Top Items:
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Ben Carson blasts RNC, threatens to leave Republican Party — Ben Carson on Friday blasted the Republican National Committee following a Washington Post report that nearly two-dozen establishment party figures were prepping for a potential brokered convention as Donald Trump continues to lead most polls.
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Nick Gehring / bencarson.com:
Dr. Ben Carson Releases Statement on Party Boss Insider Meeting Reported in Washington Post — By submitting the contribution form I certify: I am a citizen or permanent resident in the United States; The funds I am contributing are my own personal funds and not those of another person …
Discussion:
Bloomberg Business, CNN, Business Insider, WIAT-TV and Fox News Insider
Fred Bever / WBUR:
WBUR Poll: Trump's Call To Ban Muslims Not Hurting His Prospects In N.H. — Donald Trump's divisive plan for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. sure isn't hurting his prospects in New Hampshire. — A new WBUR poll (topline, crosstabs) shows him with his strongest lead yet among likely …
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Business Insider, WWLP-TV, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, Towleroad, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, The Week, The Hill and Political Wire
Christopher Massie / BuzzFeed:
Rand Paul: Establishment Will “Destroy” GOP If They Block Outsider Nomination — “If the establishment tries to block an outsider from winning the nomination, there'll be war within the party and they'll destroy the party.” — Steve Pope / Getty Images — w.soundcloud.com
Lauren Fox / Talking Points Memo:
Carson Threatens To Leave Party If GOP Officials Keep Plotting Over Convention
Carson Threatens To Leave Party If GOP Officials Keep Plotting Over Convention
Discussion:
Mediaite, Daily Kos and Business Insider
David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:
House: Could Trump Lead to Apocalypse for Republicans? — To most Republican strategists, there's no bigger nightmare than Donald Trump as the GOP's presidential nominee in 2016. This week, just about every Democrat running for president, Senate, House, and their respective campaign committees sought …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Washington Monthly
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Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
The Party Divides — The speed with which prominent Republican officials and conservative spokesmen condemned Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States revealed the true stakes in the 2016 election. The future of the GOP as we know it is in question …
Discussion:
Washington Post and NBC News
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Empowering the Ugliness — We live in an era of political news that is, all too often, shocking but not surprising. The rise of Donald Trump definitely falls into that category. And so does the electoral earthquake that struck France in Sunday's regional elections, with the right-wing …
Discussion:
bradford-delong.com, Salon, Washington Post and Vox Popoli
Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Trump: I will mandate death penalty for killing police officers — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to issue an executive order to mandate the death penalty for anyone who kills a police officer. — “One of the first things I'd do in terms of executive order …
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, Townhall.com, Hot Air, Daily Wire, Washington Post, RedState, Truth Revolt, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Towleroad
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Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Trump endorsed by police union after proposing Muslim ban
Trump endorsed by police union after proposing Muslim ban
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, SaintPetersBlog, AMERICAblog News, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and The Week
Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:
WATCH: Carly Fiorina snarls at CNN host after he confronts her over Planned Parenthood smears — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — Aspiring 2016 GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina went from smiling to combative in a split-second during a contentious debate …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, LiberalAmerica.org and alan.com
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
McConnell poised to give Jon Stewart what he wants — After weeks of withering criticism from comedian Jon Stewart, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell guaranteed on Friday that a health care bill for 9/11 first responders will be included in a must-pass, year-end spending deal.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, Mediaite and addictinginfo.org
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Associated Press:
AS TRUMP RISES, CLINTON PREACHES LOVE AND KINDNESS — URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — Hillary Clinton had just finished detailing the dangers of terrorism, recalling tough calls in the White House situation room as secretary of state and lashing out at her Republican rivals for threatening the safety of Americans.
Discussion:
New York Times, NewsBusters, Hot Air, Infowars, MichelleMalkin.com, Instapundit, Althouse, Weasel Zippers, Jammie Wearing Fools, ABC News, abc7.com and New York Post
Liam Deacon / Breitbart:
Homeland Security Shut Down Investigation Into Farook And Malik Linked Islamist Group To Protect ‘Civil Liberties’ Of Potential Terrorists — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been accused of deleting intelligence records relating to dangerous Islamists linked to terrorists Sayed Farook …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Allen B. West, The Daily Caller, Moonbattery and Pamela Geller
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10NEWS:
Two Muslim women attacked in Tampa — We're learning about attacks on two Muslim women, right here in the Tampa Bay area. Their attorney says one of the women was shot at, and another one was nearly driven off the road — both because of their Muslim faith. — CONNECT
Discussion:
Raw Story, addictinginfo.org, U.S. Uncut and The Bob and Chez Show
Mark Bowden / Vanity Fair:
Donald Trump Really Doesn't Want Me to Tell You This, But ... Over a long weekend on assignment for Playboy magazine, Mark Bowden found that behind the garish Trump façade lies only more ugliness. — I spent a long, awkward weekend with Donald Trump in November 1996 …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Michele McPhee / ABC News:
Discussion:
Washington Times, AOL, RedState, Weasel Zippers, Rush Limbaugh, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Defense One, The Week, BizPac Review, Fox News Insider, Truth Revolt, Daily Mail, Independent Journal, Jammie Wearing Fools, Front Page Magazine, WRIC-TV, The Right Scoop, Vlad Tepes and abc7.com
kff.org:
Survey of Kentucky Residents on State Health Policy — Liz Hamel, Mira Norton, and Mollyann Brodie — Executive Summary — Kentucky has received national attention as the only Southern state to fully embrace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by creating its own state-based health insurance marketplace …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Wonk Wire and Moe Lane
New York Post:
Marco Rubio has already cut ObamaCare's throat — ObamaCare is on death watch. — On Wednesday, Cigna CEO David Cordani said the giant insurer won't commit to offering policies on the ObamaCare exchanges beyond next year. This, just two weeks after a similar announcement from the country's largest insurer, UnitedHealth.
