memeorandum: Regulating the Militia — My friend Brett Joshpe has published … (Kevin D. Williamson/National Review)

4:55 PM ET, December 28, 2012

Top Items:

Jonathan Allen / Politico:

Why they want to go over the cliff — Washington's Democratic and Republican power brokers have sent the message to the nation that going over the fiscal cliff is a worst-case scenario. But they're not acting that way, not at all. — Instead, many of them have calculated that it's better …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Hill, Washington Post, Guardian, Salon, AMERICAblog, The Week, Business Insider, Politicker, neo-neocon, Connecting.the.Dots, The Caucus and Taylor Marsh

New York Times:

Narrower Tax Deal Floated as Lawmakers Sit With Obama — WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders prepared for what was looming as a make-or-break White House meeting on the fiscal crisis Friday afternoon as top aides said they were exploring a scaled-back proposal that would prevent tax increases on household income of $400,000 or below.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Balloon Juice

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Optimism for ‘fiscal cliff’ agreement grows ahead of White House meeting — Senators are growing more optimistic of a deal to avoid part of the fiscal cliff as Senate Republican Mitch McConnell (Ky.) works with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and President Obama to craft a last-minute deal.

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Manu Raju / Politico:

Obama to demand up-or-down vote on fiscal cliff proposal — A last-minute deal at Friday's White House meeting to avert the fiscal cliff appears highly unlikely, according to senior officials on both sides, with President Barack Obama expected to renew his demands for a plan to raise taxes on families who earn more than $250,000.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
‘Come together’ breaks Washington apart

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Steven T. Dennis / Roll Call:
Pessimism Abounds as White House Calls Cliff Meeting

Discussion: The Other McCain

Paul Krugman:

A Double Shot of Misunderstanding — One of the enduring fantasies of the pundit class - most dramatically demonstrated by the ludicrous Politico piece on What Insiders Know - is that all we need to fix our economic problems is to get the great and the good together and bypass those pesky elected officials.

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice, Business Insider, The Week and Wonkblog, more at Mediagazer »

Chelsea Karnash / CBS Philly:

3 Officers Wounded After Suspect Opens Fire At Gloucester Township Police Station — CLEMENTON, NJ (CBS) — Police and rescue crews responded to the Gloucester County Municipal Building on Chews Landing Road this morning after shots were fired inside the Gloucester Township police station.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, The Raw Story, Gawker and The Hinterland Gazette

WPVI-TV:
3 officers injured, gunman dead after NJ police station shooting

Discussion: WFTS and ABCNEWS

Rachel Weiner / Post Politics:

John Kerry, Vicki Kennedy, DSCC support Ed Markey for Senate — The Democratic establishment inside and outside Massachusetts is quickly lining up behind Rep. Ed Markey (D) in the likely special election for Sen. John Kerry's seat. — Kerry himself is supporting the longtime House member …

Discussion: Boston Herald, The Maddow Blog, The National Memo, Daily Kos, The Fix and Boston Globe

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Senate Republicans refuse to confirm Kerry until Hillary testifies about Benghazi

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Pirate's Cove

Dallas Morning News:

Exclusive: David Dewhurst campaign says aide stole at least $600,000 — Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (front), receiving an endorsement during his U.S. Senate campaign from former rival Craig James, had hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from his state political accounts by an aide, his campaign says.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Fix, Ballot Box and Post Politics

Chicago Tribune:

Grim milestone: Austin shooting apparently 500th homicide in Chicago — Gave Bates smiled through tears as she swiped her hand across her phone, flipping through pictures of her cousin playing around and striking goofy poses. — “He was a lot of fun, very good at imitating people,” Bates said of Nathaniel T. Jackson, 40.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Shot in the Dark

Associated Press:
Chicago reaches 500 homicides with fatal shooting

Discussion: Mediaite, Sister Toldjah and The Right Scoop

Gregory L. White / Wall Street Journal:

Putin Signs Ban on U.S. Adoptions — Children at an orphanage in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. A new law would ban Americans from adopting Russians. — MOSCOW—President Vladimir Putin signed a bill Friday banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children, raising tensions with Washington …

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, LifeNews.com, Power Line and New York Times

CNN:
Russia's Putin signs anti-U.S. adoption bill

Discussion: Rumproast, The Heritage Foundation and The Gateway Pundit

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

High-Capacity Magazines Bill To Be Introduced By Democrats On First Day Of Congressional Session … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Gun Control, Video, Politics News, Assault Weapons, Assault Weapons Ban, Democrats Gun Control, Gun Control Bills, Gun Control Democrats, Gun Control Laws …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers and Hot Air

Sky News:

Gang-Rape In India: Teen Victim Kills Herself — Video: Women mourn the death of the teenager — A 17-year-old Indian girl who was allegedly gang-raped killed herself after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers, police and a relative said on Thursday.

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, JONATHAN TURLEY and Gawker

Jason Volentine / KASW-TV:

Sheriff Arpaio sending armed posse to protect schools — PHOENIX — Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday that he plans to deploy his armed volunteer posse to protect Valley schools from the kind of violence that happened in the Connecticut shooting tragedy.

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Mediaite and The National Memo

Burgess Everett / Politico:

GOP senators propose $1 trillion debt ceiling deal — A pair of GOP senators, confident Congress will head off the tax hikes set to kick in within days, are already turning their attention to entitlements and the debt ceiling. — Tennessee Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander pitched …

Discussion: The National Memo

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

112th Congress Set To Become Most Unproductive Since 1940s … REACT: — FOLLOW: — 112th Congress, Harry Reid , John Boehner, Republican Party, Congress Productivity, Olympia Snowe, Bipartisanship, Congress Unproductive, Fiscal Cliff, Unproductive Congress, Politics News

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, The Raw Story, Mediaite, The Reaction and Gawker

Matt Schudel / Washington Post:

Retired Gen. Schwarzkopf dies at 78 — H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the four-star Army general who led allied forces to a stunningly quick and decisive victory over Saddam Hussein's Iraqi military in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and who became the most celebrated U.S. military hero of his generation, died Thursday in Tampa.

Discussion: neo-neocon, The Spectacle Blog, Gawker and Foreign Policy

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Commander in Gulf War, Dies at 78

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Week, americanthinker.com, Crooks and Liars, Twitchy and National Review

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Tea Party Leader: Romney Was ‘The Worst Candidate In History’ — Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips on Thursday disputed that President Obama claimed a mandate in November's election, arguing that his re-election victory came over “the worst candidate in history in Mitt Romney.”

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

The logic of House GOP intransigence — The unruly House Republicans who emasculated Speaker John Boehner as the country flirts with fiscal havoc might've seemed like they were doing their best “Lord of the Flies” rendition. — But last week's mayhem had a certain logic — the logic of politicians wanting to keep their jobs.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Washington Examiner, CNN, Wake up America, Guardian and Daily Kos

Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:

Regulating the Militia — My friend Brett Joshpe has published an uncharacteristically soft-headed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle arguing that in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook, conservatives and Republicans should support what he calls “sensible” gun-control laws.