News Nuggets 1132

DAYEE PICTURE: A purple nudibranch in the Pacific Ocean near Fiji.  From National Geographic.

A Desperate Need for Electricity in China and Other Developing Countries Is Fueling Global Coal Use (Robert Bryce) from the Daily Beast
"In the United States, natural gas and renewables are taking a bite out of coal’s market share. But outside America’s borders, massive electricity demand is fueling an insatiable demand for the stuff."

How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs in Mexico from the New York Times
"An examination by The New York Times found Wal-Mart de Mexico to be an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited."

What Drives Suicidal Mass Killers from the New York Times
"For years, the conventional wisdom has been that suicide terrorists are rational political actors, while suicidal rampage shooters are mentally disturbed loners. But the two groups have far more in common than has been recognized."

Shooter's Difficulties Dominated Mother's Life from the Washington Post via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"By all accounts, Nancy Jean Champion -- or Beanie, as her high school yearbook calls her -- had a charmed upbringing. Her mom was a school nurse. Her brother became a town police officer. And after she married her sweetheart in 1981, becoming Mrs. Peter J. Lanza, the couple built a house next door to her childhood home. "They were very nice people," said the owner of the local pizza shop here. "They are from a lovely family.""

Let’s Get M.A.D.D. About Guns (Joe Nocera) from the New York Times 
"Other countries have tightened their gun laws to good effect. Why not us?"

Gun Rights Advocates: Arm Our Teachers to Help Stop School Shootings from Salon
"Calls to let school officials carry concealed weapons gain momentum among gun rights activists and state lawmakers."

N.R.A. Faces a Challenge to Its Political Power from the New York Times 
"The Newtown tragedy may provide the National Rifle Association with the first genuine test of its power in decades."

The NRA’s Comeuppance from the Editorial Board of the New York Daily News 
"The Newtown tragedy is changing minds in Washington on gun control. ... Change must echo through the halls of Congress. Not next week, not next month. Now. As Newtown’s families begin the nightmarish task of burying their sons and daughters, give credit to gun-rights stalwarts Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mark Warner of Virginia for finally entertaining the possibility of limiting virtually unfettered access to assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. And heap shame upon the dozens of others who remain under the spell of the firearms lobby, which time and again has shrugged off mass murder as someone else’s business."

The NRA Has a Head Start Against Newly Energized Gun Control Advocates (David Freedlander) from the Daily Beast
"Americans anxious to join the fight for stricter gun-control laws in the wake of the Newtown school shooting are finding there isn’t much of a fight to join—and the NRA is supremely organized. David Freedlander reports."

A ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal is Near: Here are the Details (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"On the spending side, the Democrats’ headline concession will be accepting chained-CPI, which is to say, accepting a cut to Social Security benefits."

Poll of Republicans in PA Hints Mood is for Compromise from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A month after their candidate fell short of the presidency, Pennsylvania Republicans are unable to name a person they see as their party leader, and they believe Congress should compromise with President Barack Obama to resolve the looming set of federal spending cuts and tax increases, according to a Mercyhurst University poll."

Tea Party at a Crossroads (Salena Zito) from Real Clear Politics
"“We originally made the decision to not form a third party and stick with the Republicans because we understood that would almost guarantee that (Democratic candidates) would win,” he said. “However, as the fiscal cliff negotiations continue and Washington Republicans are beginning to cave, that may become an option.”"

Looking Back on 2012 Cycle's Long and Winding Road (Stuart Rothenberg) from Roll Call
"...some events and outcomes certainly surprised me or proved me wrong."

DOCUMENTARY NUGGET!!
Scorsese Making HBO Documentary About Bill Clinton from Rolling Stone Magazine
"Martin Scorsese is working on an HBO documentary on former president Bill Clinton that the director hopes will "provide greater insight" into the 42nd president. Scorsese is producing and directing the film with cooperation from Clinton."
Is there going to be any pretense to objectivity with this film?

HISTORY MOVIE NUGGET!!
"Lincoln" vs. Lincoln (Hendrick Hertzberg) from the New Yorker
"A week or so ago, in a packed auditorium at (where else?) the Lincoln Square multiplex, I saw “Lincoln” at last. Two days later, I saw it again. I was disappointed the first time, and I’ll try to explain why. Then I’ll try to explain why I went to see it again, and why I reacted somewhat differently the second time around."

News Nuggets 1131

DAYLEE PICTURE: A goby swims above a giant clam in the Pacific Ocean.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT MEMORIAL NUGGET!!
Watch Obama Speeches on Newtown, Aurora, Tucson & More (VIDEO) (Ben Teitelbaum) from the Daily Beast
In case you missed it, Obama's speech at the Newtown memorial service was very good!!
"It’s the fourth time the president has had to ‘comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings.’ See Obama’s addresses on Sandy Hook Elementary, the Aurora movie theater, the Wisconsin Sikh temple, and a Tucson supermarket."

After Newtown Shooting, the NRA Museum Is Silent and Somber (Lloyd Grove) from the Daily Beast
"They might be famous for being diehards, but Lloyd Grove finds the NRA museum silent and somber the day after the Newtown shooting—and some who are willing to admit some more gun laws are needed."

Newtown School Shooter’s Mother Collected Guns, was Loath to Let People Inside Home from the Washington Post
" Her former sister-in law, Marsha Lanza, told the Chicago Sun-Times outside her home in Crystal Lake, Ill., that Nancy Lanza wanted guns for protection. “She prepared for the worst,” Marsha Lanza told the newspaper. “I didn’t know that they [the guns] would be used on her.”

Why the South Loves Guns (David Sessions) from the Daily Beast
"Southerners worship firearms as the ultimate anti-government symbol—which is why they will never accept gun control, no matter how many children die."

Our Moloch (Garry Wills) from the New York Review of Books
"That horror cannot be blamed just on one unhinged person. It was the sacrifice we as a culture made, and continually make, to our demonic god. We guarantee that crazed man after crazed man will have a flood of killing power readily supplied him. We have to make that offering, out of devotion to our Moloch, our god. The gun is our Moloch."

Unreason on Health Care (E.J. Dionne) from Real Clear Politics
"Conservatives who were once genuinely interested in finding market-based alternatives to government-provided health insurance have, since the rise of Obamacare, continued to make choices that are dysfunctional, even from their own point of view."

Senate Filibuster Reform Closing In On Majority (Ryan Grim) from the Huffington Post
"Advocates of what's come to be called the "talking filibuster" are closing in on the majority needed to reform the rules, according to a whip count compiled by The Huffington Post, based on interviews with Democratic senators and with reform advocates who have spoken with senators."

