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18 Jan 2011 20:38

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Politics: Rahm Emanuel wins award for “biggest guest star in mayoral race”

Doesn’t matter who the other guy brought to his pep rally in Chicago. RAHM BROUGHT SLICK WILLY! Rahm wins the PR battle. (Unless the other guy brings Obama.) But will he win the election? source

18 Jan 2011 20:30

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Politics: Joe Lieberman’s polling: Here’s why he isn’t running, kids

  • 31% Lieberman’s approval rating in Connecticut as of right now – he’s a bit of a loose cannon these days
  • 66% of Connecticut residents want to throw the bum out in 2012; now they don’t have to! source
  • » Democrats lick their chops: After Lieberman deftly tiptoed into a 2006 victory over Ned Lamont and some Republican we don’t care about, Democrats felt a little wounded. Now they’ve got reason to be happy, as they actually stand a chance of winning the seat back. On the other side, word is that Linda McMahon plans to run again, giving us more opportunities to link to wrestling videos of her getting tombstoned.

18 Jan 2011 14:04

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Politics: How much for a cup of Joementum? Lieberman may need it

  • cause Sen. Joe Lieberman faces reelection in 2012 after spending his last term actively agitating the Democratic party; he went Independent after losing the 2006 primary, then won the race.
  • effect A likely repeat of 2006, with a hotly contested Connecticut Senate primary pitting Lieberman against the Democratic left-wing. Yeah, he may be in the primary despite the “I” currently near his name. source

17 Jan 2011 22:44

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Politics: Obama’s response to Giffords shooting more popular than others’

  • 78% approve of President Obama’s response to the Gabby Giffords shooting
  • 53% approve of how the news media responded to the attack
  • 30% approve of Sarah Palin’s response to the incident source

17 Jan 2011 22:24

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Politics: The Senate’s Tea Party Caucus: Is three really a caucus?

  • yeah… January 27th will mark the first meeting of the Senate Tea Party Caucus. Sen. Rand Paul, the founder of the group, will be joined by Sens. Mike Lee and Jim DeMint.
  • but…That’s only three people. Other Tea Partiers, like Marco Rubio, haven’t committed. If no one else joins, how much power can a three-man caucus really have? source
  • » Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had a pretty bad error in it. Appropriate parties have been informed/chastized/made fun of. Our bad.

17 Jan 2011 20:08

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Politics: Chris Christie confirms, once again, that he’s not running for President

  • I am not arrogant enough to believe that after one year as governor of New Jersey and seven years as United States attorney that I am ready to be President of the United States, so I’m not going to run.
  • Chris Christie • Deflating the hopes of Republicans everywhere. Christie is seen by many as an extremely viable Presidential candidate: charismatic, combative, fiscally conservative, and from a blue state. Unfortunately, he seems to have absolutely no interest in running, and has categorically ruled it out in the past. Well, if anything, it’s good news for Mitt Romney! source

17 Jan 2011 20:07

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Politics: Tennessee Governor exempts self from income disclosure requirement

  • then For the past eight years, the Governor of Tennessee and their senior aides have been required by law to publicly disclose their annual incomes.
  • nowUnder a new order, the Governor is exempt from this requirement. Who issued the order? The new Governor, Bill Haslam! (thanks, pantslessprogressive) source
 

17 Jan 2011 16:50

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Politics: Ricky Gervais ruffles some gilded feathers

  • He definitely crossed the line, and some of the things were totally unacceptable. But that’s Ricky.
  • HFPA President Phillip Berk • Ricky Gervais repeatedly said, prior to hosting the Golden Globes last night, that they would “not invite me back.” Boy, was he right. In one of the most awkward yet intriguing award show performances in recent memory, Gervais forced some in the crowd to smile for the cameras whilst being taunted in a way that Robert Downey Jr. called “hugely mean-spirited with mildly sinister undertones.”  source

17 Jan 2011 14:54

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Politics: Alzheimer’s claim fuels tension between brother Reagans

  • Ron, my brother was an embarrassment to his father when he was alive and today he became an embarrassment to his mother.
  • Michael Reagan • In response to his brother Ron’s new book, “My Father At 100,” Mr. Reagan took to his Twitter and issued this denouncement. He defended his comment on CBS’ “The Early Show,” condemning Ron for writing that his father may have suffered from Alzheimer’s while in office, which he says gives “credence to the people like Bill Maher.” There’s clearly some awkward Thanksgivings already behind these two. source

17 Jan 2011 00:34

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Politics: Max Headroom: How 24-hour news cycles numb grave tragedies

  • Look, it’s been a long week. It feels like a lot has happened since the events of last Saturday, and it might feel good to have a palate-cleanser here, but instead, here’s this Lawrence O’Donnell clip. This whole Arizona debate has been about tone – the whole thing. It’s never been about looking for blame, even if that’s what some saw in it. It was a valid argument then and it still is a week later. That’s why this clip makes us uncomfortable. We somehow got from tragedy to Sarah Palin to this story angle, where it feels like everything has come full-circle – the emotion isn’t there. It’s just the acerbic commentary that doesn’t help as much as it thinks it does. There’s a good debate here – about what Palin or other commentators on both sides should or shouldn’t have done. If anything, the circumstances lent themselves to these questions. Now it’s time to let the questions stand on their own, without the shadow of the tragedy. Let’s make them two separate things.
  • Chris Christie: Not arrogant enoughYou know, in the face of all the accolades that GOP darling Chris Christie, New Jersey’s governor, is getting for his approach to politics, what’s most refreshing is the way that he brushes them off like they’re not a big deal. Christie – again – says he’s not running for president. Why doesn’t anyone believe him?
  • A welcome Zodiac respiteAs ugly as this news week got, at least we had this story about the zodiac signs to use as a breather. Even as we had our own qualms with a certain angle of this story, we can say that it was the palate cleanser we needed. Rachel Maddow’s excited for the chance to focus on something else for a moment.