memeorandum: Obama Took More Vacation on Average Than Private-Sector Workers 20 Yrs on Job (Ali Meyer/CNSNews)

11:10 PM ET, December 22, 2013

Top Items:

EXCLUSIVE - Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson breaks his silence: Reality show star says he's ‘a lover not a hater’ but REFUSES to back down from anti-gay comments — Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson is sticking by controversial comments he made about homosexuality to GQ magazine

Discussion: Deadline.com, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story and Mediaite

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:

The duck and jackass dynasty — Not the biggest jackass in the story. — I got the gist of the “Duck Dynasty” thing after my first and only viewing: bunch of rural jackasses who somehow struck it rich get brought into our living rooms to be laughed at by the rest of us aristocrats. — Well, all right.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Daily Mail and American Thinker

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:
‘Duck Dynasty’: Phil Robertson Anti-Gay Sermon Surfaces (Video)

Discussion: Liberaland and Towleroad News #gay

ABC News:

Justine Sacco, Fired After Tweet on AIDS in Africa, Issues Apology — The communications director fired over a tweet evoking AIDS and race that was sent as she was headed to Africa has now apologized, saying she is “ashamed” for her insensitivity to the millions of people living with the virus.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Mediaite, BREITBART.COM, Gothamist, Mashable and Unfogged

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
The worst Twitter day of all time

Discussion: Althouse and Instapundit

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Appeals Court Denies Utah Officials' Request For Emergency Halt To Same-Sex Couples' Marriages — Although the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the emergency request, the trial court in the Utah marriage case is due to hear arguments Monday on the state's request to stop marriages during the appeal of the case.

Discussion: Advocate and ThinkProgress

Mark Green / FOX13Now.com:
10th Circuit Court denies Utah's Emergency Motion for Temporary Stay

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Little Green Footballs and The Huffington Post

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:
Federal Judge: Right to Same-Sex Marriage Is 'Deeply Rooted in Nation's History and Implicit …

Discussion: BizPac Review and Weasel Zippers

New York Post:

Father drops toddler from high-rise, jumps to his death — A distraught dad tossed his toddler off the roof of a 52-story apartment building on the Upper West Side on Sunday, then jumped himself — killing them both, law enforcement sources said. — Dmitriy Kanarikov, 35 …

Discussion: Gawker, Gothamist, The Hinterland Gazette and CBS New York

Luke Salkeld / Daily Mail:

M&S faces boycott as it lets Muslim staff refuse to sell alcohol or pork — Furious M&S customers threatened to boycott the store last night for allowing Muslim checkout staff to refuse to serve customers who want to pay for alcohol or pork. — Managers at a London store told the workers …

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers

Washington Post:

Covert action in Colombia — U.S. intelligence, GPS bomb kits help Latin American nation cripple rebel forces — The 50-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), once considered the best-funded insurgency in the world, is at its smallest and most vulnerable state in decades …

Discussion: TalkLeft

Dana Davidsen / CNN:

Democratic senator: Obama's lack of congressional friendships hurts policy efforts — (CNN) - The President's failure to build friendships with lawmakers has damaged his chances of finding bipartisan support for legislation, a senator from his own party said Sunday.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys

Ginger Gibson / Politico:
Manchin sees gun control passage still ‘difficult’ in 2014

Discussion: Hot Air and CNN

Isaac Chotiner / The New Republic:

The Atheist's Guide to Christmas — With the Yuletide season upon us, America is once again engaged in the standard asinine debates about the holiday: Is Santa white? Is that decorated green perennial at the mall supposed to be called a “holiday treet”? If you neglect to say the word …

Discussion: Maggie's Farm and Hot Air

Sandra Yi / KSL-TV:

2 petitions created by opponents, supporters of Amendment 3 decision — OGDEN — Two online petitions with opposing views are gaining momentum after the federal judge's ruling that Utah's Amendment 3 was unconstitutional. — Hundreds of people lined up at the Weber County clerk's office today …

Discussion: Associated Press

Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times:

Tom Steyer may be liberals' answer to the Koch brothers — The California billionaire is building a vast political network and inserting himself into elections nationwide, with a focus on fossil fuels and global warming. — Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, is spending some of his fortune …

Discussion: Liberaland

Rebel Pundit / BREITBART.COM:

AL SHARPTON'S CHICAGO TOWN HALL ERUPTS INTO REVOLT AGAINST MACHINE POLITICS — On Thursday, a town hall meeting hosted by Al Sharpton and the National Action Network to address gun violence exploded into a revolt against “Chicago Machine” politics, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and the aldermen in City Hall …

Discussion: NewsBusters, No More Mister Nice Blog, BizPac Review and Weasel Zippers

Claire Atkinson / Associated Press:

DC staff irked as NBC News eyes cuts — David Gregory, host of NBC's 'Meet the Press Inset: NBC News boss Deborah Turness — NBC News boss Deborah Turness is spending the last few days of the year eyeing cuts — moves that could include axing some senior on-air talent, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Liberaland, americanthinker.com, NewsBusters and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »