memeorandum @ 3:10 AM ET, January 1, 2011

3:10 AM ET, January 1, 2011

Top Items:

Not a fan: Krauthammer calls Palin ‘rather weak’ and gives her ‘no chance of winning’ in 2012 — Is the idea that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could be America's next president laughable? Not only to many on the left, but also to conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway and The Right Scoop

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Sarah Palin's Nomination Chances: A Reassessment — In November 2009, I wrote an article entitled “10 Reasons That Sarah Palin Could Win the Republican Nomination.” The article wasn't necessarily arguing that she was the favorite to take the nomination, but it did suggest she had a credible chance at it.

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner

Jonathan Bernstein / The Plum Line:

Is Sarah Palin toast? — Thanks, again, to Greg for inviting me and to everyone for reading — and Happy New Year to all. — Before I go, I'll just do a bit of blogging on everyone's favorite subject, the Sage of Wasilla. Nate Silver had an interesting aside in a recent post that's stuck with me over the last few days:

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Pajamas Media

Wall Street Journal:

The Liberal Reckoning of 2010 — The year voters saw the left's unvarnished agenda and said no. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent out a press release last week headlined “111th Congress Accomplishments.” It quoted a couple of Democratic Party cheerleaders calling …

Discussion: Moe Lane

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Obamacare mess is legacy of Dems' moment of power

Ginger Gibson / New Jersey Online:

Gov. Christie praises his administration for work done after blizzard, chastises mayors for local efforts — TRENTON — At his first public event since a blizzard slammed the state, Gov. Chris Christie praised state workers and his administration for their response to the storm and said he wouldn't have done anything differently.

Discussion: Thurman Hart, Firedoglake, Paul Mulshine, Washington Wire, Metropolis and No More Mister Nice Blog

Richard Mauer / Anchorage Daily News:

Miller ends challenge in US Senate race — Republican Joe Miller said today, nearly two months after Alaskans concluded voting, that he is giving up his fight challenging the election of Sen. Lisa Murkowski. — Miller thanked his supporters and said the time has come to accept the …

Discussion: TPMDC and Politics Daily

Charles Johnson / Little Green Footballs:

Fox News Stokes the Climate Change Denial Machine — Fox News continues promoting anti-science rubbish to the rubes, with an article about Eight Botched Environmental Forecasts. — What do you notice about these “botched forecasts?” The most recent one they could find dates back to 2000, and all the others are much older.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Liberal Values and Tim Blair

David Seifman / New York Post:

Mayor Bloomberg admits that failing to tackle blizzard was ‘character building’

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

The Senate's Long, Twisted, Bumpy Road To Filibuster Reform — At some point on January 5, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) will take the Senate floor and begin a process that he hopes will end in the successful use of the “Constitutional option” — the prerogative of a majority of the Senate's members …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Plum Line and Open Left

Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Libel Law, Blogging About Incest, Plus Opposition to Government Regulation of Banking: “It Is of Stunning Coincidence” — Connoisseurs of odd legal arguments might appreciate this item, but unfortunately it requires a bit of background explanation. Aviation lawyer Arthur Wolk sued Overlawyered.com and its bloggers for libel.

Discussion: The Other McCain

Derek Kravitz / Washington Post:

As frustration grows, airports consider ditching TSA — Every spring, private security officers at San Francisco International Airport compete in a workplace “March Madness"-style tournament for cash prizes, some as high as $1,500. — The games: finding illegal items and explosives in carry-on bags …

Discussion: Gizmodo, Post Tech, AMERICAblog News, Online NewsHour, The Daily Caller and The Volokh Conspiracy, more at Techmeme »

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Government by regulation. Shhh. — Most people don't remember Obamacare's notorious Section 1233, mandating government payments for end-of-life counseling. It aroused so much anxiety as a possible first slippery step on the road to state-mandated late-life rationing that the Senate never included it in the final health-care law.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Left Coast Rebel

Timothy Williams / New York Times:

Sisters' Prison Release Is Tied to Donation of Kidney — Two Mississippi sisters serving double life sentences for their roles in an $11 armed robbery will be released, but only on the condition that the younger sibling donate her kidney to her sister, whose organs are failing, state officials said Thursday.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Guardian, Marginal Revolution and The Huffington Post

Krissah Thompson / Washington Post:
‘Conditioned on’ kidney donation, sisters' prison release prompts ethics debate

Discussion: msnbc.com, Simple Justice, Balkinization, The Volokh Conspiracy, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Ballot Box

Rasool Dawar / Associated Press:

US missiles kill 8 in northwest Pakistan — PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A U.S. missile strike killed eight suspected militants in northwest Pakistan on Friday, the final day of a year that has seen a major escalation in drone attacks targeting insurgents flowing into neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Discussion: 1 The Long War Journal and Weasel Zippers

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

One Day, When The Times Has An Economist As A Columnist... Paul Krugman closes the year with misdirection and deception. His topic is tax cuts (bad!) and Evil Republicans (what else?). My emphasis: — How did Republican leaders reconcile their purported deep concern about budget deficits with their advocacy of large tax cuts?

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and New York Times

Bridget Johnson / The Hill:

Outgoing GOP congressman: ‘Credible conservatives’ not about Obama ‘hatred’ — Outgoing Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) said Thursday that a “credible conservative” movement that doesn't focus on “hatred” of President Obama is needed. — Inglis was defeated in a landslide by Trey Gowdy in the June primary runoff.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and Liberal Values

Jessica Hopper / ABCNEWS:

Gov. Bill Richardson: 'I've Decided Not To Pardon Billy the Kid' — Billy the Kid Was Promised a Pardon in 1879 — It's been a year of pardons from two Mississippi sisters paroled in exchange for one donating a kidney to another to rock singer Jim Morrison to even a presidential turkey.

Discussion: AOL News, Politics Daily, The Washington Note and The Mahablog