memeorandum: McConnell: Torture Report Was One Last ‘Thumb In The Eye’ Of Bush Admin (Daniel Strauss/Talking Points Memo)

12:30 PM ET, December 10, 2014

Top Items:

Bob Kerrey / USA Today:

Sen. Bob Kerrey: Partisan torture report fails America — Intelligence agencies need guidance to do better, Senate Democrats failed to provide it. — I regret having to write a piece that is critical of the Democratic members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, New York Times, Hot Air, Politico, The Federalist, American Spectator, The Verge and Washington Free Beacon

Aleksander Chan / Gawker:

Fox News Host: Get Over CIA Torture Report Because “America Is Awesome” — As people work their way through the passel of documents that is the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on post-9/11, Bush-era CIA torture, Fox News is ready to weigh in: The long-planned doc dump is all political subterfuge.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

McConnell: Torture Report Was One Last ‘Thumb In The Eye’ Of Bush Admin — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) bashed a CIA torture report released by Democrats on Tuesday as just one last “thumb in the eye of the Bush administration.” — McConnell made those comments during a Politico Lessons from Leaders event.

Discussion: Mediaite and Political Wire

Michael Hirsh / Politico:

Michael Hayden Is Not Sorry — The Senate report rakes Bush's former CIA director over the coals. He fires back in an exclusive interview. — Though the CIA's “enhanced interrogation” program long predated his takeover of the agency in 2006, former Director Michael Hayden has found himself …

Discussion: CNN, Guardian, Newsmax, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill, American Prospect and Liberal Values

mccain.senate.gov:
FLOOR STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE REPORT ON CIA INTERROGATION METHODS

Discussion: ACS Blog, Bloomberg View, The Seattle Times, New York Times, The Daily Caller and Wall Street Journal

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Fox melts down after torture report: ‘The United States of America is awesome, we are awesome!’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CANNONFIRE, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, New Yorker, Jezebel, The Moderate Voice and Unfogged w/ Comments

Adam Chandler / The Atlantic Online:
This Is How a Prisoner of War Feels About Torture

Discussion: United States Senator …, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg View, PoliticusUSA, Vox and Politico

New York Times:
The Senate Report on the C.I.A.'s Torture and Lies

Discussion: Washington Post, Questions and Observations, Business Insider, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality, Prairie Weather, Bloomberg View, The Dish, Bloomberg Politics, Hot Air and Democracy in America

The White House:
Statement by the President Report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Discussion: NY Daily News, TIME, Balkinization, Washington Post, Guardian, New York Magazine, Hit & Run and KTLA

The Hill:

Senate Republicans feud over whether to keep nuke option — Senate Republicans met behind closed doors Tuesday to debate whether they should reverse changes to the filibuster that made it easier for Senate Democrats to confirm President Obama's nominees. — GOP lawmakers and senators-elect …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, National Review, The Hugh Hewitt Show and The PJ Tatler

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

What will Cruz do? — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) faces a tough decision on whether to follow through on his pledge to block any legislation he deemed nonessential in the lame-duck session. — With his colleagues scrambling to finish a $1 trillion government-funding measure and get out of town, Cruz is a wild card.

Discussion: Politico

Manu Raju / Politico:
Harry Reid's new mission: Blocking ‘crazy stuff’

Discussion: Hot Air, Daily Kos and Washington Free Beacon

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Reid, in Diminished Role, Vows Fight With G.O.P.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Weekly Standard and Hot Air

Peter Overby / NPR:
In Spending Bill, A Gift For Political Party Fundraising

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and Democracy21

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Yes, Dems did funnel money to ‘independent’ in Kansas Senate race

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Deal reached on $1.01 trillion spending bill

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Power Line, PoliticusUSA and The Daily Caller

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

The Jonathan Gruber hearing was a zany coda to Darrell Issa's tumultuous tenure — A gaffe, under the oft-cited Michael Kinsley rule, is when somebody in Washington accidentally speaks the truth. But what happens when frankness leads you to say something so monumentally stupid …

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Monthly, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:
How much did Gruber make? — ObamaCare consultant Jonathan …

Discussion: National Review

Peter Suderman / Hit & Run:
Jonathan Gruber's Weak New Excuse for His Obamacare Exchange Subsidies “Speak-O”

Discussion: Power Line, CNSNews and Wall Street Journal

Noah Rothman / Hot Air:
Gruber won't deny the White House wanted to trick Congress into passing the ACA

Discussion: New York Times and Politico

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:
Gruber grilled at marathon hearing

Discussion: Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Fox News

Betsy McCaughey / New York Post:
Still cooking the ObamaCare books

Discussion: Hot Air and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

BuzzFeed:

Lena Dunham: Why I Chose To Speak Out — The ways I've been attacked for sharing my story show how far we have to go when discussing sexual assault. — Mike Marsland / WireImage / BuzzFeed — It has been almost a decade since I was sexually assaulted.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, JustOneMinute, Jezebel, RedState, Fox News, Mediaite and The Daily Banter

Hilary Sargent / Boston Globe:

Harvard Business School Professor Goes to War Over $4 Worth of Chinese Food — Ben Edelman (left) and Ran Duan (right) — Ben Edelman is an associate professor at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit.

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Times, Outside the Beltway, Bloomberg View, Business Insider, Power Line, The Daily Caller, Guardian, New York Magazine, Gawker, Althouse, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and National Review

Howard Dean / Politico:

I'm Ready for Hillary — Hillary Clinton is by far the most qualified person in the United States to serve as President. If she runs, I will support her. I have known Hillary for almost twenty-five years. We first met when I was the governor of Vermont and she was the First Lady …

Discussion: Shakesville, Washington Post, Washington Times and Booman Tribune

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:

Democrats lost the South through culture war and elitism — Fritz Hollings, John Edwards, Zell Miller, Blanche Lincoln, John Breaux, Kay Hagan, Mark Pryor and Mary Landrieu. These eight Democrats have been senators from the South in the past decade. — If not for Southern Democrats …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:

Bank of America sees $50 oil as Opec dies — “Our biggest worry is the end of the liquidity cycle. The Fed is done. The reach for yield that we have seen since 2009 is going into reverse”, said Bank of America.

Discussion: Instapundit

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Rick Santorum is running for president again — and says this time will be different — Rick Santorum won primaries and caucuses in 11 states in 2012, coming in a respectable second in the GOP presidential primary season. And Republicans have a history of bestowing their nomination on the next guy in line …

Discussion: CNN, Joe. My. God. and Shakesville

Eric Ostermeier / Smart Politics:

Plurality-Winning Governors Elected At Century-Long High Water Mark — The rate of gubernatorial candidates elected without the support of a majority of voters is at its highest level since the 1910s — The 2014 election cycle fell far short of the projected upheaval in the number of governors ousted from office in November.

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Post