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Editors' Note — Earlier this morning, we posted a letter that was signed by Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris, sharply criticizing Caroline Kennedy. — This letter was a fake. It should not have been published. — Doing so violated both our standards and our procedures in publishing signed letters from our readers.
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Kennedy, Seen From Paris — To the Editor: — As mayor of Paris, I find Caroline Kennedy's bid for the seat of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton both surprising and not very democratic, to say the least. What title has Ms. Kennedy to pretend to Hillary Clinton's seat?

Bloomberg: Fight For Clinton's Seat ‘Getting Out Of Control’

Putting a CAP on Yglesias — It's been awhile since there's been a good, old fashioned “you can't do that in the blogosphere” controversy, but this morning Memeorandum brings us one in the form of a public rebuke to nomadic Center for American Progress (CAP) blogger Matthew Yglesias by CAP interim chief executive Jennifer Palmieri.
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Regarding ThinkProgress's Editorial Independence — Many throughout the blogosphere have been weighing in on the decision by our acting CEO, Jennifer Palmieri, to write a guest post on Matt Yglesias' ThinkProgress blog in defense of the group Third Way. — Palmieri's post was meant …

A Special Note Re: Third Way — This is Jennifer Palmieri, acting CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. — Most readers know that the views expressed on Matt's blog are his own and don't always reflect the views of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Discussion:
Jeffrey Goldberg, AmSpecBlog, Outside The Beltway, danieldrezner.com, Firedoglake, Ben Smith's Blogs, Talking Points Memo, Julian Sanchez, Newshoggers.com, Comments from Left Field, Brendan Nyhan, techPresident, Weekly Standard, bastard.logic, Open Left, The Politico, Althouse, John & Belle Have A Blog, Obsidian Wings, D-Day, Donkeylicious and Ta-Nehisi Coates

THE CAP KERFUFFLE.... You've probably heard a little bit about the blogospheric issue of the day. — If you're just joining us, the estimable Matt Yglesias had a brief item on Friday afternoon, principally about Barack Obama convincing centrists that an ambitious, progressive agenda is a great idea.
Discussion:
Crooked Timber

Cheney says top congressional Democrats complicit in spying — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — Dick Cheney's interview yesterday with Fox's Chris Wallace was filled with significant claims, but certainly among the most significant was his detailed narration of how the administration …

Sarah Palin: Conservative of the Year — Sarah Palin wins HUMAN EVENTS' prestigious “Conservative of the Year” Award for 2008 for her genius at annoying all the right people. The last woman to get liberals this hot under the collar would have been ... let's see now ... oh, yeah: Me!
Discussion:
Political Machine, Hot Air, Hullabaloo, The Reaction, The Other McCain, Salon and Balloon Juice
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EXCLUSIVE Interview With Sarah Palin — “Thank you, sir. It is an honor to be named your “Conservative of the Year.'” — That's how Sarah Palin began her third interview this year with HUMAN EVENTS Political Editor John Gizzi. She spoke to Gizzi last April as the first of 16 Republicans …

‘Watermelon Roll’: More Racism from ‘Team Sarah’ — There is something very ugly happening out there in the hinterlands these days—a brewing cauldron of racist anger being directed at President-elect Barack Obama as he and his family get ready to move into the White House.

Coleman camp projects win, if court helps — Sen. Norm Coleman's (R) campaign said Monday it expected to defeat Democrat Al Franken in the Minnesota Senate race — but only if the Minnesota Supreme Court grants them a key victory in a lawsuit. — Coleman campaign officials told reporters …
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TPM Election Central
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With most ballot challenges settled, Franken leads by 48 — With most ballot challenges settled, Democrat Al Franken holds a 48-vote lead over Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in the U.S. Senate recount, according to a Star Tribune analysis of a draft report from the Secretary of State's office.
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blogs, FiveThirtyEight.com, The Washington Independent and Real Clear Politics


