Hagel: ‘Not One Shred Of Evidence’ I’m Anti-Israel
PHOTOS: Obama’s Pick For Defense Secretary
Newtown Lawmaker To Giffords: Stay Out!
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TPM Editors’ Blog Opinions, Context & Ideas from TPM Editors
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Bizarre. Comical. New York.
There’s an amusing, fascinating article here in the Times meant to capture Team Bloomberg’s collective musings about who should succeed Mike Bloomberg. It’s broadly believed that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has supported Bloomberg avidly enough in recent years to earn his de facto blessing, though there’s been a persistent backbeat of stories suggesting he’s not really that into her and pines for someone else to come in the race.
Read More →RIP Richard Ben Cramer
According to Jim Fallows, Richard Ben Cramer, author of the seminal What It Takes, has died of lung cancer at age 62.
This Matters
Eli Lake, national security reporter at the Daily Beast, says AIPAC is sitting out the Hagel fight. And with Eli’s sourcing, he would know.
The gist seems to be that it’s not worth it. The White House is going to win this fight. Not easily necessarily. But they’re going to win. And there’s nothing to be gained by fraying the relationship with a Hagel Pentagon or with the White House for that matter.
A Rare Thing Indeed
Yesterday on Twitter I noted that the last time a top four cabinet appointee was rejected by the Senate was in 1989, with recently retired Sen. John Tower. President George H.W. Bush nominated Tower for Secretary of Defense and he was rejected by the Senate on a 53-47 vote. Notably, the Democrats controlled the Senate in 1989 and Tower and Bush both came from Texas.
Read More →Notable
Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee does not seem down with the attacks on Chuck Hagel.
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Live Chat with Aaron Carroll
At 4pm eastern today, healthcare reform expert Aaron Carroll is joining us in the Prime Blog to answer your questions. Submit your questions now.
Don’t Try This With The Joint Chiefs
Chuck Hagel as Joe Biden. And as John McCain. And as … Colin Powell.
To the Mattresses
Hagel comes out blazing at critics in first interview, decries “charges, falsehoods and distortions.”
State Lawmaker Attacks Gabby Giffords
State legislator Rep. DebreLee Hovey (R) attacks Gabby Giffords for visiting victim’s families in Newtown, Connecticut. “Gabby Giffords stay out of my towns!”
Late Update: Aaaaaaaaand the apology.
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Watch Live
Coming up at 1:05 p.m. ET, President Obama will make a White House appearance in which he is expected to announce the nominations of Chuck Hagel and John Brennan. Watch.
Zig When You’re Supposed to Zag
Flashback: GOP senators praised Hagel’s statesmanship, foreign policy chops.
Photo of the Day
Hillary back on the job at State.
Baldwin Plans To Question Hagel On Anti-Gay Comments
Sen. Tammy Baldwin said Monday she wants to question Chuck Hagel’s apology for anti-gay comments.
Democrat Atop House Gun Task Force Plans Rare Town Halls
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) will open up the discussion of what to do about gun violence to the public this week.
Reid: I ‘Simply Misspoke’ On Katrina/Sandy Comparison
Harry Reid said Monday he “misspoke” when he said Hurricane Katrina was nothing compared with Hurricane Sandy.
Most Recent Latest news stories from TPM reporters
Google Researcher Finds Most-Used English Words, Letters
“Etaoin srhldcu” may read like nonsense to most English speakers upon first blush, but as it turns out, the combination is quite significant. It represents, in order, the most used letters in the English language, according to a new survey of 743 billion words conducted by Google’s head of research Peter Norvig. The survey, which was publicized by Google Research on Monday, was an update to the seminal 1965 survey of some 20,000 words gathered from a variety of printed sources –…
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The Makings Of A Fight Over Hagel’s Defense Nod (VIDEO)
President Barack Obama nominated former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) to be secretary of defense on Monday, and it didn’t take long for the critics to pick the nomination apart.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had already signaled their discomfort at the nomination on Sunday and left reporters across the television channels licking their lips at the prospect of a testy nomination process.
