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The Real Reason Republicans Hate Hagel — It has more to do with President Obama than the former senator from Nebraska. — It's good news that President Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel as his secretary of defense, despite the frantic campaign against him that's been mounted by certain Republicans.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, The Week, The Agonist, The Daily Dish, Via Meadia, Right Turn and p m carpenter's commentary
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Why Hagel Matters — According to various reports, Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel for defense secretary. Beinart puts the nomination in context: … To my mind, this is his core qualification. Unlike so many of the lemmings and partisans of Washington DC, Hagel actually called out the catastrophe of the Iraq War as it happened.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Mother Jones, Wired, Mondoweiss, Firedoglake and The Atlantic Online


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:
Politico, Guardian, Balloon Juice and The Hill


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:
Politico, NationalJournal.com, Power Line, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Forbes, neo-neocon and Daniel W. Drezner


Why Hagel Matters — If the former senator is confirmed …
Discussion:
PERRspectives, Weasel Zippers, AEIdeas, No More Mister Nice Blog, Crooks and Liars and The Daily Caller

Mr. Hagel and the Jews — During the hearings on Chuck Hagel's …
Discussion:
Power Line and American Spectator

White House officials reach out to Jewish community to answer Hagel concerns
Discussion:
Politico and Business Insider

Obama Expected to Pick Chuck Hagel for Defense Post
Discussion:
American Prospect, Reuters, Politico, JustOneMinute, Washington Examiner, Washington Free Beacon, Algemeiner.com, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Atlantic Online, Lawfare, The Plum Line, Talking Points Memo, msnbc.com, The Week, emptywheel, Mondoweiss, Washington Post, First Read, Taylor Marsh, The BLT, Quartz, The Caucus and ThinkProgress

Obama to nominate Hagel, Brennan for top security posts despite criticism
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American Prospect, The Plum Line, The Huffington Post and Fox News Insider

First Thoughts: Hagel — a man without a party
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The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, The Page, New Atlanticist, msnbc.com, Capital New York and CNN

John Brennan tapped to lead CIA
Discussion:
CNN, Business Insider, Politics, Power … and Israel Matzav

President Obama Picks Chuck Hagel, Fight Over Defense Secretary
Discussion:
Politico, NationalJournal.com, The Huffington Post, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Politicker, The Week and ABCNEWS

Hagel's Mideast blunder-not on Israel
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online 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 …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, The Plum Line, Los Angeles Times, AEIdeas, Roll Call, Daily Kos, The PJ Tatler, Wall Street Journal Topics, Washington Monthly, Business Insider, p m carpenter's commentary, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Betsy's Page, Outside the Beltway, The Fix, Washington Wire, Althouse, National Review, Post Politics, The Gateway Pundit, Our American Constitution, Booman Tribune and Taegan Goddard's …
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Dems look for up to $1T in new revenues — 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 a new position …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Political Watch, Hot Air, The New Republic, New York Times, Weasel Zippers, Vodkapundit, The Gateway Pundit and The Reaction

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:
MarketWatch, The Hill, Economist's View, Gawker, Business Insider, Vodkapundit, The Week, Mother Jones, Capital New York and Post Politics

After Pinpointing Gun Owners, Paper Is a Target — WHITE PLAINS — Local newspapers across the country look for stories that will bring them national attention, but The Journal News, a daily nestled in a wooded office park in a suburb north of New York, may have gotten more than it bargained for.
Discussion:
Politico, Weasel Zippers, Right Wing News and Capital New York, more at Mediagazer »
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Guns for Me but Not for Thee — The Journal News hires armed guards …
Discussion:
Hot Air


CASTING VOTES — Here's a safe prediction for 2013: few people will pine for the Presidential campaign of 2012. Even Barack Obama's most ardent supporters acknowledge that his victory provided little of the euphoria of four years ago. Not many Republicans have longed to hear …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Supreme Court to hear arguments in March on same-sex marriage
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Politico

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, Ballot Box, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and Economist's View


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:
Townhall.com, ABCNEWS, CNN, Gawker, The Raw Story, Politico and The Hinterland Gazette
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Rand Paul in Israel: US foreign aid can't be one-way
Discussion:
The Hill and The Daily Caller


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, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Immoral Minority

Reidism alert: Katrina “nothing in comparison” to Sandy — So Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the floor Friday, which, of course, was picked up by FOX and other conservative outlets. — A Reid spokeswoman told me the senator was talking more about the “economic impact …
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, Washington Examiner and BuzzFeed
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Palazzo Appealed for Federal Disaster Relief After Hurricane Katrina
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog

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, Vox Popoli, CANNONFIRE and Prairie Weather


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:
Guardian, Taylor Marsh, emptywheel, Outside the Beltway and msnbc.com
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Delaware Town Takes Down Anti-Hispanic Signs After Public Outrage — The small community of Milford, Delaware took swift action over the weekend after a barrage of criticism over signs posted in several public parks that appeared to be anti-Hispanic. — A Daily Kos blogger documented …
Discussion:
Gawker and The Raw Story


Nat Geo Producer: John Wilkes Booth ‘Could Be the Poster Child for the Tea Party’ — (CNSNews.com) - Executive Producer Erik Jendresen of National Geographic Channel's upcoming television movie “Killing Lincoln,” said John Wilkes Booth “could be the poster child for the Tea Party.”
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Weasel Zippers and NewsBusters.org


Hillary Clinton back at work - with a football helmet — Hillary Clinton went back to work as secretary of state this morning and was greeted by colleagues showing off their sense of humor. — First off, we got the official State Department photo of her hosting the weekly meeting of assistant secretaries of state.
Discussion:
The Immoral Minority and Sense of Events