News Nuggets 1122

DAYEE PICTURE: The Kali Gandaki River in Nepal.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT SENATE NUGGET!!
Elizabeth Warren Wins Senate Banking Committee Seat: Sources from the Huffington Post
"... the incoming senator will be tapped to serve on the Banking Committee, according to four sources familiar with the situation. It's a victory for progressives who battled to win her a seat on the panel that oversees the implementation of Dodd-Frank and other banking regulations."
Daily Kos comments on this appointment.

UP-FRONT HOUSE NUGGET!!
The Republican Civil War Begins from National Memo
"Typically, Housemembers are only removed from committees because of scandals. But the scandal here is that Boehner seems to be intent on taking control of his caucus by sending a message. That message? “You want good things in Congress and to have a good career? Better play along nicely,” a GOP aide told Roll Call." ... Republicans know they’re losing the ongoing debate about the so-called fiscal cliff. Speaker Boehner’s counteroffer was blasted by Americans for Prosperity, while right-wing journalists who spent the last year telling us how Mitt Romney would win are now increasingly critical of Republican tactics."

Fox News Chief’s Failed Attempt to Enlist Petraeus as Presidential Candidate (Bob Woodward) from the Washington Post
"The digital recording also provides a glimpse into the close relationship Petraeus had with the news media, especially Fox News. At one point, McFarland declared that “everybody at Fox loves you,” adding that Ailes had directed her to ask Petraeus whether “there [is] anything Fox is doing, right or wrong, that you want to tell us to do differently?”"

When Trying Harder Doesn't Work (Dan Lundquist) from the Chronicle of Higher Education
"Of course it would be melodramatic to suggest that higher education is facing barbaric assaults, but few people these days are dismissing the potentially devastating consequences of concerns about cost, content, and value."

Showdown at the Fiscal Cliff (David Frum) from the Daily Beast
"In his standoff with the GOP, the president’s packing heat. .. Nobody sings the song of cooperation more sweetly than President Obama. But singing is a performance art, and this president is performing now."

Republicans Losing Blame Game on Fiscal Cliff (Chris Cillizza) from the Washington Post
"A majority of Americans say that if the country goes over the fiscal cliff on Dec. 31, congressional Republicans should bear the brunt of the blame, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll, the latest sign that the GOP faces a perilous path on the issue between now and the end of the year."

Boehner Backlash Begins on Right Over Fiscal Cliff: Conservative Groups Tongue-lash Speaker for Fiscal Cliff Proposal from the National Journal 
"Scoot over Democrats. The Far Right is launching its own attacks against Speaker John Boehner’s fiscal-cliff counter proposal—a sign that unrest could be brewing within his House GOP Conference. ... Such rapid-fire conservative backlash underscores—once again—that the Ohioan and his leadership team face more than a tough fight to reach a compromise with Obama and Democrats to resolve a year-end fiscal crisis."

Right Fears ‘Purge’ As GOP Leadership Takes Control from Talking Points Memo
"Conservatives fear they’re being pushed aside by Republican leaders as the party looks to regroup from its election losses. “At the end of the day we lost seats in the House, we lost seats in the Senate, we couldn’t win the presidency, and the response is to purge conservatives,”..."

Republican Unity Frays Amid "Fiscal Cliff" Tension from Reuters
"Congressional Republicans had wanted to show a united front against President Barack Obama's demand for tax hikes, but their tenuous coalition showed signs of strain on Tuesday."

Magical Thinking in New GOP Fiscal Cliff Plan (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"This again underscores how unshakable the GOP refusal to raise tax rates on the rich remains. Rather than acquiesce on that front, Republicans are proposing an approach that would require a staggering array of mathematical gymnastics in order to avoid it."

Harry Reid: Filibuster Changes Will Take Place In January from the Huffington Post
“We're going to change the rules. We cannot continue in this way. I hope we can get something that the Republicans will work with us on.”

“The Socially Awkward Do It Better” (David Weigel) from Slate
"Meet the hip geeks who outwitted Mitt Romney and the Republicans."

Forty-nine Percent of Republicans Think Thing That Doesn't Exist Stole Election for Obama (David Nir) from Daily Kos
"49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. ... Ah, ACORN. Sort of the DuMont Network or Microsoft Zune of the political world, but hey, Republicans love to live in the past, right?"

Top FreedomWorks Staffers Depart in Wake of Armey's Resignation (Janie Lorber) from Roll Call
"In the past year, FreedomWorks’ leaders have become increasingly divided over the direction of the organization, multiple sources close to the group told Roll Call Tuesday."

Fox News Puts Karl Rove on the Bench (Gabriel Sherman) from New York Magazine
" According to multiple Fox sources, Ailes has issued a new directive to his staff: He wants the faces associated with the election off the air — for now. For Karl Rove and Dick Morris — a pair of pundits perhaps most closely aligned with Fox’s anti-Obama campaign — Ailes’s orders mean new rules."

The Case Against Hillary (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"An admirer explains: A campaign based on her inevitability and entitlement would crash and burn like it did in 2008."

2016-PRES: Brian Schweitzer, 2016 Dark Horse from the Washington Post 
"Schweitzer has already attracted the attention of national observers, and while he remains a little-known figure outside Montana, there are several reasons why he’d be an intriguing presidential candidate in four years."

HOLLYWOOD NUGGET!!
Oscar watch: The 10 Movies Most Likely to Score Best Picture Nominations Get an Early Leg Up on Your Oscar Pool with this Comprehensive Guide from The Week
"Some frontrunners have been in theaters for months; others have yet to be released. Which films are leading the Best Picture race? Here, a primer on 10 Best Picture hopefuls:..."