Top Items:
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Judge: NSA phone program likely unconstitutional — A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency program which collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from or within the United States is likely to be unconstitutional. — U.S. District Court Judge …
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Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Federal Judge Rules Against N.S.A. Phone Data Program — WASHINGTON — A Federal District Court judge ruled on Monday that the National Security Agency program that is systematically keeping records of all Americans' phone calls most likely violates the Constitution, and he ordered the government …
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
This Is The Most Important Paragraph In The Court Decision Against The NSA — The National Security Agency went into Judge Richard Leon's courtroom with a powerful precedent on its side. In its 1979 decision in Smith v. Maryland, the Supreme Court held that individuals do not have a …
Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:
Federal Judge: NSA Program Revealed By Snowden Likely Unconstitutional
Federal Judge: NSA Program Revealed By Snowden Likely Unconstitutional
Discussion:
The Impolitic
Spencer Ackerman / Guardian:
NSA officials consider Edward Snowden amnesty in return for documents
NSA officials consider Edward Snowden amnesty in return for documents
Discussion:
Washington Post, CANNONFIRE, The Hinterland Gazette, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, AEIdeas, Althouse, National Review, The Agonist and Hit & Run
Jessica Hopper / Sound of the City:
Read the “Stomach-Churning” Sexual Assault Accusations Against R. Kelly in Full — It has been nearly 15 years since music journalist Jim DeRogatis caught the story that has since defined his career, one that he wishes didn't exist: R. Kelly's sexual predation on teenage girls.
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette and Business Insider
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Alyssa Rosenberg / ThinkProgress:
What R. Kelly Teaches Us About How Sexual Predators Choose And Silence Their Victims — On Monday, the Village Voice published a long conversation between Jessica Hopper, the music editor for Rookie, and Jim DeRogatis, now a professor at Columbia College, who, as a critic at the Chicago Sun-Times …
Bloomberg:
Make Obamacare Cool, or Make It Hurt — Instead of outreach programs and sappy TV ads with parents imploring their kids to sign up for Obamacare, President Barack Obama needs to start thinking creatively if he wants his signature legislative achievement to be a success. What motivates kids?
Discussion:
National Review, NewsBusters and Weasel Zippers
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Michael Isikoff / NBCNews:
Climate change expert's fraud was ‘crime of massive proportion,’ say feds — The EPA's highest-paid employee and top expert on climate change engaged in “crime of massive proportions” by pretending to be working as an undercover agent for the CIA so he could avoid doing his real job for years …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Watts Up With That? and Weasel Zippers
Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Senate Conservatives Fund: Boehner Targeting Conservatives Just Like IRS — In a new fundraising email, the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is targeting conservatives in the same way that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Erik Wasson / The Hill:
In budget deal, a secret reward for Dems
In budget deal, a secret reward for Dems
Discussion:
ABC News, Roll Call, CNN, First Read, Politico and Washington Wire
Rebecca Kaplan / CBS News:
On budget deal, all eyes turn to Senate Republicans
On budget deal, all eyes turn to Senate Republicans
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Plum Line, The Hill, TIME, Power Line and ThinkProgress
Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
‘60 Minutes’ Trashed For NSA Piece — “60 Minutes” was trashed all over Twitter on Sunday night for a two-part story on the NSA which critics dubbed obsequious at best. — The piece was fronted by reporter John Miller, who had to tell viewers this at the top of the segment: “Full disclosure …
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Annie Linskey / Bloomberg:
Brown's Move to New Hampshire Fuels Talk of Senate Race — Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown plans to move to New Hampshire, the latest sign that he's considering a U.S. Senate bid there, which would complicate Democrats' effort to hold their majority in the chamber.
Discussion:
ABC News, CNN, Daily Kos and First Read
Art Swift / Gallup:
Honesty and Ethics Rating of Clergy Slides to New Low — Nurses again top list; lobbyists are worst — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' rating of the honesty and ethics of the clergy has fallen to 47%, the first time this rating has dropped below 50% since Gallup first asked about the clergy in 1977.
