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Topsy-turvy Hagel politics — President Obama wants to get credit for bipartisanship, so he picks a Republican defense secretary who will garner few if any Republican votes. He walks away from a politically loyal African American woman for secretary of state (whose nomination would open …
Discussion:
Power Line, Politico, Forbes, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller and NationalJournal.com
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Crack Pipe — I'm watching a lot of neoconservative policy activists and a lot of people in the press telling me that it's a very up in the air thing whether Chuck Hagel gets confirmed as Secretary of Defense. These folks should stop smoking crack. Because crack isn't good for you.
Discussion:
Guardian and Balloon Juice


John Brennan tapped to lead CIA — President Barack Obama will announce Monday that he's nominating the White House's point person on counterterrorism, John Brennan, to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, White House officials told POLITICO.
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, CNN and Business Insider


Counterterror Adviser to be Named Chief of C.I.A. — President Obama will announce on Monday that John O. Brennan, his counterterrorism adviser and a career Central Intelligence Agency officer, is his choice to head the agency, two months after David H. Petraeus stepped down after admitting …
Discussion:
emptywheel, Guardian, Taylor Marsh and Outside the Beltway

Hagel's Mideast blunder-not on Israel
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Online and The Week

The Real Reason Republicans Hate Hagel
Discussion:
The Week, Mondoweiss and Via Meadia

Obama taps Hagel for Pentagon, Brennan for CIA
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Taegan Goddard's … and Washington Post

Chuck Hagel takes fire from Capitol Hill
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, The Page, Right Turn, ABCNEWS, Daniel W. Drezner, Algemeiner.com, msnbc.com and The Hill

Obama to nominate counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan for CIA director
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard and Althouse

Obama to tap John Brennan to head CIA: sources
Discussion:
Politics, Power …, Wired, CBS DC, Hot Air and CBS New York

Obama to name anti-Israeli Hagel as Defense Secretary: Reports
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, Atlas Shrugs and Weasel Zippers

Senators signal tough fight for Hagel
Discussion:
Guardian, msnbc.com, Omaha World-Herald, Washington Monthly and Trail Blazers Blog

Obama Taps Hagel for Defense, Girds for Fight
Discussion:
Ricochet Conversations Feed, Taegan Goddard's …, Politicker, ABCNEWS and The Week


The Education of John Boehner — Leverage for the next clash: GOP willingness to let the spending sequester take effect. — What stunned House Speaker John Boehner more than anything else during his prolonged closed-door budget negotiations with Barack Obama was this revelation …
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Democrats look for up to $1 trillion in new tax revenues this year — Democrats say they want to raise as much as $1 trillion in new revenues through tax reform later this year to balance Republican demands to slash mandatory spending. — Democratic leaders have had little time to craft …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Weasel Zippers, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit and The Reaction


Boehner Coup Attempt Larger Than First Thought — A concerted effort to unseat Speaker John A. Boehner was under way the day of his re-election to the position, but participants called it off 30 minutes before the House floor vote, CQ Roll Call has learned.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'


Man ID'd as Rand Paul's son arrested at airport — A teenager identified in several media outlets as the son of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and the grandson of former presidential candidate Ron Paul was arrested Saturday morning at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Discussion:
Gawker, ABCNEWS and The Raw Story
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Rand Paul in Israel: US foreign aid can't be one-way — Republican Senator tells Israeli audience it will be harder to be a friend to Israel if the US is “out of money.” — Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, a fierce opponent of US foreign aid who is being touted already …
Discussion:
The Hill and The Daily Caller


Senator Rand Paul's Son Arrested at Charlotte Airport
Discussion:
Post Politics, Business Insider and Joe. My. God.

Rand Paul's son arrested, report says
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette

Be Ready To Mint That Coin — Should President Obama be willing to print a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default? Yes, absolutely. He will, after all, be faced with a choice between two alternatives: one that's silly but benign, the other that's equally silly but both vile and disastrous.
Discussion:
Business Insider


The conservative movement is still an elaborate moneymaking venture — The story of FreedomWorks' big Glenn Beck payout encapsulates the right-wing media — The conservative media movement exists primarily as a moneymaking venture. As Rick Perlstein explained in the Baffler …
Discussion:
Firedoglake and The Immoral Minority

The Big Fail — It's that time again: the annual meeting of the American Economic Association and affiliates, a sort of medieval fair that serves as a marketplace for bodies (newly minted Ph.D.'s in search of jobs), books and ideas. And this year, as in past meetings …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, CANNONFIRE and Prairie Weather

The Outside Man — Yes, I've heard about the notion that I should be nominated as Treasury Secretary. I'm flattered, but it really is a bad idea. — Part of the reason is that I am indeed the World's Worst Administrator — and that does matter. Someone else can do the paperwork …
Discussion:
Politico, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Economist's View and Truthdig

Democrat Says Obama's Gun Control Proposals Are Extreme — On ABC's This Week yesterday, Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp described President Obama's gun control proposals as “extreme.” … Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. — Heitkamp's comments come …
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, Hot Air, Washington Post and The Hill


GOP Rep: 'It's About Time' We Had Another Government Shut Down — Appearing on CBS' Face the Nation this morning, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) enthusiastically called for a government shut down: … Watch it: — Salmon's theory, that the government shutdown somehow led to balanced budgets …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather and The Political Carnival