Why Republican Efforts to Block Obama Won’t Work This Time (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Republicans came roaring back after defeat in 2008. But don’t bet on it happening again. Michael Tomasky on why the GOP’s obstructionist tactics are bound to backfire."

GOP Leaders Finally Ready to Cave on Taxing the Rich (Daniel Gross) from the Daily Beast
"Boehner, McConnell, and other key Republicans are signaling they’ll agree to make the top 2 percent pay more. Many GOP House members still aren’t on board, but they need to realize the war over higher taxes on the rich is over, says Daniel Gross."

John Boehner Proposes Debt Ceiling Lift For One Year: Reports from the Huffington Post
"House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has offered to take the debt ceiling off the table for one year, the Washington Post and CBS News reported Sunday, marking a breakthrough in the speaker's fiscal cliff negotiations with President Obama."

Three Lessons from the Near-Final Popular Vote from the Los Angeles Times 
"More than five weeks after election day, almost all the presidential votes have been counted. Here’s what the near-final tally reveals: ... White House aides now brag that Obama seems all but certain to achieve a mark hit by only five others in U.S. history – winning the presidency twice with 51% or more of the popular vote."

Jockeying Begins for Mass. Senate Seat, Even Before it's Vacant from CNN 
"Get ready Massachusetts: Another special election to fill a U.S. Senate seat may be coming your way. And jockeying is already underway among potential candidates, even before it's official there will actually be vacant seat and an election."

Dukakis Seen as Possible Senate Replacement if Kerry Tapped for State (Alexander Bolton) from The Hill
"Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, may be headed back to the political spotlight as he’s considered a likely interim replacement for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). President Obama is set to tap Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of State, according to media reports."

Scott Brown No Sure Thing as John Kerry Successor from Politico
"Though Brown is far better known than any of his potential Democratic rivals — Reps. Ed Markey, Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch top the current list — he’d also enter his third Senate campaign in four years with fresh wounds and new baggage."

Life After Sex Work (Melissa Petro) from the Daily Beast
"Fired from her schoolteaching job after revealing she had once been a Craigslist call girl, Melissa Petro describes the world that awaits people who leave the trade."

CALIFORNIA POLITICS NUGGET!!
With a Supermajority, California Democrats Begin to Make Plans from the New York Times
"The Democratic Party has controlled the California Legislature for a nearly unbroken stretch of 42 years. Yet control goes only so far: it takes two-thirds of the Legislature to enact a host of important
legislation in this state, meaning that even the diminished Republican Party has been able to easily frustrate Democratic ambitions. But with a swell of electoral victories in November, the Democratic Party has now crossed that boundary and controls two-thirds of both the Senate and the Assembly, giving it the kind of unfettered power that no party has had here for 80 years."

News Nuggets 1130

DAYLEE PICTURE: Fir trees in the Black Forest in Germany.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT DOWN-IS-UP GUN CONTROL NUGGET!!
Day Before Connecticut Shooting Massacre, Michigan Legislature Passed Bill Allowing Guns In Classrooms (Scott Keyes) from Think Progress
"On Thursday, one day before the tragedy in Connecticut where at least 29 people were killed at an elementary school, the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature passed a bill that would allow people to bring guns into schools."

Every Day is the Day to Talk About Gun Control (David Frum) from the Daily Beast
"It's bad enough to have a gun lobby. It's the last straw when that lobby also sets up itself as the civility police. It may not be politically possible to do anything about the prevalence of weapons of mass murder. But it damn well ought to be possible to complain about them - and about the people who condone them. "

Twelve Facts About Guns and Mass Shootings in the United States (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"What follows here isn’t a policy agenda. It’s simply a set of facts — many of which complicate a search for easy answers — that should inform the discussion that we desperately need to have."

The Geography of U.S. Gun Violence from the Atlantic (Richard Florida) from the Atlantic
"These events prompted me to examine the geography of gun violence here on Cities this past July, based upon a prior analysis for The Atlantic. Both posts relied upon state-level data for 2008 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"

Killer’s Mother, His First Victim, Was a Gun Enthusiast, Friends Say from the New York Times
"Friends and neighbors said Nancy Lanza, her son Adam’s first victim Friday, was generous but also high-strung."

Do We Have the Courage to Stop This? (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"There’s an epic contrast between the heroism of teachers facing a gunman and the fecklessness of politicians who won’t stand up to N.R.A."

Connecticut School Shooting Tragedy Ups Gun-Control Pressure on Obama from Politico
"...this time, the immediate, impassioned calls for new gun-control measures far outstripped the reaction to a series of other recent shooting sprees across the country, including at a Colorado movie theater, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and a shopping mall in Oregon."

The Working Class Epidemic of Demoralization (Matt Lewis) from The Week 
"While coastal elites overindulge, struggling Americans in flyover country feel they have little to live for or believe in By Matt K. Lewis."

Is the Conservative Dream in its Death Throes? (Ryu Spaeth) from The Week 
"[From Peggy Noonan] Republicans are now in the habit of editing their views, and they've been in it for 10 years. The Bush White House suppressed dissent; talk radio stars functioned as enforcers; the angrier parts of the base, on the internet, attempted to silence critical thinkers. Orthodoxy was everything, or orthodoxy as some defined it."

Republicans Need to Talk (Peggy Noonan) from the Wall Street Journal 
"There are many disagreements in the GOP, but they've not always been aired. For the past 10 years the party has operated under an ethic of Questioning the Team Is Disloyal, Dissent Is Disloyal, as Is Criticism.  This has been a recipe not for peace but for disaster. Which is what we saw on Nov. 6."

At the Mercy of Backbenchers (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post 
"Boehner is right — seriously. The administration hasn’t been treating the “fiscal cliff” talks as a substantial negotiation, and for one very good reason: It’s not clear it has anybody to negotiate with."

GOP Fears Voters' Long Memory on Taxes (David M. Drucker) from Roll Call 
"As Republicans traverse the fiscal cliff, a contentious vote they took four years ago and a midterm election still two years away are casting long shadows."

Source: Obama has chosen John Kerry as Secretary of State from the Chicago Sun-Times
"President Barack Obama has chosen Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to be the next secretary of state, a source has told Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed. His replacement as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the Sneed source said."