Discussion:
Marco Rubio
David Frum / The Atlantic:
America's Immigration Challenge — On Wednesday, FBI director James Comey alleged that the San Bernardino shooters were already plotting a mass-murder attack on the United States before Tafsheen Malik received the K-1 visa admitting her to the United States. Her husband-to-be, Syed Farook, was born a U.S. citizen.
James Delingpole / Breitbart:
Leo DiCaprio Now Officially a Joke in Canada: Confuses Chinook Wind with Climate Change — Leonardo DiCaprio has spoken movingly about how he witnessed at first hand the horrors of climate change during the making of his Oscar-tipped movie The Revenant. — Most of the wintry revenge Western …
Discussion:
ABC and Barrel Strength
Campbell Brown / Politico:
Dear Former TV Colleagues, Give Us a Week Without Trump — To my former TV colleagues: Please stop. Just for one week, don't say his name. As many have already said, no presidential candidate in history has gotten this much free airtime. Let's stop being complicit in promoting his hateful and harmful demagoguery.
Discussion:
Liberal Values, Mediaite and FishbowlDC
Anthony Bond / Mirror.co.uk:
ISIS release chilling new ‘end of the world’ video showing final battle with ‘crusaders’ — The terror group have released footage showing an ISIS 'armoured vehicle advancing towards Colosseum in reference to the ‘armies of Rome’ … ISIS has released chilling new footage depicting its apocalyptic vision of the end of the world.
Discussion:
Daily Mail and John Hawkins' Right Wing News
New York Times:
San Bernardino Attackers' Friend Spoke of ‘Sleeper Cells’ — RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The regulars did not take it seriously when Enrique Marquez mused about terrorism at Morgan's Tavern, a dank dive bar where the bespectacled 24-year-old hauled ice, cleaned bathrooms and checked ID's at the door.
Discussion:
The Right Scoop
Christopher D. Shea / New York Times:
Banksy's Newest Works Make a Point About Immigration — LONDON — The graffiti artist Banksy unveiled his latest artworks on Friday — immigration-themed murals that he painted onto public spaces in and around the “jungle,” a refugee camp near Calais, France.
Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
WMUR booted from next Democratic debate — New Hampshire's most influential television station is being pushed out of next week's Democratic debate. — The reason? A labor dispute between a handful of employees at the station, WMUR, and its owner, the Hearst CorporationS.
Discussion:
RedState, Talking Points Memo, New York Times and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Christopher Ingraham / Washington Post:
Men are so lazy — I'm not sure exactly when my wife finished her Christmas shopping, but it seems like a long time ago. And ever since, she's been issuing me subtle warnings disguised as questions. — “Well, honey, I'm all done Christmas shopping — how about you?”
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Marginal REVOLUTION
Hadas Gold / Politico:
Charles Barkley bashes CNN, Donald Trump — Basketball legend, Turner Sports commentator and “NBA on TNT” co-host Charles Barkley ripped into his employer's sister channel CNN for its coverage of the 2016 election. — Barkley's comments came on “Inside the NBA” when host Ernie Johnson asked Barkley …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Booman Tribune and Independent Journal
Bryan Lowry / Wichita Eagle:
(Updated) Wichita lawmaker hired by Kansas Family Policy Council, letter says — Kansas Family Policy Council announces hiring of Rep. Steve Brunk in letter to supporters — Brunk said he won't be a lobbyist and might not need to leave the Legislature
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Associated Press
Mike McPhate / New York Times:
Discrimination by Airbnb Hosts Is Widespread, Report Says — Airbnb likes to refer to itself as less a company than a “community.” To that end, it has made trust between real people a cornerstone of its business strategy in short-term home rentals. — But new research suggests that when users get real, racism can result.
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Lindsey Graham: Trump Leading Because 40% Of GOP Voters Think Obama Is Kenyan Muslim — “I can promise you that Hillary Clinton will clean his clock,” Graham added. — Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said his presidential opponent Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Mediaite