Top Items:
The Atlantic Online:
Phil Robertson's America — I've yet to take in an episode of Duck Dynasty. I hear it's a fine show, anchored by a humorous and good-natured family of proud Americans. I try to be good natured, and I have been told that I can appreciate a good joke. I am also a proud American.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, American Prospect and Balloon Juice
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Ian Bayne for US Congress:
Duck Dynasty Star is Rosa Parks of Our Generation — Today, Ian Bayne called Phil Robertson, star of the A&E series “Duck Dynasty,” the ‘Rosa Parks’ of our generation. — “In December 1955, Rosa Parks took a stand against an unjust societal persecution of black people, and in December 2013 …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Politico, Little Green Footballs, Liberaland, The Raw Story and The Huffington Post
Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
Ian Bayne, GOP Congressional Candidate: ‘Duck Dynasty Star Is Rosa Parks Of Our Generation’ — WASHINGTON — Embattled “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson has been suspended from his show by A&E for his remarks about gays and African-Americans, and now some high-profile conservatives are rallying to his side and defending him.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Lone Star Q, The Hinterland Gazette, Wonkblog, PostPartisan, The Baffler, Gawker and ABC News
Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Congressional Candidate: Duck Dynasty Star Is ‘Rosa Parks Of Our Generation’
GOP Congressional Candidate: Duck Dynasty Star Is ‘Rosa Parks Of Our Generation’
Discussion:
his vorpal sword and Suburban Political Recount
Bloomberg:
Obamacare Initiates Self-Destruction Sequence — On Wednesday, Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown reported that the administration was saying fewer than 500,000 people had actually lost insurance due to Obamacare-induced cancellations. This struck me as a strange leak: Half a million is a lot less …
Discussion:
American Power, Reuters, Hit & Run, The Incidental Economist and ThinkProgress
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Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
The individual mandate no longer applies to people whose plans were canceled — Today, the Obama administration announced that people whose insurance plans were canceled this year will “temporarily” be exempted from the law's individual mandate. Here's how they're doing it — and what it means for the law.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Associated Press, Guardian, neo-neocon, Connecting.the.Dots, Shakesville, Mediaite, Power Line, Weekly Standard, American Power and Washington Post
John Fund / National Review:
Who Says Obama Hasn't United the Country?
Who Says Obama Hasn't United the Country?
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit
Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Let's call the whole thing off
Let's call the whole thing off
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, New York Times, BizPac Review and neo-neocon
Avik Roy / Forbes:
Utter Chaos: White House Exempts Millions From Obamacare's Insurance Mandate, ‘Unaffordable’ Exchanges
Utter Chaos: White House Exempts Millions From Obamacare's Insurance Mandate, ‘Unaffordable’ Exchanges
Discussion:
Maggie's Farm, National Review, Josh Blackman's Blog, American Spectator, The PJ Tatler, NBCNews, Los Angeles Times and Betsy's Page
Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
Does New Obamacare Mandate Exemption Open A Pandora's Box?
Does New Obamacare Mandate Exemption Open A Pandora's Box?
Discussion:
Health Affairs Blog
Louise Radnofsky / Wall Street Journal:
White House Will Allow Some To Buy Catastrophic Health Plans
White House Will Allow Some To Buy Catastrophic Health Plans
Washington Post:
Obama promises review of NSA spying program, possible reforms — President Obama said Friday that he would review the National Security Agency's far-reaching surveillance programs over the holiday break and would make a “pretty definitive statement” in January about possible reforms.