If Kerry Goes to State, Who Will Succeed Him? The Guessing Begins (David Freedlander) from the Daily Beast
"If Obama picks John Kerry as his next secretary of State, Massachusetts’ political strangeness and a wide open field make picking his replacement a juicy guessing game for political junkies. Meanwhile, Scott Brown lurks. By David Freedlander."

HIDDEN TREASURES NUGGET!!
Unearthed 2012: Best Finds Of The Year (PHOTOS) from the Huffington Post 
"The find was hailed as the second-biggest mammoth discovery in the entire history of paleontology. But this is just one of the most amazing archeological breakthroughs this year that deserve kudos."

News Nuggets 1129

DAYLEE PICTURE: A family of polar bears relaxing together in Waspusk National Park in Canada.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Assad's Playbook Is Now Empty (Robin Wright) from the Atlantic
"The last of the three conditions keeping Syria's dictator in power finally collapsed this week."

Under Siege, Damascus Gets Desperate for Food and Fuel (Mikel Ayestaran) from the Daily Beast
"As rebel fighters advance on the Syrian capital, those caught in the middle suffer from food, gas, and power shortages. Mikel Ayestaran on how Damascus residents are struggling to ride out the storm."

American Bull (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times
"... this may seem like an odd moment to be bullish on America. But I am. The main reason is the huge shift already underway in the politics of energy and oil. The change has been underappreciated. It may be summed up in a single sentence buried in the 166-page study just published by the U.S. National Intelligence Council: “By 2020, the U.S. could emerge as a major energy exporter.”"
I am not nearly so optimistic as Mr. Cohen about America's energy future.

Fed Ties Stimulus to Jobs, Inflation in Unprecedented Steps to Bolster Economy from the Washington Post
"The Federal Reserve will take steps to bolster the economy until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent or inflation looks likely to exceed 2.5 percent, the central bank said Wednesday in a historic move that for the first time specifies the Fed’s goals for the nation’s economy."

Jobless Claims Fall Sharply, Recover from Sandy from Reuters
"The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell for a fourth straight week last week, pointing to steady healing in the labor market."

The G.O.P.’s Existential Crisis (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times 
"...what we’re having is a political crisis, born of the fact that one of our two great political parties has reached the end of a 30-year road. The modern Republican Party’s grand, radical agenda lies in ruins — but the party doesn’t know how to deal with that failure, and it retains enough power to do immense damage as it strikes out in frustration."

Rove: Obama Wants Republican “Civil War” (Jillian Rayfield) from Salon
"Obama is playing the long game in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, Rove says ... In an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove accused President Obama of pushing for a “civil war” within the Republican Party, and using the “fiscal cliff” negotiations to shore up his party’s position for 2014."
Boy, THAT OBAMA!  He is SOOO mean!!

On The ‘Fiscal Cliff’ from the National Memo
"Here are five reasons the Republicans have little to no leverage on the “fiscal cliff” other than a threat that the president will begin his second term cleaning up another Republican-sparked economic crisis."

Resisting the 'No Surrender' Temptation (Philip Klein) from the Washington Examiner
A modestly sane conservative expresses his skepticism of fellow right-wingers. "Like most conservatives, I don't want to see Republicans cave in to President Obama's demands for higher taxes. ... At the same time, though, the conservative arguments for how Republicans can get everything they want from Obama -- if only they stand firm -- are thoroughly unconvincing."

Destructive Anti-Tax Fanaticism (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post 
"Republicans ran in the last election on a platform hugely tilted towards spending cuts. Republicans, of course, lost that election. Yet here you have a House conservative continuing to insist on an absurdly lopsided imbalance. It’s as if the election never happened."

A Quiet Shove for Susan Rice (Ruth Marcus) from the Washington Post 
"... although I do not think this was conscious on the part of her critics, I cannot help but believe that the attack had something to do with Rice’s gender, and her bristly, non-traditionally feminine demeanor. As I wrote a few weeks ago, “The model of female leader has morphed from Iron Lady to soft power. And the controversy over Rice stems in part from the fact that she does not fit comfortably into this model of collegial, nurturing, division-healing woman.”"
I very much agree with Marcus on this.  All you need to do is read the next item by conservative Lloyd Grove at the Daily Beast to see this:

Susan Rice’s Personality 'Disorder' (Lloyd Grove) from the Daily Beast 
"Brusque. Aggressive. Undiplomatic. The adjectives used to describe the ambassador aren’t kind. Lloyd Grove on Susan Rice’s polarizing temperament—and why that may matter more than Benghazi."
You have to ask yourself: where were these complaints when W appointed John Bolton as US Ambassador to the UN?!  Bolton was the most "Brusque. Aggressive. Undiplomatic (and yes, polarizing)" person I have ever seen nominated for a key diplomatic post!! Ah, -- but you see it's not a problem being these things ... if you are a man.

GOP State Leaders Fumble by Ceding Control of Health Exchanges to Federal Officials, Critics Say (N.C. Aizenman) from the Washington Post
"Faced with a deadline today to submit plans for running the insurance exchange at heart of health-care law, vast majority of GOP-led states plan to work with the federal government."

EPA to Tighten Soot Rules by 20 Percent from the Washington Post
Another reason (if one was needed) why it makes a huge difference having Obama in the White House versus some GOPer.
"The Environmental Protection Agency will tighten the nation’s soot standards by 20 percent Friday, a move that will force communities across the country to improve air quality by the end of the decade while making it harder for some industries to expand operations without strict
pollution controls."

The Clinton Model: What the Republican Party Can Learn from Hillary (Ana Marie Cox) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Four years ago she was beaten and bitter, and now she's practically a shoo-in for 2016. GOP contenders, take note."

In Ignorance We Trust (Timothy Egan) from the New York Times
"... history, the formal teaching and telling of it, has never been more troubled. Two forces, one driven by bottom-line educators answering to corporate demands to phase out the liberal arts, the other coming from the circular firing squad of academics who loathe popular histories, have done much to marginalize our shared narratives."

CHRISTMAS TOY NUGGET!!
All They Want for Christmas from the Daily Beast
"In the spirit of holiday nostalgia, The Daily Beast combed the records of Christmases past for a look at the top-selling toy crazes over the last three decades."

News Nuggets 1128

DAYLEE PICTURE: The Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT PUNDIT NUGGET!!
Doomsday Conservatives: Too Many Hormones, Too Little Plan (David Frum) from the Daily Beast
"I wrote a short blog post suggesting that this doomsday approach was poorly considered. Thiessen rebutted with a laconic Tweet: "Frum votes for surrender." ... Unfortunately, it's exactly this mode of thinking that has brought the GOP to its present sorry pass. ... Over the past four years, Republicans have suffered from a combination of tactical radicalism joined to strategic nihilism."

