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11:00 PM ET, December 19, 2013

Top Items:

The Robertson Family Offical Statement — We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E's decision. We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word.

Discussion: Deadline.com, CBS Houston, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Dean Obeidallah / The Daily Beast:

The Right's ‘Duck Dynasty’ Hypocrisy — By Dean ObeidallahDecember 19th 201312:00 PM — Conservatives think people should be held responsible for their actions—until one of their own, like Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson, has to pay a price for their hateful views.

Discussion: The Mahablog, Reuters, Politico, New Orleans Times-Picayune, No More Mister Nice Blog, Liberaland and Hollywood Reporter

ThinkProgress:

Why The Racist And Homophobic ‘Duck Dynasty’ Comments Have Nothing To Do With Free Speech — On Wednesday, Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson made comments in a GQ interview condemning homosexuality as sinful and comparable to bestiality, as well as claiming that African Americans were better off under Jim Crow laws.

Discussion: Liberaland, The Daily Caller, NOM Blog and The Moderate Voice

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Ultimately There Will Be No Option for Silence or the Sidelines. You Will Be Made To Care. — I have told you people again and again. You will be made to care. — Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant and then it seeks to silence good. Phil Robertson, patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, NOM Blog, Althouse, Right Wing Watch, Los Angeles Times, The Raw Story, GQ Magazine Online and Inside TV

Andrew Sullivan / The Dish:

A&E Cannot Bear Very Much Reality — I have to say I'm befuddled by the firing of Phil Robertson, he of the amazing paterfamilias beard on Duck Dynasty (which I mainly see via The Soup). A&E has a reality show that depends on the hoariest stereotypes - and yet features hilariously captivating human beings - located in the deep South.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hollywood Reporter, Rush Limbaugh, The Raw Story, Twitchy and National Review

Governor Bobby Jindal:

Gov. Jindal on Phil Robertson Suspension: I Remember When TV Networks Believed in 1st Amendment — BATON ROUGE - Governor Bobby Jindal issued a statement this morning following the news of Phil Robertson being suspended by A&E from the show Duck Dynasty. — Governor Jindal said …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Hullabaloo, CNN, National Review, Back2Stonewall, The Daily Caller, Real Clear Politics, Inside TV, Talking Points Memo, Trail Blazers Blog, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Raw Story, The Week and Business Insider

Ted Cruz / Facebook:

Free Speech Matters — The reason that so many Americans love Duck Dynasty is because it represents the America usually ignored or mocked by liberal elites: a family that loves and cares for each other, believes in God, and speaks openly about their faith. — If you believe in free speech …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, The Heritage Foundation, ABC News, NationalJournal.com, ABC News, The Raw Story, CNN, Twitchy and ThinkProgress

Steve Deace / USA Today:
A&E fowls up ‘Duck’ flap: Column

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Liberal Values, The Raw Story, Ed Driscoll, Chicago Tribune, Deadline.com, The Democratic Daily, CNN, The Reaction, Hit & Run, KTOO and Instapundit

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Knew Exactly What He Was Doing

Discussion: Equality Matters

Adam Serwer / msnbc.com:

Conservatives freak out over ‘pajama boy’ — Conservatives are in a tizzy over a seemingly innocuous Obamacare ad from Organizing for Action featuring a young man in pajamas. — He's “a metrosexual hipster in a plaid onesie” scowled National Review's Charles Cooke, a “vaguely androgynous …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air, First Read, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, National Review, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hit & Run, The Week, CNN, The Heritage Foundation, Rush Limbaugh and Post Politics

Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:

Meet Ethan Krupp: Pajamacare boy and Organizing for Action employee — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL OPINION OBAMACARE ORGANIZING FOR ACTION — This is the Obamacare Pajama boy in the latest Organizing for Action ad. — Pajamacare boy is Ethan Krupp, an Organizing for Action employee and the subject …

Discussion: Power Line, Jammie Wearing Fools and American Power

Byron Tau / Reuters:
For Obamacare boosters, all memes are good memes

Discussion: CNN, CBS New York and Politico

Rich Lowry / Politico:
Pajama Boy, An Insufferable Man-Child

Discussion: Gawker, Betsy's Page, Hot Air, National Review, americanthinker.com, The Daily Caller, alicublog and Twitchy

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
“Pajama Boy's” Blog Featured Post Criticizing President Obama

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Washington Free Beacon:
Morning Joe Panel Can't Stop Laughing at Obamacare's ‘Pajama Boy’

Discussion: NewsBusters, Althouse, Jammie Wearing Fools, Politico, National Review, Twitchy and Power Line

ice.gov:

