Top Items:
Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Republicans and Tea Party Activists in ‘Full Scale Civil War’ … Years of growing friction between the Republican Party leaders and its Tea Party faction has erupted into what one conservative said today was “full-scale civil war.” — House Speaker John Boehner, whose strategies …
Discussion:
The Fix, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Hot Air, CNN, Yahoo! News, Guardian, Business Insider, Liberaland, The Impolitic, The Heritage Foundation, Gallup and NationalJournal.com
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Tal Kopan / Politico:
Glenn Beck attacks ‘worthless’ John Boehner — Conservative radio host Glenn Beck went off on Republican leadership after the House passed a budget compromise Thursday, calling House Speaker John Boehner “worthless” and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a “liar.”
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
The Hill:
House approves budget deal, handing major victory to Boehner — The House on Thursday approved a two-year budget deal that turns off $63 billion in sequester spending cuts, handing a major victory to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio.). — Large majorities in both parties backed the bill in a 332-94 vote.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots, The Daily Caller, New York Post, American Spectator, The Plum Line, CNN, Weasel Zippers, Instapundit, NBCNews and Talking Points Memo
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
John Boehner: Conservative Groups Have ‘Lost All Credibility’ (VIDEO)
John Boehner: Conservative Groups Have ‘Lost All Credibility’ (VIDEO)
Discussion:
The Week, RedState, Washington Post, Daily Kos and Guardian
Jake Sherman / Politico:
House passes bipartisan budget deal
House passes bipartisan budget deal
Discussion:
Capital New York, BizPac Review, Guardian, Outside the Beltway and Business Insider
Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Obamacare exposes Republican hypocrisy on health care
Obamacare exposes Republican hypocrisy on health care
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Washington Center …, Washington Monthly and NationalJournal.com
Brian Beutler / Salon:
Obama's shutdown critics look like morons after budget deal
Emma Dumain / Roll Call:
Boehner: Conservative Outside Groups ‘Have Lost All Credibility’
Boehner: Conservative Outside Groups ‘Have Lost All Credibility’
Discussion:
Hawkings Here
New York Times:
House Passes Budget Pact and Military Abuse Protections, but Not Farm Bill
House Passes Budget Pact and Military Abuse Protections, but Not Farm Bill
Discussion:
Washington Post and National Review
Andrew Stiles / National Review:
Boehner: Conservative Groups ‘Have Lost All Credibility’
Boehner: Conservative Groups ‘Have Lost All Credibility’
Discussion:
Power Line and FreedomWorks
Jonathan Merritt / The Atlantic Online:
Insisting Jesus Was White Is Bad History and Bad Theology — Fox News television host Megyn Kelly told viewers on her December 11 broadcast that Jesus and Santa are both white men. — “Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change,” Kelly said. “Jesus was a white man, too.
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Hadas Gold / Politico:
Megyn Kelly: Jesus and Santa were white — On Wednesday night Megyn Kelly declared on her Fox News show that both Santa Claus and Jesus were white. Discussing a piece in Slate by Aisha Harris about a black versus white Santa, Kelly that “just because it makes you feel uncomfortable it doesn't mean it has to change.”
Aisha Harris / Slate:
What Fox News Doesn't Understand About Santa Claus — Earlier this week, I argued that our image of Santa Claus should no longer be a white man, but, instead, a penguin. I hoped the piece would come across as a little tongue-in-cheek, while at the same time expressing my real concern …
Steven Morris / Guardian:
Pupils' Christmas ‘ruined’ by vicar's Santa Claus origins story
Pupils' Christmas ‘ruined’ by vicar's Santa Claus origins story
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Booman Tribune and Unfogged
Megan McArdle / Bloomberg:
Obamacare's Never-Ending Fix-a-Thon — The Department of Health and Human Services held a conference call for journalists this afternoon with Kathleen Sebelius and other members of the Obamacare team in which they announced yet another round of fixes. Most of them are aimed at folks who lost …
Discussion:
The Hill, Power Line, Wonkblog, Betsy's Page and Daily Kos
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CNBC:
White House: Could extend Obamacare deadlines again
White House: Could extend Obamacare deadlines again
Discussion:
National Review, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Weasel Zippers
Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
HHS ‘encourages’ insurers to fix problems created by Obamacare
HHS ‘encourages’ insurers to fix problems created by Obamacare
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Health Plans Urged to Extend Enrollment
Health Plans Urged to Extend Enrollment
Discussion:
Hit & Run and Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire
Adam Goldman / Washington Post:
Ex-FBI agent who disappeared in Iran was on rogue mission for CIA — An American man who disappeared in Iran more than six years ago had been working for the CIA in what U.S. intelligence officials describe as a rogue operation that led to a major shake-up in the spy agency.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather, NO QUARTER USA NET and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
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Associated Press:
MISSING AMERICAN IN IRAN WAS ON UNAPPROVED MISSION — You are here — Home » United States government » Missing American in Iran was on unapproved mission — WASHINGTON (AP) — In March 2007, retired FBI agent Robert Levinson flew to Kish Island, an Iranian resort awash with tourists …
Discussion:
Gawker and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Angie Drobnic Holan / PolitiFact:
Lie of the Year: ‘If you like your health care plan, you can keep it’ — It was a catchy political pitch and a chance to calm nerves about his dramatic and complicated plan to bring historic change to America's health insurance system. — “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it …
Botho Molosankwe / IOL:
Sign language ‘fake’ blames illness — Johannesburg - The man who has been blasted on social networks and accused of providing “fake” sign language interpretation at Nelson Mandela's memorial service says he suffered a schizophrenic episode. — Thamsanqa Jantjie said his schizophrenia …
Discussion:
World News, The Lede, GlobalPost, BBC, The Moderate Voice, New York Times, The Verge, BizPac Review, Outside the Beltway, Most Recent and USA Today
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Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Vermont Is Kicking Everyone's Ass at Signing Up People for Obamacare — Which states are doing the best at signing up people for Obamacare? Business Insider has a state-by-state chart here showing the number of people who have completed the process 100 percent: they've actually chosen …
Discussion:
Firedoglake and The Dish
Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Huckabee Open to Joining 2016 GOP Presidential Field — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas has not been among the Republicans frequently named as a potential 2016 presidential candidate, but he would like that to change. — “I'm keeping the door open,” …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Michelle Cottle / The Daily Beast:
The Cruzification of Marco Rubio — By Michelle CottleDecember 13th 20135:45 AM — The junior senator's blatant pandering in bashing the budget deal shows the shameless lengths he will go to get back into the GOP base's good graces. — Let's give it up for Marco Rubio!
Discussion:
BREITBART.COM and Red Alert Politics
Max Fisher / WorldViews:
Even by North Korean standards, this announcement of Jang Song Thaek's execution is intense — North Korean state media are known for hyperbole, but even so, the official announcement of the execution of Jang Song Thaek is a step beyond. The state-run Korean Central News Agency released …
Discussion:
New York Times, UK Blog on The Huffington Post, crooksandliars.com/user/2 and National Review