We Have To End Republican Nihilism (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast 
"... we should be clear what using the debt ceiling as blackmail really is; it is not an attempt to cut spending, which is accomplished through budget legislation. It is a refusal to make good on the very decisions the Congress has already made on spending and taxation. It is the equivalent of not paying your rent as a way to protest the price you already signed up for. It's grotesquely irresponsible, and after the last election, reflects a near delusional amnesia and contempt for the voters. "

How the GOP Lost National Security (Nikolas K. Gvosdev) from the National Interest
"Republicans abandoned Reagan's optimistic pragmatism for their own brand of idealism. ... No Republican candidate can rely on an automatic pro-Republican "national-security constituency" in future elections."

Democrats Declare Checkmate in Fiscal Cliff Debate (Chris Frates) from National Journal
"In the ongoing fiscal cliff chess match playing out on Capitol Hill, Democrats have a message for Republicans: checkmate. Democrats look at the political landscape and see a win whether a deal gets cut now or after the country goes over the cliff. Worst-case scenario, they say, the House will approve legislation the Senate passed in July extending Bush-era tax cuts for everyone but the rich, an idea that Republican House Speaker John Boehner has flatly rejected."

After 22 Years of Budget Inflexibility, Can the GOP Re-embrace Compromise? (Ronald Brownstein) from National Journal
"The party spent two decades transforming from belt-tighteners to tax-cutters. To win, it may have to go back."

First Thoughts: GOP Goes Off the Image Cliff (Chuck Todd et al.) from MSNBC
"...our new NBC/WSJ poll shows that the Republican Party has already gone off one cliff, per co-pollster Peter Hart (D) -- the image cliff. ...  there’s another way to look at the poll: Republicans have a lot to gain, too. And if they want to be a competitive national party again and not simply a regional, rural party, they need to make gains."

As Fiscal Cliff Nears, Democrats Have Public Opinion on Their Side from the Pew Research Center
"The Democrats are in a strong position with the public as they engage in negotiations to find a solution to the fiscal cliff crisis. Barack Obama’s first post-reelection job approval rating has risen to 55%, up five points since July and 11 points since the start of the year. ... The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Dec. 5-9 among 1,503 adults, finds that the current problems for the GOP run deep."

The Republican Brand Problem (Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake) from the Washington Post
"One thing comes through loud and clear in the new NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll: Republicans have a major brand problem. Consider the following findings in the NBC/WSJ poll:..."

Jim DeMint: The Fireman Ed of Politics (Matt Taibbi) from Rolling Stone Magazine
"Privately, what you hear on the Hill is more and more complaining that Tea Party extremism of the DeMint type has not only cost Republicans the Senate ... but perhaps the White House as well. ... This is going to get ugly, like Atlanta Housewives-catfight ugly, before all is said and done."

The Best and Worst of the 2012 Campaigns, Part II (Stuart Rothenberg) from Roll Call
" Part II of my guide of the best and worst of the 2012 election cycle features some usual and a few more unusual categories."

Susan Rice Learns What It's Really Like to Be Hillary (Garance Franke-Ruta) from the Atlantic
"Sure, everyone loves Clinton now. But first she had to survive a decade-and-a-half of right wing attacks."

The Democratic Party's Future Now Depends on Hillary Clinton (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
"More than any other politician in America, her candidacy would change the contours of the next election."

Hillary 2016! Why Clinton Needs—but Won’t Get—a Break from Public Life (Walter Shapiro) from Yahoo News
"In an interview with the New York Times columnist Gail Collins, Clinton revealed her fantasy for 2013 after she takes her final globe-girdling flight as secretary of state: “I just want to sleep and exercise and travel for fun. And relax. It sounds so ordinary, but I haven’t done it for 20 years. I would like to see whether I can get untired.”"

A Taxonomy of Republican Hopefuls (John Dickerson) from Slate
"Meet the truth teller, the compassionate conservative, the coalition whisperer, and the doer. These are the GOP’s new, would-be leaders."

HOBBIT NEW ZEALAND NUGGET!!
Why Middle Earth is So Precious for New Zealand (Joshua Keating) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Internationally successful films have long been a great way to get your country on the international cultural map. Exodus gave American audiences of 1960 not just a Jewish Paul Newman but a heroic vision of the founding of Israel. The 1972 cult classic The Harder They Come introduced the world to Jamaican music and Rastafarian culture, making an international star of Jimmy Cliff and paving the way for Bob Marley. But New Zealand's embrace of the Lord of the Rings movies is still pretty unique, particularly given that the movies don't take place in that country -- but in a mythical world of orcs and elves."

News Nuggets 1127

DAYLEE PICTURE: Mecca during the height of the Haj,  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

The Resurrection of Liberalism (DeWayne Wickham) from USA Today
"Liberals have not had a better year since 1965 and Voting Rights Act."

Big 3 Automakers Reportedly Worried About Michigan Right To Work Legislation (Amanda Terkel) from the Huffington Post
"While one of Michigan's biggest industries remains silent in public on the debate over so-called right-to-work legislation, privately they are worried about the impact it will have on its workforce, according to one of the figures closest to the automotive industry."

Justice Antonin Scalia in Hot Water Again Over Homosexual Comments (Paul Campos) from the Daily Beast
"Of course Scalia is biased against gays—but that’s not the real problem with his tactless homophobic screeds, writes Paul Campos."

Obama Whipping Boehner in Fiscal Cliff Showdown (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"New poll shows public siding with president by huge margin."

Obama Wins Almost 50% Republicans on Tax Mandate in Poll from the Bloomberg News Service
"President Barack Obama won the public argument over taxes so decisively that almost half of Republicans now say he has an election mandate to raise rates on the rich. Majorities of about 2-to-1 also read the election results as an endorsement of Obama’s pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare benefits, according to a Bloomberg National Poll of 1,000 adults conducted Dec. 7-10."

As Fiscal Talks Heat Up, Questions on Whether Boehner Can Get the Votes from the New York Times
"With negotiations quickening on Tuesday to prevent a year-end fiscal crisis, White House officials once again are confronting a vexing question: Can Speaker John A. Boehner deliver enough Republican votes for whatever deficit-reduction plan he and President Obama might decide?"

