Discussion: Applesauce

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Harry Reid Denies Senate Chance to Vote on Obama's Plan — Senate majority leader Harry Reid is denying the Senate the chance to vote on President Barack Obama's proposal. Reid calls Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's request to vote on the plan a “stunt.” — “I reserve the right to object.

Discussion: Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Reid: Filibuster Reform Is Happening Whether Republicans Like It Or Not

Discussion: The Plum Line, Wonkblog, ACS Blog, Booman Tribune and Politico

Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:

‘2016’ Oscar Snub Has Filmmakers Claiming Political Bias — Gerald Molen, who produced the Academy Award-winning 'Schindler's List,' said the box-office success of the anti-Obama documentary proves the film was a hit: “The action confirms my opinion that the bias against anything …

Discussion: Mediaite, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Michelle Malkin and No More Mister Nice Blog

Detroit's Fox 2:

Detroit councilwoman to Obama: We voted for you, now bail us out — DETROIT (WJBK) — The city of Detroit faces a major financial crisis and one member of city council thinks President Barack Obama should step in and help. — City Council member JoAnn Watson said Tuesday the citizens support …

Discussion: CNN, TheBlaze.com, Mediaite, Naked DC, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, The Daily Caller, Wake up America, UrbanGrounds, The PJ Tatler and Washington Free Beacon

Hunter Walker / Politicker:

The Lesbian Past of Bill de Blasio's Wife — Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray. (Photo: Getty) — Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, an all-but-officially announced mayoral hopeful, has prominently featured his wife Chirlane McCray in his campaign literature and on his web site.

Discussion: Capital New York

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Pelosi: Dems must say No to raising Medicare eligibility age — It's a perennial fear among liberals: In the quest for a fiscal cliff deal, the White House and Democrats will ultimately acquiesce to GOP demands to raise the Medicare eligibility age. But one Democrat is drawing a line against this possibility: Nancy Pelosi.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, U.S. Department …, Hullabaloo, Post Politics, American Prospect and New York Magazine

Alex Pareene / Salon:

Simpson-Bowles is magic — It's every pundit's favorite budget plan, but no one seems to know — or care — what it actually contains — Not many people know this but “The Simpson-Bowles Plan” is magic. It is whatever you want it to be. It will fix the deficit and grow the economy …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, National Review and Balloon Juice

Yuval Levin / National Review:
Bargaining and Its Limits — The seemingly endless series …

Discussion: AEIdeas and Booman Tribune

Alice Dreger / The Atlantic Online:

Where Masturbation and Homosexuality Do Not Exist — When sex means reproduction, certain proclivities may simply not be part of cultural models of sexuality. — Aka father carrying his daughter while out on a hunt [Courtesy of Barry Hewlett] — Barry and Bonnie Hewlett had been studying …

Discussion: theGrio

Greg Holyk / ABCNEWS:

Hillary Clinton Wins High Popularity, Majority Support for a 2016 Bid — Carried by a new high in personal popularity and broad approval of her work as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton closes out her diplomatic career with majority support as a candidate for president in 2016.

Discussion: Shakesville, The Agonist, Ballot Box, Politico, CNN, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Taegan Goddard's … and The Hinterland Gazette

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:

Louie Gohmert Casts Lone Vote To Keep ‘Lunatic’ In Federal Code … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Video, Flat Tax, Louie Gohmert, Gohmert Lunatic, Louie Gohmert Flat Tax, Louie Gohmert Lunatic, Louie Gohmert Tea Party, Politics News — WASHINGTON — The House voted on Wednesday to strike the word …

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Raw Story

World News:

Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad's order — So far, intelligence sources say, bombs loaded with the components of sarin haven't yet been loaded onto planes. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports. — The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons …

Discussion: Telegraph

Rush Limbaugh:

The GOP Seminar in Surrender — RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, this morning there was a joint press conference that featured the so-called Republican leadership of John Boehner and Eric Cantor and about 15 other people that were standing there. I don't know why, but they were smiling.

Discussion: Mediaite and Politico

Jay Jochnowitz / The Observation Deck:

Cuomo: Mainline Democrats “squandered the opportunity” — In an op-ed that will also be published in tomorrow's Times Union, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo weighs in on the state Senate coalition deal. — By Gov. Andrew Cuomo — Elections often clarify political situations, but sometimes confuse

Discussion: Daily Kos, Capital New York, Politico, New York Times, Politicker, City Room, Capital Tonight and Crain's New York Business

Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:

Abortion For Military Rape Victims Amendment Passes Senate … REACT: — FOLLOW: — John McCain, Video, Jeanne Shaheen, National Defense Authorization Act, Todd Akin, Buck Mckeon, Federal Abortion Coverage, Military Abortion, Military Rape, Military Rape Abortion, Military Sexual Assault …

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Raw Story

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

The 60 Best Conservative Blogs For 2012 (6th Annual) — 60) The Mental Recession (No link because I am getting a virus warning when I go there today) 59) Polipundit 58) Jihad Watch 57) This Ain't Hell 56) Hugh Hewitt 55) Patterico's Pontifications 54) Moe Lane 53) Counter Cultured 52) Wizbang!

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Top GOP Rep Wants ‘More Pain’ For Middle Class, While Preserving Tax Cuts For The Rich — Throughout the fiscal cliff negotiations Republicans have insisted on preserving tax cuts for the richest 2 percent of Americans, but have dogmatically opposed maintaing a payroll tax holiday that disproportionately benefits the middle class.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Our Financial Future

Ben Leubsdorf / Concord Monitor:

Sununu: Democrats won election by turning out voters who are dependent on government — Former governor, John H. Sununu, right, was one of three former Republican governors of New Hampshire to attend a discussion at the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy's second sponsored dinner …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Roland Martin Reports, Washington Monthly and msnbc.com