Here’s TPMtv’s look at the nomination and the fighting that’s already taken place over Obama’s pick:
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Democrat Atop House Gun Task Force Plans Rare Town Halls
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), leader of the House Democratic task force formed in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shootings, will open up the discussion of what to do about gun violence to the public this week. And gun rights advocates are planning to be on hand to make sure any talk of gun control is held in check. Thompson is scheduled to host three “Gun Violence Prevention Forums” in his northern California district this week. As a preview of the congressional hearings he plans to…
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Cracks Emerge In GOP Debt Limit Offensive
Democratic leaders are worried enough about Republican debt limit threats that they’re counseling President Obama to circumvent the entire debate by invoking untested and unconventional executive powers. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have both implored Obama to ignore the debt limit, if Republicans refuse to increase it, by citing the 14th Amendment, which holds the validity of U.S. debt essentially inviolable. Another outside …
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Toyota, Audi Follow Google With Self-Driving Cars
Updated 3:35 p.m. ET, Monday, December 7
Toyota and Audi are racing to catch up with Google when it comes to self-driving cars.
On Monday, both auto brands revealed they have been testing their own self-driving cars, or autonomous vehicles. The announcements were timed to coincide with the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, which officially begins Tuesday, January 8.
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FLASHBACK: GOP Senators Praised Chuck Hagel’s Statesmanship, Foreign Policy Expertise
As Republicans plan their opposition strategy on Chuck Hagel’s anticipated nomination as the next secretary of defense, Democrats are digging up and circulating examples of top GOP senators saying nice things about their former colleague in the past. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in particular was a vocal advocate for Hagel’s character – even after his dissent on U.S. foreign policy regarding Iraq and Israel were well-known. In 2006, while he was preparing to run for president, McCain…
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Palazzo Appealed for Federal Disaster Relief After Hurricane Katrina
Last week, two-term Representative Steven Palazzo (R-MS) sparked controversy nationwide when he voted against relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy, despite representing coastal Mississippi, one of the regions hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina and a top beneficiary of Katrina disaster aid. But in addition to representing the region today, Palazzo was deeply involved in pressing for federal dollars in the fall of 2005. Then acting in his role as a local government official, Palazzo…
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Max Cleland: Next Week ‘The Bullshit’ Stops On Hagel Nomination
With President Obama reportedly set to nominate former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) as the next secretary of defense next week, one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent combat veterans dismissed the political battle over Hagel and said his strength as a nominee will carry him into the Pentagon. “All this other stuff has been bullshit up ‘til now,” former Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) told TPM Saturday. “When the real decision is made, when the president makes the decision … the Senate…
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Alta Devices Unveils Highest-Efficiency Wearable Solar Charger For The Military
Almost a year after the U.S. government first certified Alta Devices as having created the highest efficiency solar panel in existence yet, the innovative California clean energy startup on Friday unveiled its first product: A flexible, extremely lightweight and fully portable solar charging mat designed for the U.S. military, which also achieves the highest efficiency of any such solar portable charging device used by the armed forces. Alta Devices’ new solar charging mats (PDF)…
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GOP Senators: Not Raising The Debt Limit Might Not Be So Bad
Republicans are accelerating toward another debt limit fight with President Obama, aware that the political and economic consequences of not raising it will be dire. And so they’re deploying dual rhetorical strategies to sway the public and lock in a dynamic where the only way around the debt limit impasse is the one they’ve charted: describing a debt limit increase as a huge concession while downplaying the risk of breaching it. During the negotiations over the fiscal cliff, and…
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White House Plans To Overwhelm NRA With Rapid Victory
The White House and gun control supporters are gearing up for a whirlwind month, with plans to pass reform legislation before outrage over the Sandy Hook massacre has a chance to fade. While the fiscal cliff has dominated Washington’s attention in recent weeks, lawmakers and activists are laying the groundwork for their big push. Vice President Joe Biden, tasked with heading a commission to investigate gun violence, has been quietly meeting with experts, interest groups, and public…
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Schumer: Dems Won’t Negotiate With GOP On Debt Ceiling
Echoing President Obama’s refusal to negotiate on the debt limit, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned Republicans on Friday that Democrats have no intention of giving in to any of their demands in exchange for lifting the nation’s borrowing limit to pay its bills. “I think that risking government shutdown, risking not raising the debt ceiling, is playing with fire,” Schumer told reporters in the Capitol, in response to a question from TPM. “Anyone who wants to come and negotiate, and…
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