John Boehner Getting Bad Reviews on ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Talks (Jon Cohen, Scott Clement and Aaron Blake) from the Washington Post
"By a better than 2-to-1 margin, registered voters disapprove rather than approve of House Speaker John Boehner’s performance during the fiscal cliff talks, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll – a negative rating due in large part to the lack of uniform support for him among Republicans."

To Save His Second Term, Obama Must Go Over the Fiscal Cliff (Noam Scheiber) from the New Republic
"They will see that they have been completely repudiated by the public in a way that even the election didn't impress on them. It will, in other words, be as close as you get in politics to a total victory for one side. It will highlight the perils of following one's base too slavishly, a lesson that will come in handy not just on future fiscal policy fights (there will in all ..."

Best and Worst Of the 2012 Campaigns: Part I (Stuart Rothenberg) from Roll Call
"After three successive partisan wave elections, the overarching takeaway from the 2012 cycle is that candidates and the campaigns they run still matter. Up and down the ballot — from the presidential race to Senate contests to various House races — we saw examples of how the strength of one candidate/campaign (or the sheer ineptitude of another) made the difference on Election Day."

GOP Tries to Quell Dissent on Taxes from Politico
"The growing number of GOP defectors on taxes is causing heartburn in Republican ranks and prompting fresh fears that the party is giving President Barack Obama crucial leverage in the fiscal cliff negotiations."

Which Path for the Right? (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"...the most disturbing aspect of the Michigan power grab is what it says about where the conservative argument may go. Those willing to expand the appeal of conservatism by refreshing it will face opposition from those who would try to make new thinking unnecessary. They’d simply rig the rules to chip away at the political capacity of groups that don’t buy into conservative orthodoxy."

McConnell Highly Unpopular from Public Policy Polling
"Mitch McConnell is the most unpopular Senator in the country. Only 37% of Kentucky voters approve of him to 55% disapprove. Both in terms of raw disapproval (55%) and net approval (-18) McConnell has the worst numbers of any of his peers, taking that mantle from Nebraska's Ben Nelson."

GOP Pollster: Republicans Have ‘Run Out Of’ White Voters from Talking Points Memo
"Republicans need to dramatically improve their standing with Latino voters or risk becoming a “regional party” of disaffected whites, according to a study released Wednesday by a GOP pollster. “Republicans have run out of persuadable white voters,” Resurgent Republic pollster Whit Ayres and the conservative Hispanic Leadership Network’s Jennifer Korn concluded in a memo detailing the results of the study."

Choose Your Own Voters (David Weigel) from Slate
"The GOP is already plotting how to marginalize urban voters in the next election."

Why Hillary Clinton Would Be Strong in 2016 (It’s Not Her Favorability Ratings) (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"For all the reasons I mentioned at the top, she seems like Democrats’ best bet, perhaps by some margin, to extend their winning streak to three or more terms in the White House. If she ran even a point or two stronger than a “generic” Democrat, the odds would shift meaningfully in her favor, holding other circumstances equal."

6 Things Money Shouldn’t Be Able to Buy (Lynn Stuart Parramore) from Alternet
"From cushy prison cells to human kidneys, some things just shouldn't be for sale."

DOG RESCUE NUGGET!!
Another inspiring video of a Hope-for-Paws dog rescue!

DOG COSTUME NUGGET!!
Look out! Here comes Spider-dog: Terrier with the best fancy dress wardrobe in the world from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"At first glance, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled across a giant spider in the wilderness. But it is, ahem, in fact a dog - posing in fancy dress. And the pet's arachnid costume is by no means the most unusual outfit in its wardrobe."

News Nuggets 1126

DAYLEE PICTURE: A winter morning in Yosemite.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT PUNDIT NUGGET!!
How the Mainstream Press Bungled the Single Biggest Story of the 2012 Campaign (Dan Froomkin) from the Huffington Post
Boy, it has been ages since Froomkin made an appearance among the nuggets! He became much more predictably partisan after he moved over from the Washington Post to the Huffington Post.
"...according to longtime political observers Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, campaign coverage in 2012 was a particularly calamitous failure, almost entirely missing the single biggest story of the race: Namely, the radical right-wing, off-the-rails lurch of the Republican Party, both in terms of its agenda and its relationship to the truth."

‘Thanks for Ruining My Life’ from Newsweek
"A teen tweets against her attackers—and upends the courts."

Woman Denied Driver’s License In Wife’s Name from CBS
"For the year since she married her partner, waitress Cynthia Landis has legally been a Landis. It’s the name on her Social Security card, her District of Columbia marriage certificate and her Virginia driver’s license. But the state of West Virginia won’t recognize it. The Division of Motor Vehicles won’t issue the Romney resident a driver’s license in that name because she’s married to a woman, and state law forbids the agency from recognizing any documents related to a same-sex marriage."
Daily Kos comments on this case here.

Medicaid Expansion: States Must Meet Obamacare Standards To Get Full Federal Funding (Jeffrey Young) from the Huffington Post
"States must expand Medicaid all the way if they want to receive full Obamacare funding, federal officials said Monday."
Catch the word: "must".

Marco Rubio and the Coming Conservative Revolt (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"... the future of the party is already taking shape, and that future will be, in some form or fashion, a conservative reaction against the Republican leadership that has sold them out. The smarter Republicans have already shaken off the trauma of electoral defeat and begun positioning themselves to capitalize."

Republicans Mugged by Reality on Election Day (Jon Perr) from Daily Kos 
"...while most polling analysts predicted a comfortable Electoral College triumph for Barack Obama on Nov. 6, by all indications Team Romney and the GOP brain trust truly believed their own cooked-up numbers. That's what makes their subsequent shock and awe at Romney's crushing defeat all the more fitting. Because after years of slandering President Obama and misleading voters with myths about taxes, debt, health care, Iraq and so much else, on Election Day Republicans duped only themselves."

Why the Fiscal Cliff Is Causing a Nervous Breakdown on the Right (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"From Joe Scarborough to Bill Kristol to Rush Limbaugh, the post-election recriminations are getting heated on the slow march to the fiscal cliff. Howard Kurtz on why the GOP is at war with itself."

Obama-GOP Cliff Talks Take Positive Turn from the Wall Street Journal 
"Neither Side Gives Details, but Strict Moratorium on Public Comments Is Considered Sign of Progress at Bargaining Table."

Dozens Of Republicans Open To Bucking Norquist Pledge: See The Full List from Talking Points Memo
"For all the talk of Grover Norquist’s ironclad grip on the GOP, a large and growing number of Republicans say they’ve renounced the anti-tax activist’s pledge against raising taxes."

