Top Items:


EXCLUSIVE: Susan Rice drops out of running for secretary of state; saddened by partisan politics — Embattled U.N. envoy Susan Rice is dropping out of the running to be the next secretary of state after months of criticism over her Benghazi comments, she told NBC News on Thursday.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, BuzzFeed, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Post Politics, Michelle Malkin, Little Green Footballs, No More Mister Nice Blog, Nice Deb, The Fix, The Week, Conservatives4Palin, Diplopundit, WUTC, Washington Free Beacon, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, Wonkette, Israel Matzav, The National Memo, The PJ Tatler, The Raw Story, National Review, The Other McCain, Hot Air, Towleroad News #gay and The Hinterland Gazette
RELATED:


Hagel Said to Top Obama's List to Take Over at Pentagon — Former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has emerged as the leading candidate to become Obama's next Secretary of Defense and may be nominated as soon as this month, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Hillary Clinton to testify on Benghazi
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and The Fix


First Thoughts: GOP goes off the image cliff — NBC/WSJ poll: GOP already goes off one cliff — the image cliff... American public: We want compromise... But this also presents dilemma for White House: Does it bend over backwards to achieve compromise, or does it try to make the GOP cry …
Discussion:
Politico, The Democratic Daily, Daily Kos and Washington Examiner
RELATED:


Death Star Petition Requires White House Response — The petition has passed the 25,000 threshold needed for a response from the White House. The White House petition is now quite operational. — Andrew Kaczynski — a half hour ago — 3 responses
Discussion:
Truthdig and The Greenroom


Durbin: Medicare Age Off Table at White House
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Eschaton and protein wisdom

Durbin: White House won't increase Medicare age
Discussion:
Wonkblog, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Wall Street Journal, msnbc.com and Washington Post

Senator Wants Answers On White House Pot Plan
Discussion:
Salon, The Atlantic Online and The Raw Story

Joe Biden waits on sidelines
Discussion:
CNN, The Maddow Blog, The Reaction and Crooks and Liars

House conservatives demand offsets for Hurricane Sandy aid
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Wall Street Journal, Taking Note, The Week, The Maddow Blog, The Hill, Post Politics and Daily Kos

The Morning Plum: Dems hold the middle ground. GOP is on fringe.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNN, New York Times, Paul Krugman, Hullabaloo, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and The Hill

Where big GOP bucks could matter — Mitt Romney and the GOP lost, but it wasn't for lack of money. They spent a lot; they just didn't get enough bang for the buck. — Billionaire Sheldon Adelson alone donated $150 million. But Romney lost anyway, especially among unmarried women.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, alicublog, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
RELATED:


A Modest Proposal — The old adage goes, “Don't get mad, get even.” For a select few Americans, that principle could be amended to “Don't get mad at your enemies, buy them.” I have sometimes thought that if I were Charles Koch, instead of trying to influence American politics honestly …


‘The a—hole factor’ — Back-bench freshmen Justin Amash, Tim Huelskamp and David Schweikert are gaining martyr status among conservative activists after they were “purged” from House committees for what they say is a matter of sticking to their principles on tough votes.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, FishbowlDC, Washington Examiner, Daily Kos and rubber hose

King: Benghazi 10 times bigger than Watergate, Iran-Contra combined — Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, said Wednesday that the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is 10 times bigger than the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals put together.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
RELATED:

Steve King: I Don't Know What Happened In Benghazi But It's Worse Than Watergate
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs

Joe Lieberman's sad send-off — It was a lonely farewell for Joe Lieberman. — When the senior senator from Connecticut stood to give his parting address Wednesday afternoon, just one of his colleagues, Delaware Democrat Tom Carper, was with him on the Senate floor.
Discussion:
American Prospect, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Addicting Info, Daily Kos, Rumproast, TBogg and Booman Tribune


Obama ‘May Decide To Go Blow Up Small Countries’ For Fun, Norquist Predicts … Although a growing number Republicans are distancing themselves from the Americans for Tax Reform anti-tax pledge, Grover Norquist is confident that Congressional Republicans will force massive cuts to government programs …
Discussion:
The Raw Story and Mediaite
RELATED:


U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens — Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Mother Jones, The PJ Tatler, Lawfare, Wired, emptywheel, Belmont Club, Outside the Beltway, Questions and Observations and Law Blog

‘Gangnam Style’ death prompts warning to middle-aged men not to attempt the vigorous dance — NOTE: WE DO NOT STORE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) BUT YOUR IP ADDRESS WILL BE LOGGED TO PREVENT ABUSE OF THIS FEATURE. PLEASE READ OUR LEGAL TERMS & POLICIES — The death of a father-of-three …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Gawker

The Strange Republican Shift on Taxes — There's been an odd change in Republican rhetoric in the last few weeks about taxes. As we all know, for a couple of decades now, particularly since George H.W. Bush went back on his “Read my lips” promise and agreed to a tax increase to bring down the deficit …
Discussion:
Eschaton
RELATED:

What Obama Is Really Bargaining For — If the GOP caves on taxes …
Discussion:
New York Magazine

Corker introduces bill trading nearly $1T in entitlement cuts for debt-ceiling hike — Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill Wednesday to trade nearly $1 trillion in entitlement savings for an equal hike in the debt ceiling. — Corker said the Dollar For Dollar Act would include $937 billion …
Discussion:
The Impolitic, Hot Air, The Democratic Daily, Balloon Juice and New York Magazine

Aetna CEO Sees Obama Health Law Doubling Some Premiums — Health insurance premiums may as much as double for some small businesses and individual buyers in the U.S. when the Affordable Care Act's major provisions start in 2014, Aetna Inc. (AET)'s chief executive officer said.
Discussion:
Conservatives4Palin, The Gateway Pundit, Moonbattery and Vodkapundit


The Note: Chris Christie, Born to Run — THE NOTE If there's one takeaway from Barbara Walters' Chris Christie interview last night it was this: the man is setting up to run for president in 2016. — The buzziest example, of course, was his pushback against Walters' question as to whether he was “too heavy” to be president.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Fix, Taylor Marsh and ABCNEWS


N. Joseph Woodland, Inventor of the Bar Code, Dies at 91 — N. Joseph Woodland, who six decades ago drew a set of lines in the sand and in the process conceived the modern bar code, died on Sunday at his home in Edgewater, N.J. He was 91. — His daughter Susan Woodland confirmed the death.


State Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons tried to exempt husband from right-to-work law — ALTO, MI - Michigan House Democrats are calling an assistant majority floor leader a hypocrite for proposing an amendment that would have exempted her husband from right-to-work bills that lawmakers passed, and Gov. Snyder then signed into law.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and The Raw Story


And the Winner of TIME's Person of the Year Reader Poll Is... Kim Jong Un is having a good year. After taking over the leadership of North Korea from his late father Kim Jong Il, at the end of 2011, he's solidified his control over the country, appeared on TIME's cover and he was even named …
Discussion:
Telegraph, Betabeat and Outside the Beltway