Top Items:
Micah Cohen / New York Times:
Polls Show Chemical Weapons Affect Public's View on Syria — The Obama administration, which had long resisted sending weapons to antigovernment forces in Syria's civil war, has announced plans to supply the rebel forces with small arms after concluding that the troops of President Bashar al-Assad …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Guardian, Hit & Run and Yahoo! News
RELATED:
CNN:
Sources: US to send small arms, ammo to Syrian rebels
Sources: US to send small arms, ammo to Syrian rebels
Discussion:
RIA Novosti, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Reality-Based Community
Daniel W. Drezner:
Why Obama is arming Syria's rebels: it's the realism, stupid.
Why Obama is arming Syria's rebels: it's the realism, stupid.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, New York Times, Washington Post, WorldViews, The Dish, Politico, Balloon Juice, The Week, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway and Yahoo! News
Tal Kopan / Politico:
Clinton praises Syrian rebel support
Clinton praises Syrian rebel support
Discussion:
Reuters, Liberty Unyielding, National Review, The Dish and Daily Kos
Kyle Balluck / The Hill:
Clinton: Christie ‘consorting with a leper’ — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) raised eyebrows among Republicans last year, when he heartily embraced President Obama in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which hit shore just days before the presidential election.
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Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Bill Clinton: ‘I expect to support’ Hillary on ‘whatever’ she does in 2016
Bill Clinton: ‘I expect to support’ Hillary on ‘whatever’ she does in 2016
Discussion:
Politico
Josh Margolin / ABCNEWS:
Christie, Bill Clinton Warm to Latest Bipartisan Presidential ‘Bromance’
Christie, Bill Clinton Warm to Latest Bipartisan Presidential ‘Bromance’
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and Taylor Marsh
Tal Kopan / Politico:
Bill Clinton: Gun groups try to ‘terrify’
Bill Clinton: Gun groups try to ‘terrify’
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos
James Hohmann / Politico:
Santorum: Why Romney didn't win — Rick Santorum ripped Mitt Romney's campaign Thursday for mishandling President Barack Obama's “you didn't build that” gaffe last summer. — The former Pennsylvania senator recalled all the business owners who spoke at the Republican National Convention.
Discussion:
All Things Democrat, Hot Air, Mediaite, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, Weekly Standard, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and Shakesville
RELATED:
Ashley Killough / CNN:
The Romney video that never was-starring Donald Trump
The Romney video that never was-starring Donald Trump
Discussion:
Politico and All Things Democrat
Erik Wemple:
CBS News confirms multiple breaches of Sharyl Attkisson's computer — CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson revealed in May that her computer had been compromised. When asked about the situation, CBS News responded with a statement that it was conducting an investigation.
Discussion:
RedState, Twitchy, protein wisdom, Politico, Power Line, Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Betsy's Page and Taylor Marsh, more at Mediagazer »
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Suzanne Goldenberg / Guardian:
Al Gore: NSA's secret surveillance program ‘not really the American way’ — Former vice-president - not persuaded by argument that program was legal - urges Congress and Obama to amend the laws — The National Security Agency's blanket collection of US citizens' phone records was …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, Hot Air, Yahoo! News, The Hill and emptywheel
Justin Sink / The Hill:
White House: Obama's $100M Africa trip ‘great bang for our buck’ — President Obama's $100 million trip to African offers “great bang for our buck,” the White House said Friday. — Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes defended the cost of Obama's upcoming trip to South Africa …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, TheBlaze.com, Weasel Zippers and Washington Post
RELATED:
Will Weissert / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Texas gov. signs ‘Merry Christmas’ law; says religious freedom is not freedom from religion — AUSTIN, Texas — Surrounded by sleigh bell-ringing Santa Claus impersonators, Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a law protecting Christmas and other holiday celebrations in Texas public schools …
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement, Washington Monthly and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Paul Ryan a Favorite of Republicans — Christie, Rubio more popular among all Americans than Ryan — PRINCETON, NJ — Of five recent Republican newsmakers also mentioned as potential 2016 presidential candidates, Wisconsin Rep. and 2012 vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan is rated …
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Guardian:
Iran presidential election: second round forecast after late flurry at polls — All six candidates pledge to respect result as millions queue to vote for successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — Iran's presidential race appears poised for a runoff vote next week after millions …
Discussion:
Vocativ and Taylor Marsh
RELATED:
Thomas Erdbrink / New York Times:
Moderate in Iranian Election Leads in Initial Returns
Moderate in Iranian Election Leads in Initial Returns
Discussion:
AEIdeas, Washington Post, The Huffington Post and JIMROMENESKO.COM
David Edwards / The Raw Story:
‘Cliff’ from ‘Cheers’ wants Allen West to spread his ‘gene pool’ across America — Conservative actor John Ratzenberger, who is best known as the character “Cliff” from the television sitcom Cheers, on Friday called for former Rep. Allen West (R-FL) to take “something from his gene pool” …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
George Zimmerman's Father Says The ‘True Racists’ Are African-American — As the murder trial for George Zimmerman begins, his father has released an emotional and highly unusual e-book, publicly opining on all aspects of the case. The book by Robert Zimmerman Sr., called “Florida v. Zimmerman …
Discussion:
THEROOT.COM and Booman Tribune
IMF:
Concluding Statement of the 2013 Article IV Mission to The United States of America — 1. The U.S. recovery has remained tepid over the past year, but underlying fundamentals have been gradually improving. The modest growth rate of 2.2 percent in 2012 reflected legacy effects from the financial crisis …
Discussion:
Financial Times, BBC, ThinkProgress, Wonkblog and AEIdeas
Kashmir Hill / Forbes:
Senate Staffers Told To Pretend Top Secret Documents Are Not Widely Available On Web — The Senate Security Office sent an email around the Hill Friday afternoon asking Senate employees and contractors to try to ignore the fact that top-secret, highly-classified documents are now floating around …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Pat Buchanan / Townhall.com:
The Bell Tolls for the ‘New Majority’ — Next year should be a banner year for the GOP, and may yet be. — Obamacare, a “train wreck” about to happen, says Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, goes into full effect Jan. 1, with the popular IRS as enforcer. — The Obama media feel betrayed …
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement, Daily Kos, The Hinterland Gazette, Shakesville and Right Wing Watch
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Some Questions For and About Edward Snowden — Via Andrew Sullivan, I see that a number of people are pushing back against Glenn Greenwald's insistence that the PRISM program allows “direct access” to servers from Google, Microsoft and other tech companies. I'm glad to hear that, because it raises some questions that deserve answers.
Discussion:
News Desk, The Week and The Daily Banter
Erik Slavin / Stars & Stripes:
Judge: Obama sex assault comments ‘unlawful command influence’ … Two defendants in military sexual assault cases cannot be punitively discharged, if found guilty, because of “unlawful command influence” derived from comments made by President Barack Obama, a judge ruled in a Hawaii military court this week.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Hill
Reason:
Tap It: NSA Slow Jam (featuring Remy) — Government surveillance never sounded so smooth... Government surveillance never sounded so smooth. — Song written and performed by Remy. Produced by Meredith Bragg. About 2:45 minutes. — Scroll below for downloadable versions and subscribe …
Discussion:
TheBlaze.com, Hot Air and The Daily Caller
Carlo Muñoz / The Hill:
DOD omits details of secret disclosures in ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ report — Pentagon investigators intentionally omitted details of possible disclosures of top-secret information to the makers of “Zero Dark Thirty” in their final review of the department's involvement in the film.
Discussion:
Politico