FY 2013: ICE announces year-end removal numbers — 98 percent of the agency's total removals were convicted criminals, recent border crossers, illegal re-entrants or those previously removed by ICE, in line with agency's enforcement priorities — WASHINGTON — Today …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Talking Points Memo, Post Politics and Immigration Impact

Bradley Klapper / Associated Press:
Defying Obama, 26 Senators Push New Iran Sanctions

Discussion: Politico

Stacy Kaper / NationalJournal.com:
Senate Dems Defy Obama on Iran

Discussion: Foreign Policy, The Plum Line, ThinkProgress, Weekly Standard and Politico

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Obama Commutes Sentences for 8 in Crack Cocaine Cases — WASHINGTON — President Obama, expanding his push to curtail severe penalties for drug offenses, on Thursday commuted the sentences of eight federal inmates who were convicted of crack cocaine offenses.

Discussion: The White House, Debra J. Saunders, TIME, Gawker, Hit & Run, The Volokh Conspiracy, BBC, Occupy DemocratsOccupy …, Mediaite, BillMoyers.com, Business Insider and The BLT

Meredith Shiner / The World's Greatest …:

Senate Deal Sets Up Friday Christmas Exit, Pushes Yellen Confirmation to 2014 (Updated) — Updated 10:25 p.m. | A bit of bipartisan Christmas cheer finally arrived in the Senate around 10 p.m. Thursday. — That's when senators locked-in an agreement that will set up a series …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Dems plan big Christmas push on unemployment benefits

Discussion: Post Politics and Hullabaloo

First Look / Omidyar Group:

Pierre Omidyar Provides Initial Funding of $50M to Establish First Look Media — Honolulu - Dec. 19, 2013 - The news organization created by Pierre Omidyar (formerly dubbed “NewCo") has taken another step forward with an infusion of $50M in capital to fuel operations being established on both coasts.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite and Guardian

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:
A First Look at NewCo's structure

Discussion: The Verge, Capital New York, Gigaom and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Sam Youngman / Politico:

Take This Town and Shove It — A White House reporter's tale of sex, booze and the briefing room. — If you write about American politics for a living, stop right there. Get back to work, and don't read another damn word. — Sign out of Twitter, say “thanks but no thanks” …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, American Prospect, The Fix, DCist, Lawyers, Guns & Money and FishbowlDC, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Pareene / Salon:

Hack list No. 1: Mike Allen — Our annual list is here! This time, we channeled each hack's unique voice — and let them “write” their own entries — PAYOLA-BOOK: No professional blowback for sponsor-fluffing Mike Allen — LEIBO on ALLEN: ‘enabler’ — Business lobby agenda pushed daily …

Discussion: his vorpal sword

Target Pressroom:

Target Confirms Unauthorized Access to Payment Card Data in U.S. Stores — Issue has been identified and resolved — Target today confirmed it is aware of unauthorized access to payment card data that may have impacted certain guests making credit and debit card purchases in its U.S. stores.

Discussion: CBS Boston, NBCNews, Mashable, Lawfare, KTOO, USA Today, New York Times, The Daily Caller and BBC

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Sources: Target Investigating Data Breach

Discussion: NBCNews, Global Grind, Wired, Mashable, The Week, NYT Bits, Gawker, TechCrunch, KFOR-TV, The Verge, New York Times, Gothamist and Taylor Marsh

Rossmurray / GLAAD:

Bob Newhart bows out of gig with anti-LGBT organization — Bob Newhart, the beloved actor and comedian, quietly announced over social media that he has cancelled his upcoming gig at the Legatus Summit. This follows GLAAD and several LGBT advocates and bloggers, including Lisa Derrick of Firedog Lake …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Marriage Equality Is The Law In New Mexico, State Supreme Court Rules — “We hold that the state of New Mexico is constitutionally required to allow same-gender couples to marry,” the justices unanimously concluded. The state becomes the 17th in the U.S. to approve marriage equality.

Discussion: Hot Air

Bill Mears / CNN:
New Mexico high court rules same-sex couples have right to marry

Discussion: KRQE-TV, Outside the Beltway and New York Times

Christine Brennan / USA Today:

Brian Boitano announces he's gay before trip to Sochi — Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic figure skating gold medalist who was named to the official U.S. delegation to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, announced today that he is gay. — “I am many things: a son, a brother, and uncle, a friend …

Discussion: Post Politics, Weasel Zippers, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, NewsBusters and blog.sfgate.com

Igor Bobic / Talking Points Memo:

Peter King Slams Paul For Attacking Clapper: ‘He Disgraced His Office’ — Rep. Peter King (R-NY) blasted Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Thursday for comparing National Security Agency Director James Clapper to Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked classified information about America's surveillance programs.

Discussion: Liberaland, The Verge, Politico and CNN