5 men convicted of conspiracy in Fort Dix plot — CAMDEN, N.J. - Five Muslim immigrants accused of scheming to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix were convicted of conspiracy Monday in a case that tested the FBI's post-Sept. 11 strategy of infiltrating and breaking up terrorist plots in their earliest stages.
Discussion:
BBC, Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, Emptywheel, The Raw Story, Hot Air, This ain't Hell … and Atlas Shrugs
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For Conservative Radio, It's a New Dawn, Too — Amid all the pressures on the radio industry, news-talk stations see an opportunity — and his name is Barack Obama. — After eight years of playing defense for President Bush, the conservatives who dominate talk radio are back on offense.
Discussion:
Think Progress, PR Newswire, Hot Air, The American Mind, Matthew Yglesias, JammieWearingFool, Don Surber and TVNewser
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Poll finds public split on Obama aides' contacts with Blagojevich — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new national poll indicates Americans are split on whether aides to President-elect Barack Obama did something inappropriate in their contacts with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Life Without Bubbles — Whatever the new administration does, we're in for months, perhaps even a year, of economic hell. After that, things should get better, as President Obama's stimulus plan — O.K., I'm told that the politically correct term is now “economic recovery plan” — begins to gain traction.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, theheretik.us, The Reaction, The Mahatma X Files, Calitics, FiveThirtyEight.com and Matthew Yglesias


Washington Is Killing Silicon Valley — Entrepreneurship was taken for granted. Now we're seeing a lot less of it. — Even as economic losses and unemployment levels mount, America's most effective engine for wealth and job creation is being dangerously — perhaps fatally — compromised.

Arabs lavish jewels on Secretary of State Rice — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's foreign policies may be unpopular in the Middle East, but Arab leaders showered his top diplomat with jewelry worth far more than a quarter of a million dollars last year.
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Israel Matzav

Obama's Cabinet To The Right Of Democrats in Congress — In the 110th Congress, there were 236 Democrats in the U.S. House, 49 in the Senate, and two “Independents” who caucused with Democrats. Of those 287 congresscritters, 74 were members of the New Democratic Coalition, which is affiliated with the DLC.


Developers Ask U.S. for Bailout — With a record amount of commercial real-estate debt coming due, some of the country's biggest property developers have become the latest to go hat-in-hand to the government for assistance. — They're warning policymakers that thousands of office complexes …

Newspaper Shuns Web, and Thrives — With 2008 drawing to a brutal close on the media beat — bankruptcies, daily newspapers that are no longer daily, magazines that are downsizing into brochures — a little ray of light appeared in my e-mail inbox. It was from a newspaper owner, of all people.

Krugman in contact with the Obama team? — Yes. — When master economist, columnist, and plain ole intellectual (so few left these days) Paul Krugman was asked this morning* about whether or not he was “in communications” with the Obama administration regarding the economy, he declared …


Toyota Expects Its First Loss in 70 Years — TOKYO — Toyota Motor, the Japanese auto giant, said Monday that it expected its first operating loss in 70 years, underscoring how the economic crisis was spreading across the global auto industry. — On Monday, Toyota said it expected …
Discussion:
DealBook, The Reaction, theheretik.us, The New Republic, Liberty Street, Pam's House Blend, Emptywheel, Bloomberg and Daimnation!


Biden: I'll be different vice president — (CNN) — In an interview with CNN's Larry King that will air at 9 p.m. ET Monday, Vice President-elect Joseph Biden discussed what role he will play in decision-making at the White House. Biden also said the U.S. will remove combat troops from Iraq within two years.

Don't Sweat the Details? — Where's the Quirk? The seemingly infallible Nate Silver counts cloture votes on ‘card check,’ with a particular focus on Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln: … Except that Pryor is hemming and hawing too. ... P.S.: Does this mean we can abandon the grail-like quest …

Statement by the Press Secretary on Irresponsible Reporting by New York Times — Most people can accept that a news story recounting recent events will be reliant on ‘20-20 hindsight’. Today's front-page New York Times story relies on hindsight with blinders on and one eye closed.
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Caucus, Townhall.com, The Corner, theheretik.us, BizzyBlog, Moonbattery and Calculated Risk