Top Items:
Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:
The Obamas: How We Deal with Our Own Racist Experiences — The Obamas open up about raising their daughters, the impact of stereotypes, and what's on the POTUS dance party playlist. Subscribe now for instant access to the exclusive PEOPLE interview! — The protective bubble that comes …
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Associated Press:
Obama: As a black man he's been mistaken for valet — WASHINGTON (AP) — He may be president now, but Barack Obama says he's a black man who has been mistaken for the valet. — Obama tells People magazine that every black professional male his age has had someone hand over their keys while waiting outside a restaurant.
Philip Elliott / Associated Press:
Secretive groups ran $25M in ads for state races
Associated Press:
Obama offers help to Australia post-hostage crisis
Obama offers help to Australia post-hostage crisis
Discussion:
Agence France-Presse
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
GOP Sen. Coburn blocks terrorism insurance measure
Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
No doubt now: Jeb Bush eyeing 2016 race
Elise Labott / CNN:
Cuba releases American Alan Gross; Obama to overhaul relations — Washington (CNN) — U.S. contractor Alan Gross, held by the Cuban government since 2009, was freed Wednesday as part of a landmark deal with Cuba that paves the way for a major overhaul in U.S. policy toward the island, senior administration officials tell CNN.
Discussion:
Liberaland, The Verge, Daily Kos and Daily Signal
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ABC News:
Alan Gross: Cuba Releases American After Five Years in Prison … Held for five years in Cuba, 65-year-old American contractor Alan Gross has been released from prison and is en route to U.S. soil, ABC News has learned. — In a landmark humanitarian prisoner exchange to be announced …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Hot Air, abc11.com, Riptide 2.0, NPR and New York Times
Associated Press:
AP sources: US, Cuba seek to normalize relations — 1 photo — WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Cuba will start talks on normalizing full diplomatic relations, marking the most significant shift in U.S. policy toward the communist island in decades, American officials said Wednesday.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Gawker and Washington Free Beacon
Robert C. Hockett / The Hill:
No author, no law — Something very odd has occurred in connection with the atrociously named “cromnibus” bill passed by Congress this weekend — a bill that the president, if only he might repent of the position he has taken to now, still both can and ought to veto.
Discussion:
Instapundit
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The Huffington Post:
Kevin Yoder MIA After Tucking Wall Street Bailout Into Government Spending Bill — WASHINGTON — For all the anger among progressives about a Wall Street bailout provision that made its way into the just-passed $1.1 trillion government spending bill, there's been little attention on the person who put it in there.
Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Emboldened Wall Street ready to dismantle Dodd-Frank financial law — Banks and financial institutions are planning an aggressive push to dismantle parts of the Wall Street reform law when Republicans take control of Congress in January. — Fresh off a victory in the government funding debate …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Prairie Weather
William Boot / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: Sony Emails Say State Department Blessed Kim Jong-Un Assassination in ‘The Interview’ — CEO Michael Lynton showed a rough cut of the movie to U.S. officials before moving ahead. Now hackers are threatening to bomb any theater that shows it. — The Daily Beast has unearthed …
Discussion:
The Hill, Hinterland Gazette, CANNONFIRE, New York Times, Deadline and Take Two
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Jen Yamato / Deadline:
Carmike Cinemas Is First To Pull ‘The Interview’ Over Hacker Threat Concerns
Carmike Cinemas Is First To Pull ‘The Interview’ Over Hacker Threat Concerns
Discussion:
Washington Post, The PJ Tatler, Politico, The Daily Banter, Mediaite, Mashable, The Verge and NPR, more at Mediagazer »
BuzzFeed:
Theater Chains Pull “The Interview,” Press Appearances Canceled Amid Threats
Theater Chains Pull “The Interview,” Press Appearances Canceled Amid Threats
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, New York Times, The Verge, Outside the Beltway, Gothamist, JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, Mashable, Variety, Gawker, EW.com, The PJ Tatler and Mediaite
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Is Jeb Bush Too Liberal To Win The Republican Nomination In 2016? — On Tuesday, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced that he will “actively explore” a bid for the White House. While Bush has not yet formed a presidential exploratory committee, he's “running” for president by any practical definition of the term.