Discussion:
Reuters, Politico, CNN, Post Politics, The BLT, The Hill, Booman Tribune and Political MoneyLine Blog
Erica Goode / New York Times:
Sheriffs Refuse to Enforce Laws on Gun Control — GREELEY, Colo. — When Sheriff John Cooke of Weld County explains in speeches why he is not enforcing the state's new gun laws, he holds up two 30-round magazines. One, he says, he had before July 1, when the law banning the possession …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Global Grind, VodkaPundit, Daily Kos, JustOneMinute, Liberaland, Ed Driscoll, Balloon Juice and Prairie Weather
Kotaku:
Tea Party Facebook Group Posts BioShock Image Satirizing Tea Party — The National Liberty Foundation is a Florida-based group of radical conservatives associated with the right-wing group that calls themselves the Tea Party. They use their Facebook to post lots of right-wing meme images and racist links.
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Liberaland, Hullabaloo and Little Green Footballs
FDA Consumer Health Information Updates:
FDA Taking Closer Look at ‘Antibacterial’ Soap — On this page: — When you're buying soaps and body washes, do you reach for the bar or bottle labeled “antibacterial”? Are you thinking that these products, in addition to keeping you clean, will reduce your risk of getting sick or passing on germs to others?
Discussion:
New York Times, The Verge, BBC, NBCNews, Los Angeles Times and The Week
Bloomberg:
Secret Inside BofA Office of CEO Stymied Needy Homeowners — Photographer: Phelan M. Ebenhack/Bloomberg — Isabel Santamaria thought she finally caught a break in her effort to save her Florida home from foreclosure after nine frustrating months: She reached Bank of America Corp.'s Office of the CEO and President.
Discussion:
The Plum Line and Daily Kos
Josh Barro / Business Insider:
Conservatives Have No Idea What To Do About Recessions — For the last five years, liberals have promoted three main economic policies to shorten or ameliorate the Great Recession and speed the recovery from it. — Deficit-financed spending to compensate for demand gaps in the private sector.
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, Washington Monthly and The New Republic
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Lara Logan to return to ‘60 Minutes’ — Lara Logan and Max McClellan, the ‘60 Minutes’ journalists who were put on a leave of absence following their now-retracted report on Benghazi, are set to return to the program early next year, POLITICO has learned. — Logan and her producer …
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Hullabaloo and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Alex Pareene / Salon:
Hack List No. 9: Thomas Friedman — Our annual list is here! This time, we channeled each hack's unique voice — and let them “write” their own entries — A Visit to Friedman World — I was at a conference in Brussels last week and having trouble with my column.
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Jeh Johnson OK'd for Homeland Security — The Senate confirmed former Pentagon attorney Jeh Johnson on Monday to lead the Department of Homeland Security, rounding out President Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet. — After the 78-16 vote, Johnson will take the helm at DHS …
Discussion:
Reuters and ImmigrationProf Blog
Camille Paglia / TIME:
It's a Man's World, And It Always Will Be — The modern economy is a male epic, in which women have found a productive role—but women were not its author — If men are obsolete, then women will soon be extinct—unless we rush down that ominous Brave New World path where females …
Discussion:
AEIdeas and Rush Limbaugh
Betsy Rothstein / The Daily Caller:
Vice President Joe Biden gropes White House reporter — Sure, he likely didn't mean anything overtly sexual by it. But Vice President Joe Biden is a folksy kind of guy who has officially entered dirty old man territory and done something sure to elicit laughs within the White House Press Corps.
Discussion:
TheBlaze.com and The PJ Tatler
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Libertarian Radio Host Neal Boortz: “I'm Sorry, Santa Claus Is White, Deal With It” — “I'm gonna scream and complain because Martin Luther King is always portrayed as black,” said Neal Boortz, who was substituting for Herman Cain on his radio program Monday. — View Video ›
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, AMERICAblog News, The Hinterland Gazette and The Raw Story
Noah Rothman / Mediaite:
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts: So Many Consider Obama the ‘First Gay President’ — MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts examined the notion on Monday that President Barack Obama faces an uphill battle to safeguard the rights of gays and lesbians abroad who face repression in their home countries who are less tolerant of alternative lifestyles.
Discussion:
Red Alert Politics, National Review, The PJ Tatler and Weasel Zippers