Discussion:
Boing Boing, The Fix, Post Politics, Prairie Weather and Hit & Run
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Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Obama Vows ‘Year of Action’ After He ‘Screwed It Up’ on Health Care
Obama Vows ‘Year of Action’ After He ‘Screwed It Up’ on Health Care
Discussion:
Politico, Reuters and Balloon Juice
Washington Post:
Officials' defenses of NSA phone program may be unraveling
Officials' defenses of NSA phone program may be unraveling
Discussion:
Investigations, Hot Air, Right Turn, Conservative Intelligence …, Secrecy News, New York Times, Prairie Weather and The Reaction
Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
Well, let's delay the mandate after all
Well, let's delay the mandate after all
Discussion:
PostPartisan, The Plum Line, JustOneMinute, americanthinker.com, Liberaland and The Daily Caller
Brooke Adams / Salt Lake Tribune:
Federal judge strikes down Utah's ban on same-sex marriage — A federal judge in Utah Friday struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage, saying the law violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of equal protection and due process. — “The state's current laws deny its gay …
Discussion:
The Raw Story and Daily Kos
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Erik Eckholm / New York Times:
Federal Judge Rules That Same-Sex Marriage Is Legal in Utah — Salt Lake City began issuing marriage licenses to jubilant same-sex couples on Friday hours, after a federal judge ruled that Utah's amendment barring same-sex marriage violated the United States Constitution.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Hot Air and GLAAD
Ed O'Keefe / Post Politics:
Harry Reid hospitalized — Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D- Nev.) was hospitalized early Friday after not feeling well, according to his office. — “Early this morning, Senator Reid was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital. Tests have been conducted and everything is normal.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
Senate hatches last-minute deal
Senate hatches last-minute deal
Discussion:
CNN, Daily Kos and Booman Tribune
Sean Fine / Globe and Mail:
Supreme Court strikes down Canada's prostitution laws — The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down the country's major prostitution laws, saying that bans on street soliciting, brothels and people living off the avails of prostitution create severe dangers for vulnerable women and therefore violate Canadians' basic values.
Discussion:
Hit & Run and Outside the Beltway
RELATED:
Charmaine Noronha / Associated Press:
CANADIAN COURT STRIKES DOWN ANTI-PROSTITUTION LAWS — You are here — Home » Canada » Canadian court strikes down anti-prostitution laws … TORONTO (AP) — Canada's highest court struck down the country's anti-prostitution laws Friday, a victory for sex workers who stepped …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
Massachusetts State Police / Facebook:
Trooper Joe Petty assisted by Tpr Dave Stucenski & K9 Frankie Locate 1250 Bags of Heroin in Hatfield — Early this morning, Trooper Joseph Petty was on a traffic stop of Route 91 in Northampton when a vehicle passed by him. Trooper Petty observed several violations.
Discussion:
CBS Boston, Mediaite, Politico, Business Insider and The Raw Story
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Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:
Massachusetts State Police Bust ‘Obama Care’ Heroin
Massachusetts State Police Bust ‘Obama Care’ Heroin
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
Guardian:
GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germans, Israeli PM and EU chief — • Unicef and Médecins du Monde were on surveillance list — • Targets went well beyond potential criminals and terrorists — • Revelations could cause embarrassment at EU summit
Discussion:
Spiegel Online, New York Times, Lawfare, Mashable, Techdirt, Washington Post, Angry Bear, The Daily Caller, Boing Boing and The Verge
RELATED:
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Cards Stolen in Target Breach Flood Underground Markets — Credit and debit card accounts stolen in a recent data breach at retail giant Target have been flooding underground black markets in recent weeks, selling in batches of one million cards and going for anywhere from $20 to more than $100 per card, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.
Discussion:
NYT Bits, Target Pressroom, NBCNews, The Verge and TechCrunch
Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Rep.: School Lunch Comments Not Targeted At Any Income Group — The Georgia Senate candidate who suggested children work to get free lunch at school is standing by his comments, arguing they did not target any particular income group. — Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) on Friday told CNN's …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
President ends year at all-time CNN polling low — Washington (CNN) - Fourteen points. — That's how far President Barack Obama's poll numbers fell in CNN polling over the course of what's been an especially tough year. — Obama's approval rating stands at 41% in a new CNN/ORC International …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Hot Air, Reuters, The PJ Tatler and Talking Points Memo
Ryan Broderick / BuzzFeed:
High Schoolers Staged A Massive Sit-In After Their Vice Principal Was Ousted Over Same-Sex Marriage — The students of Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish, Washington staged a sit-in Thursday after it was announced that their vice principal was being fired.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Seattle Times blogs and The Dish