Election Sharpens the Partisan Divide (Gerald Seib) from the Wall Street Journal
"... as the dust settles from last month's election, the findings that emerge in many ways illustrate just how stark the partisan divides are across the land. Even as President Barack Obama won with relative ease in the Electoral College, Republican areas appeared to be growing darker red, while Democratic regions seemed to be growing darker blue."

The Obama Campaign's Real Heroes (Tim Dickinson) from Rolling Stone Magazine
"Meet 10 key operatives who got the president re-elected."

Republicans Must Wise Up (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post 
"The biggest problem the Republican Party faces is not uninspiring candidates or unsound tactics. It is unpopular ideas. This reality was brought home in last month’s election. It’s playing out in the struggle over how to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” And we’ll see it again in coming fights over immigration, entitlements, inequality and a host of other issues. Here’s the sad thing: Republicans get this stuff so wrong that Democrats aren’t even forced to go to the trouble of getting it right."

RNC Launches Official Review on 2012 Election (Updated) from Politico 
"The Republican National Committee is rolling out a plan to review what worked and what didn't for the party in the 2012 cycle, appointing five people at the top of a committee that will make recommendations on things like demographics, messaging and fundraising."

Will the RNC's "recommendations" make any difference?  I doubt it.  Why?  Because of people like this:
Dick Armey Blames GOP For Congressional Setbacks from the Huffington Post 
"Dick Armey, who until recently led the conservative group FreedomWorks, said some GOP candidates said "stupid things" that party leaders should have taught them to avoid saying. He said Republicans had a lot of candidates who did "dumb things" during their campaigns."
Now -- WHO put forward these people who said "stupid things" and did "dumb things" -- dare we even call them dumb and stupid candidates?! (Perish the thought).  It was Armey's own Tea Party legions.  God damn those party beltway insiders who didn't train those candidates not to say or do those things!  For Armey, it wasn't their ideas -- it was their lack of training and development!  And of course that's the responsibility of beltway people!

Why Yes, Liberals Do Competely Control The Media, And They Use It, Very Successfully, To Advance Their Political Agenda from Ace of Spades HQ 
"Chait makes a point that usually falls to right-wingers to make: that Hollywood liberals are pleased to take credit for their power to change hearts and minds and therefore the culture when it suits them, but plead otherwise when it doesn’t. The truth is, they really do have this power, and, as Chait avers, have triumphed completely."
I actually find that I agree with much of the analysis here -- all though of course I totally disagree with much of the subversive/catastrophic meaning he assigns to it.

Mitt in the Afterlife (Josh Marshall) from Talking Points Memo
"Part of what gets my attention about these photos — and perhaps others are the same way — is that Romney seems a lot more normal in his political afterlife than he did before November 7th."

Newt Gingrich: If Hillary Clinton Runs In 2016, Republicans 'Incapable Of Competing' (VIDEO) from the Huffington Post
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regularly brushes off the idea of a 2016 presidential bid. But if she were to run, at least one prominent Republican thinks his party would be completely outmatched. "The
Republican party is incapable of competing at that level," Gingrich said during an appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press.""
A first: I TOTALLY agree with Newt.

What Hillary Wants (Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake) from the Washington Post
"Privately, there seems little question that Clinton has yet to turn her mind to whether she wants to run again and/but those around her — up to and including her husband — want badly for her to make the race. (Bill Clinton cannot — and will not — ever get enough of politics. God love him.)"

News Nuggets 1125

DAYLEE PICTURE: Glen Affric Lake in Scotland earlier this year.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

UP-FRONT PUNDIT NUGGET!!
It is rare that I find Maureen Dowd's views to be worthy of nugget status -- but today's hard-hitting piece is an exception!
A Lost Civilization (Maureen Dowd) from the New York Times
"The Mayans were right, as it turns out, when they predicted the world would end in 2012. It was just a select world: the G.O.P. universe of arrogant, uptight, entitled, bossy, retrogressive white guys. Just another vanishing tribe that fought the cultural and demographic tides of
history."

Obama's Approval Rises after Election to Highest Level Since Death of bin Laden from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"More Americans say the nation is heading in the right direction now than at any time since the start of Obama's first term."

Obama Trusted on Economy from the New York Times
"When it comes to dealing with the country’s economic problems, Americans give President Obama the upper hand, according to a national poll released Friday. Nearly half, 48 percent, said they trust Mr. Obama more to develop solutions to the nation’s economic problems, compared with the 32 percent who trust Congressional Republicans more."

Why the GOP Won't Admit Supply-Side Econ Has Failed (Mark Thoma) from the Fiscal Times
"The payoffs from tax cuts that were promised during the Bush years have not been realized, and the failed promises about growth and revenue have damaged the health, education, and retirement programs the working class depends upon in our increasingly globalized economy."

Good Pol Should Never say Never (Leonard Pitts) from the Miami Herald 
"If you want the truth of why a trickle of GOP lawmakers is suddenly willing to blaspheme the holy scripture of their faith, it’s simple. The pledge used to be politically expedient. Now it is not."

On Entitlements, Republicans are Ready to Take Any Victory They Can Get from Politico
"The script for a fiscal cliff deal was always supposed to be simple: Democrats would win on taxes. Republicans would win on entitlements. But what kind of victory can Republicans really hope to win? They’re going to have to lower their sights — by a lot — from the big ideas they pushed in the presidential campaign."

In Talks, G.O.P. May Have to Just Say Yes (Robert Frank) from the New York Times
"Negotiations between the president and Congressional Republicans hinge on a concept outlined in a book called “Getting to Yes.”"

Dinosaurs and Denial (Charles Blow) from the New York Times
"According to a June Gallup report, most Republicans (58 percent) believed that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years. Most Democrats and independents did not agree. This
anti-intellectualism is antediluvian. No wonder a 2009 Pew Research Center report found that only 6 percent of scientists identified as Republican and 9 percent identified as conservative."

The Appeal of St. Dorothy (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post 
"The recent vote by America’s Catholic bishops to move Dorothy Daytoward canonization was controversial, but mainly among those who manufacture controversy for a living. The media have enjoyed pointing out that Day’s main advocate, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, is a traditionalist, while Day was a socialist who once had an abortion. ... The application of political categories to theological matters is usually a mistake. In this case, it exceeds the media’s usual quota of religious ignorance."

Catcher in the Rye Dropped from US School Curriculum from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Schools in America are to drop classic books such as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye from their curriculum in favour of 'informational texts'."

The Crazy Base Won't Let the Republican Party Change (Bob Cesca) from the Huffinton Post
"The base is deeply encased within the twisted, alternate-reality looking glass that the GOP has been constructing throughout the last three decades: a realm of anger, racial resentment, distrust of government, hatred of immigrants and violently anti-choice misogynists and demagogues. The party has deliberately incited these tendencies via the conservative entertainment complex ..."

Robert Shrum: Obama Won Election & Will Win Again on Fiscal Cliff (Robert Shrum) from the Daily Beast
"The fiscal cliff fight can play out in different ways—but in any scenario, the Bush tax rates for the rich are gone. Obama may make some concessions to the GOP, but he’ll end up victorious, just as he did in November, says Robert Shrum."

Obama, Romney Campaign Officials Dissect 2012 Election at Dole Institute from Politico
"The Republican base saw the president as weak and beatable, but Mitt Romney’s high command struggled to find a winning message. “The bottom line is that the Obama campaign [had] a candidate that was very hard to lay a glove on because he was somebody that the American people, by and large, had decided that they just liked,” said Romney’s deputy campaign manager Katie Packer Gage."

Why Hillary Clinton Must Run for President in 2016 (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"The Obama years look like they may end up a huge success for progressives. Which is why they’ll need to ensure that Hillary wins the White House in 2016."

END-OF-YEAR BOOK NUGGET!!
The 10 Best Books of 2012 from the New York Times
"The year’s best books, selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review."

AMERICAN HISTORY BOOK NUGGET!!
The Preamble: A Review of 1775: A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips (Joseph Ellis) from the New York Times
"Most important, a defiant mentality congealed in 1775, called rage militaire, that described American independence as both inevitable and providential. Phillips acknowledges that this mentality was illusory and irrational, as the vastly superior British Army and Navy were soon to expose. But 1775 was the year when American colonists embraced the conviction that their cause..."

News Nuggets 1124

DAYLEE PICTURE: A sunrise in Saxony, Germany.  From National Geographic.

Five Myths About the Unemployed (Rick McGahey and Teresa Ghilarducci) from the Washington Post
Very interesting findings here!
"...let’s take a look at the misconceptions that often arise when the unemployed take center stage in Washington. 1. People who receive unemployment benefits are slow to search for work."

A New, Bolder Obama from the Editorial Board of the Chicago Sun-Times 
"We like this new President Barack Obama. Assured and direct, Obama is refusing to yield to Republicans on a core idea he ran — and won — on: increasing the tax rate for America’s top earners. ..."

Obama Won't Play That Way, Fiscal Cliff Edition (Garnce Franke-Ruta) from the Atlantic
"The president's hard line on the Bush tax cuts represents the first major test case for his theory that the GOP "fever" can be broken in his second term."

Obama Won Election & Will Win Again on Fiscal Cliff (Robert Shrum) from the Daily Beast
"The fiscal cliff fight can play out in different ways—but in any scenario, the Bush tax rates for the rich are gone. Obama may make some concessions to the GOP, but he’ll end up victorious, just as he did in November, says Robert Shrum."

"He Really Means It" (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"Obama and Geithner are acting as if they were Republicans who had just gotten re-elected. They are acting as if they have a mandate to roll back the extremism of the GOP, and prevent it from threatening another self-induced credit crisis. Imagine that."

Democrats Stroll Toward Edge of Fiscal Cliff (Chris Frates) from National Journal
"Democrats did not do much on Wednesday, adopting a deliberate strategy to slow-walk Republicans to the edge of the fiscal cliff in a belief that mounting pressure from within the GOP will force conservatives to fold on tax hikes."

The Republican Glasnost (David Brooks) form the New York Times
"There are increasing signs that House Republicans are willing to unite behind Speaker John Boehner so he can cut a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff.” There has been an epidemic of open-mindedness as Republicans try to win minority votes and create a version of their party that can be competitive in states like Connecticut and California."
I think Brooks is deluding himself.  The grassroots of the GOP has no interest in the types of compromise he discusses.

Rift at Tea Party Group Reveals Questions about Movement’s Direction (Alex Altman) from Time Magazine
"The messy split this week between Dick Armey and the Tea Party organization FreedomWorks may be a harbinger of things to come."

Reaction Roundup: Jim DeMint Leaves the Senate, and Everybody's Happy About That (Hunter) from Daily Kos
"The reactions on this one are almost unanimous: Nearly everyone is damn glad to see Republican Jim DeMint (head bitter crank among bitter old cranks, kingmaker of his own asylum, biggest cracked pot in the tea party) leave the Senate for his turn in the lands of sweet, sweet wingnut welfare."

Sen. Jim DeMint's Resignation a Sign of Bad Times for Tea Party from the Los Angeles Times
"Sen. Jim DeMint's surprise resignation comes as the political winds appear to be blowing against the South Carolina Republican and the conservative movement he has spoken for."

Jim DeMint Gains More Power Over GOP in Move from Senate to Heritage Foundation (David Freedlander) from the Daily Beast
"But few maps would have included the lightning bolt that struck the Capitol on Thursday, when Tea Party firebrand Jim DeMint announced, “I’m leaving the Senate. But I am not leaving the fight.” In taking up a new post as head of the Heritage Foundation, DeMint pulled off a move many lawmakers would have considered laughable: leaving elected office—for a think tank no less!—because the gig isn’t powerful enough."

Jim DeMint, Failure (Joan Walsh) from Salon
" I hadn’t planned on weighing in, but after watching all the ways it’s being spun as some kind of victory for DeMint and the Tea Party, I had to say: Enough! ... But somebody has to say it: DeMint isn’t leaving the Senate in glory; he’s leaving with his most fervent goals unfulfilled."

Tea Party Gains Control Over Republican Policy Incubators (Julie Bykowicz) from Businessweek
"The Republicans’ anti-tax Tea Party wing, which failed in its goal to defeat President Barack Obama and the Senate Democratic majority, is rising to leadership positions in policy and activist groups that have guided the party’s direction for years."
Oddly, I kind of view this as a good thing.  The GOP has worked for decades to build up the Heritage Foundation and their ilk just enough that they pass the smell test in the world of credible sources.  As the Tea Party people take these organizations over, look for their "research" to become as kooky as most of the Tea Party agenda already is.  

Suddenly, America’s Top Corporate Leaders Are Shunning Tea Party Extremism (Joe Conason) from the National Memo
"Leaders of the American business community, who have long indulged the Republican far right as an instrument toward their own ends, seem to be growing weary of its political excesses. Recognizing the public verdict of last month’s election, corporate officialdom is moving toward moderation on taxes and other issues, showing support for the Obama White House and edging away from congressional Republicans."

Booted GOP Lawmakers Not Letting Go from Politico
"Three conservative Republican freshmen are demanding an explanation from House Speaker John Boehner as to why they were recently removed from committees."

The Year in Conspiracy Theories (Alex Koppleman) from the New Yorker
"Why do some people think that the President is a gay Kenyan Muslim son of a Communist?"

DOG RESCUE NUGGET!!
The latest video from Hope-for-Paws!!

News Nuggets 1123

DAYEE PICTURE: Walruses in Svalbard, Norway.  From the Daily Mail of the UK. 

Dark side of the Great Renewal: Chinese nationalism (Frank Ching) from the [Toronto] Globe and Mail
"What this means is that the new leadership is again harping on an underlying theme in the propaganda of the People’s Republic – China as a victim of foreign countries. But, at the same time, the Chinese government has been silent on the Chinese people as victims of the Communist Party."

Gun Control? Maybe These Kids are onto Something (Leonard Pitts) from the Miami Herald
"Young people are not exactly renowned for their judgment. We are, after all, talking about an age group that has to be told it is a bad idea to text while doing 70. Or drink alcohol ’til it spews from your nostrils. Or wear a T-shirt and flip-flops to interview for the office job. So no, judgment is not their forte. Yet even they have enough sense to steer clear of the gun dorm."

Why Republicans Can’t Make a Deal on the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ from the Reid Report
"What matters to Republicans is rich people. The rich people who give money to their campaigns, to be very specific about it. ... Big GOP donors are very, very conservative. In fact, some of them are kooky, conspiracy minded, and radical. ... Big GOP donors no longer feel beholden to the Republican Party as a channel for their money and influence."

Lack of Rank-and-File House GOP Backlash Hints at Softening on Taxes (Russell Berman) from The Hill
"The lack of immediate backlash within the conference is a key early sign for Boehner, who has made intraparty unity a priority as he seeks the strongest possible hand in negotiations over the “fiscal cliff” with President Obama. "
The key words here are "within the conference..." There is LOTS of backlash from the GOP grassroots and the real powerbrokers in the party: Rush, Sean, Erik, and among the hard right beyond-the-beltway punditry.

The Fiscal Cliff Is the Y2K of 2012 (Frank Rich) from New York Magazine 
"... is media hype, a desperate effort to drum up a drama to keep viewers and readers tuned in now that the election is over. It’s a Road Runner cartoon, Beltway-edition. And it’s going to end with a whimper like the similarly apocalyptic, now long-forgotten Y2K scare of the turn of the millennium."

Obama: We Are Not Going To Negotiate With The Debt Ceiling from Talking Points Memo
"President Obama on Wednesday described Republicans who are considering holding the debt ceiling vote hostage in additional negotiations after the so-called fiscal cliff in January as partaking in a "bad strategy for America." "I will not play that game," Obama told business leaders at a quarterly meeting of the Business Roundtable in Washington. "We are not going to play that game next year. We've got to break that habit before it starts.""

Why Obama Won’t Negotiate with GOP Over Debt Ceiling (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"If this happens, Obama will refuse to negotiate over the debt limit, just as he’s refusing to negotiate over tax rates on the rich. The message will be clear: We’re not talking, if the debt ceiling — and the nation’s economy — have a gun pointed at their head."

Conservatives vs. the GOP (John Fund) from National Review
"Republicans in Congress are warned that they will lose their base if they vote for tax hikes. ... “Reince, it pains me to say this, but if the Republican Party breaks its word to the American people and goes along with President Obama with tax increases, it will have betrayed conservatives for the final time,”"

Republicans Wave the White Flag (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post 
"The question isn’t whether GOP will cave on taxes, but how and when."

The Conservative Learning Curve (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post 
"Over the long run, the most important impact of an election is not on the winning party but on the loser. Winners feel confirmed in staying the course they’re on. Losing parties — or, at least, the ones intent on winning again someday — are moved to figure out what they did wrong and how they must change."

Betcha $9.99 that this Guy Could Seriously Muck up the Georgia Senate Race (David Nir) from Daily Kos
"...the same people prefer "somebody more conservative"—aka Republican Jesus—as the party's 2014 Senate nominee. Of course, the problem is always finding that savior, but would you believe that the person who most resembles Republican Jesus is ... Herman Cain? Yep, it's true!"

How The Voter ID Crusade Backfired On Republicans from Talking Points Memo 
"Republicans in legislatures across the country were on a quest to impose restrictions on voting, chasing the ghost of in-person voter fraud. Those Republican legislators flipped a switch with the African American vote, Hardy said, rekindling whatever enthusiasm had waned after 2008’s historic Obama win."

Republicans Not Handling Election Results Well from Public Policy Polling 
"PPP's first post election national poll finds that Republicans are taking the results pretty hard...and also declining in numbers. ... One reason that such a high percentage of Republicans are holding what could be seen as extreme views is that their numbers are declining. Our final poll before the election, which hit the final outcome almost on the head, found 39% of voters identifying themselves as Democrats and 37% as Republicans. Since the election we've seen a 5 point increase in Democratic
identification to 44%, and a 5 point decrease in Republican identification to 32%."

The Secrets of the 2012 Campaign (John Dickerson) from Slate
"Obama and Romney’s top strategists reveal their hidden hopes, fears, and a few lessons from this year’s presidential contest."

Democrats to Obamaland: Share your Data from Politico
"The hottest property to emerge from Barack Obama’s lopsided victory over Mitt Romney is not the president’s much lauded campaign team. Nor is it the shrewd turnout operation that catapulted him to victory. It is something far more valuable that’s being guarded as zealously as the Pentagon: Obama’s unprecedented database of an estimated 16 million voters, volunteers and donors, which gave the Democrat an indisputable edge in November."

Republicans Are Running Scared--From Each Other (Josh Kraushaar) from National Journal
"In 2014, knock-down, drag-out primaries could jeopardize what should be a good year for GOP Senate candidates."

EXOTIC LOCATION NUGGET!!
The magic of Madagascar: Staggering Landscapes and Breathtaking Natural Beauty in the World's Most Unique Ecosystem from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"This breathtaking collection of photographs documents the staggering natural beauty and scenery of the island of Madagascar home to a unique collection of animals found nowhere else in the world."