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Politico:
Money men cheer Bush news
Money men cheer Bush news
Discussion:
The Intercept, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Politics, Slantpoint and The Center for Public …
John Podhoretz / New York Post:
Jeb's killer flaw — the name, not the ideology
Jeb's killer flaw — the name, not the ideology
Discussion:
The Federalist and Washington Post
Zeke J Miller / TIME:
Rand Paul is Already Running an Ad Against Jeb Bush
Rand Paul is Already Running an Ad Against Jeb Bush
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Times, Slantpoint and Political Wire
James Carville / The Hill:
Why do people vote against their interests? — During my time as a political strategist, one of the most vexing problems was figuring out why so many people vote against their perceived interests. Commentators like myself have spent countless hours speculating on why so many people vote …
Frances Robles / New York Times:
Ecuador Family Wins Favors After Donations to Democrats — MIAMI — The Obama administration overturned a ban preventing a wealthy, politically connected Ecuadorean woman from entering the United States after her family gave tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic campaigns, according to finance records and government officials.
Discussion:
Politico, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Betsy's Page and Washington Free Beacon
Gregory Korte / Associated Press:
Obama issues ‘executive orders by another name’ — By issuing his directives as “memoranda” rather than executive orders, Obama has downplayed the extent of his executive actions. — WASHINGTON — President Obama has issued a form of executive action known as the presidential memorandum …
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Post, Hot Air, BREITBART.COM and Riehl World View
Sarah Ferris / The Hill:
Blacks falling behind under ObamaCare — African-Americans are less likely to see benefits under ObamaCare compared to other racial groups, according to research released Tuesday. — While Hispanics, American Indians and Alaska natives have seen “dramatic” increases in healthcare coverage …
Jonathan H. Adler / Washington Post:
District court declares Obama immigration action unconstitutional (Updated) — Earlier Tuesday, a federal court in Pennsylvania declared aspects of President Obama's executive actions on immigration policy unconstitutional. — According to the opinion by Judge Arthur Schwab …
Discussion:
Shakesville, Scared Monkeys, ThinkProgress, Politico, Reason, Josh Blackman's Blog, Wall Street Journal, Daily Signal, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Hinterland Gazette, American Spectator, ImmigrationProf Blog, Power Line, The PJ Tatler and Questions and Observations
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Bill Carter / New York Times:
Stephen Colbert Prepares Final ‘Colbert Report’ — For nine years, Stephen Colbert has relentlessly maintained his pompous, deeply ridiculous but consistently appealing conservative blowhard character on his late-night show, “The Colbert Report” — so much so that when he puts the character …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Lynette Rice / People.com:
Stephen Collins Confesses Sexual Abuse of Underage Girls to PEOPLE: ‘I Did Something Terribly Wrong’ — Embattled actor Stephen Collins has released a lengthy statement to PEOPLE in which he admits to inappropriate sexual contact with three female minors. — The 67-year-old …
Discussion:
CNN, Gawker, Mediaite, TMZ.com and The Huffington Post
Manu Raju / Politico:
Ted Cruz apologizes to colleagues over antics — Ted Cruz privately apologized to GOP senators Tuesday for interrupting their holiday schedules by his surprise tactics that effectively brought the Senate into session over the weekend. — According to five senators who attended Tuesday's caucus lunch …
Discussion:
Trail Blazers Blog, Towleroad News #gay, NewsMax.com, National Review, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo
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Sen. Ted Cruz / Politico:
What Really Happened This Weekend — Why I tried to block Obama's amnesty.
What Really Happened This Weekend — Why I tried to block Obama's amnesty.
Discussion:
The World's Greatest …, Daily Signal, Slantpoint and Trail Blazers Blog