memeorandum: Christie ready to back Cuomo challenger (Fredric U. Dicker/New York Post)

2:50 PM ET, November 25, 2013

Top Items:

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Dems worry leaders in denial on Obamacare — Democratic leaders claim the bungled launch of Obamacare is just the latest news sensation — a media-stirred tempest that looks in the heat of the moment like it could upend the midterm election, but ends up fizzling well before voters head to the polls.

Discussion: USA Today, BizPac Review and The Other McCain

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:

Filibuster's end imperils Sebelius — Kathleen Sebelius may become the biggest loser in the Senate's approval of filibuster reform. — The Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary has kept her job despite the botched rollout of ObamaCare's insurance exchanges, but it will now be easier for Obama to replace her.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The PJ Tatler, Politico and Hot Air

The Fix:
Republicans embrace Wag-the-Dog-ism

Discussion: CBS DC and Washington Post

Niall Stanage / The Hill: For flailing Obama, it's fixing healthcare, stupid

Gershom Gorenberg / American Prospect:

Bibi's Agreement Anxiety Disorder — To explain Benjamin Netanyahu's frenzied reaction to the Geneva agreement on Iran's nuclear program, let me begin with the stack of brown cardboard boxes under my wife's desk. — Each of the five cartons contains a gas mask and related paraphernalia …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune, Power Line, The Week and The Moderate Voice

Jerusalem Post:
Netanyahu: Israel to send team to US to work on final Iran nuclear deal

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Israel Matzav, www.whoradio.com, New York Times, Washington Post and Power Line

Wall Street Journal:
Tehran can continue to enrich uranium at 10,000 working centrifuges.

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show

Mark Landler / New York Times:
Nuclear Accord With Iran Opens Diplomatic Doors in the Mideast

Discussion: The Great Debate, Real Clear Politics, Jerusalem Post, Washington Post, First Read, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Online, NBCNews, BillMoyers.com, Hot Air, Associated Press and BuzzFeed

Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg:
In Iran, Obama Achieves 50 Percent of His Goals

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Plum Line, Washington Post, Associated Press, Hot Air, BuzzFeed, Politico and Little Green Footballs

Patrick Howley / The Daily Caller:

Top U.S. hospital laying off staff due to Obamacare — The Cleveland Clinic, which is ranked among the top four U.S. hospitals, is making layoffs and cutting its budget more than $100 million as a direct result of the Affordable Care Act, the Daily Caller has learned.

Discussion: BizPac Review

Franklin Foer / The New Republic:

Obamacare's Threat to Liberalism — There's a term of art that the Obama White House uses to describe its neurotic supporters who instantly race to the worst-case scenario: They are known as “bed-wetters.” Two months into the dysfunctional life of healthcare.gov, however, that seems a perfectly appropriate physiological reaction.

Discussion: Power Line, The American Mind and New York Times

Brian Beutler / Salon:

Right-wing extremists face new moral conundrum — When Healthcare.gov actually starts working, GOP will have to choose between politics or their constituents' health — The confluence of two pieces of news last week will place Republicans at a moral crossroads — either by this weekend …

Discussion: Liberaland

CNN:

President's marks as manager take hit in new CNN/ORC poll — Washington (CNN) - Only four out of 10 Americans believe President Barack Obama can manage the federal government effectively, according to a new national poll. — And a CNN/ORC International survey released Monday morning …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Politico, LifeNews.com, Talking Points Memo, Post Politics, The PJ Tatler and National Review

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:

Four Adults Charged With Helping Cover Up The Steubenville Rape Case — CREDIT: AP Photo/Steubenville Herald-Star, Michael D. McElwain — On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that the grand jury investigating the Steubenville rape case has charged four adults in the community …

Discussion: WTVR-TV, NPR and Shakesville

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

Top Dems, Republicans blast Obama's nuke deal with Iran — Top lawmakers on both side of the aisle on Sunday voiced skepticism about the newly struck agreement with Iran, and vowed to keep up the pressure with sanctions. — Senior members in both chambers said that, at first glance …

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Heritage Action for America, Faster, Please!, BillMoyers.com, The Daily Caller, The Heritage Foundation, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Juan Williams / The Hill: Pressure builds on Boehner

Eric W. Dolan / The Raw Story:

Noam Chomsky slaps down 9/11 truther: People spend an hour on the Internet and think they know physics — MIT professor Noam Chomsky doesn't know what happened to “Building 7″ of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. — But he is convinced that so-called “9/11 Truthers” don't have the answer.

Discussion: Mediaite

Philip Rucker / Post Politics:

Obama: I'm ‘not a particularly ideological person’ — MEDINA, Wash. - Opening a three-day campaign swing to raise money for fellow Democrats, President Obama charged here Sunday night that House Republicans are the biggest impediment to the nation's progress.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Fix, BizPac Review, Talking Points Memo, Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
Obama: 'I'm not a particularly ideological person'

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Shakesville

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:

Herring wins Virginia attorney general race, elections board announces — RICHMOND — The state Board of Elections on Monday certified Democrat Mark Herring as the winner of the Nov. 5 election for Virginia attorney general, even as the board chairman raised questions about the “integrity” of the vote tallies.

Discussion: Politico, Outside the Beltway and Daily Kos

Mark Joseph / USA Today:

No, Oprah, America isn't racist: Column — President Obama isn't loathed for his skin color. — CONNECT — Shortly before receiving the medal of freedom from President Obama, Oprah Winfrey gave an interview to the BBC in which she seemed to chalk up much of the opposition to the president to racism …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Yahoo:

Welcome aboard, Katie. Anchors aweigh! — Today, I am incredibly excited to announce that Katie Couric is joining Yahoo as our Global Anchor. Starting in early 2014, Katie will lead a growing team of correspondents at Yahoo News who will cover the world's most interesting stories and newsmakers.

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Susan Mohamed / OnIslam.net:

Angola Bans Islam, Destroys Mosques — LUANDA - According to several Angolan newspapers, Angola has become the first country in the world to ban Islam and Muslims, taking first measures by destroying mosques in the country. — “The process of legalization of Islam has not been approved …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Weasel Zippers, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs, Blazing Cat Fur and The Volokh Conspiracy

Connor Adams Sheets / International Business Times:
Angola ‘Bans Islam’, Dismantles Mosques, According To News Reports

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

California, Here We Come? — It goes without saying that the rollout of Obamacare was an epic disaster. But what kind of disaster was it? Was it a failure of management, messing up the initial implementation of a fundamentally sound policy? Or was it a demonstration that the Affordable Care Act is inherently unworkable?

Discussion: Health Care Policy …, National Review, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Balloon Juice and PoliticusUSA

Lawrence R. Jacobs / New York Times:

Right vs. Left in the Midwest — MINNESOTA and Wisconsin share much more than bone-chilling winters: German and Northern European roots; farming; and, until recently, a populist progressive tradition stretching back a century to Wisconsin's Fighting Bob La Follette and the birth of Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

Discussion: The Blotter, Jared Bernstein, Liberaland and The Mahablog