memeorandum: Don't call it a shutdown — The budget deal hits a speed bump. (Politico)

6:30 PM ET, December 9, 2014

Top Items:

CIA Interrogations Saved Lives — The Senate Intelligence investigators never spoke to us—the leaders of the agency whose policies they are now assailing for partisan reasons. — The Senate Intelligence Committee has released its majority report on Central Intelligence Agency detention and interrogation in the wake of 9/11.

Discussion: ABC News, Yahoo! News, Hot Air, New York Times, Techdirt, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, JustOneMinute, Twitchy and rubber hose

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

Senate Torture Report Faults C.I.A. for Brutality and Deceit — WASHINGTON — A scathing report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday found that the Central Intelligence Agency routinely misled the White House and Congress about the information it obtained from the detention …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Politico, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway, NBC News, American Spectator, Bloomberg View, Hinterland Gazette, The Moderate Voice and The Dish

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

WATCH Fox Host Lose It Over Senate Torture Report: ‘We Are Awesome!’ — After the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the torture techniques used by the CIA, the hosts of Fox News' “Outnumbered” lashed out at Senate Democrats' for publicizing CIA interrogation methods.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mediaite and Raw Story

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Remind Me Who It Is the CIA Works For? — So the redacted summary of the “torture report” is out, which means Senate Democrats brushed aside GOP complaints and that the administration overruled both State Department and CIA objections to the timing or to the release itself.

Discussion: Telegraph and Booman Tribune

Anthony D. Romero / New York Times:

Pardon Bush and Those Who Tortured — BEFORE President George W. Bush left office, a group of conservatives lobbied the White House to grant pardons to the officials who had planned and authorized the United States torture program. My organization, the American Civil Liberties Union, found the proposal repugnant.

Discussion: The Dish, Bloomberg View, Gawker, Shakesville, emptywheel and RedState

Shane Harris / The Daily Beast:

The Most Gruesome Moments in the CIA ‘Torture Report’ — The CIA's rendition, interrogation, and detention programs were even more nightmarish than you could imagine. — Interrogations that lasted for days on end. Detainees forced to stand on broken legs, or go 180 hours in a row without sleep.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Guardian and Lawyers, Guns & Money

CNN:

Senate report: CIA misled public on torture — Washington (CNN) — The CIA's harsh interrogations of terrorist detainees during the Bush era didn't work, were more brutal than previously revealed and delivered no “ticking time bomb” information that prevented an attack, according to an explosive Senate report released Tuesday.

Discussion: Q13 FOX News, Liberaland, Balloon Juice, New York Magazine and Hot Air

New York Times:
7 Key Points From the C.I.A. Torture Report

Discussion: ProPublica

New York Times:
White House and Republicans Clash Over C.I.A. Torture Report

Discussion: Bloomberg View, BBC, Reuters, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Prairie Weather, Washington Monthly and First Draft

Mark Fallon / Politico:
Dick Cheney Was Lying About Torture

Discussion: feinstein.senate.gov, ABC News, Little Green Footballs, American Prospect, Guardian, Addicting Info, Outside the Beltway and Washington Free Beacon

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Fox melts down after torture report: ‘The United States of America is awesome, we are awesome!’

Discussion: Jezebel and rubber hose

K.T. McFarland / Fox News:
CIA interrogation report: Democrats want to punish America, blame Bush

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Dish, Liberty Unyielding and The PJ Tatler

Scott Shane / New York Times:
Discord at C.I.A. Over Interrogation Program

Discussion: Daily Kos, Samizdata, Guardian and Prairie Weather

Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:
Live Coverage of the Senate Torture Report

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, ABC News, emptywheel, Reuters, The Verge, Taylor Marsh, The Dish, Washington Examiner and TalkLeft

Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. / Washington Post:
Today's CIA critics once urged the agency to do anything to fight al-Qaeda

Discussion: TIME, American Spectator, Bloomberg View, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, National Review, Hot Air, Telegraph, Techdirt, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, NO QUARTER USA NET and Hit & Run

Digby / Hullabaloo:
The president of the ACLU wants Obama to pardon the torturers

Discussion: Crooked Timber and No More Mister Nice Blog

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

Issa To Gruber: ‘Are You Stupid?’ — House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-CA) cut right to the chase in his questioning of MIT professor Jonathan Gruber's comments on the “stupidity of the American voter” at a Tuesday oversight committee hearing.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Bloomberg Politics

Fox News:
Gruber apologizes for ‘mean and insulting’ ObamaCare comments

Discussion: Washington Monthly and American Spectator

Tom Howell Jr / Washington Times:
Gruber to face hostile House panel, tea party 'I'm with Stupid' T-shirts

Discussion: Truth Revolt and The Gateway Pundit

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:
Circus set for Gruber at Capitol

Discussion: Politico and Fox News

James Kirchick / The Daily Beast:

The Rise and Fall of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, America's Worst Gay Power Couple — Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge have always been entitled brats. And now the media has finally noticed. — Just three years ago, Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge were the toast of the liberal establishment.

Discussion: The Federalist, OpenSecrets.org, Gawker, Althouse, RedState, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality, The PJ Tatler, alicublog, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Mashable, Advocate and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Philip Sheridan / The Atlantic Online:
The New Republic: An Appreciation … Last week, Franklin Foer resigned …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic Online: How The New Republic Lost Its Place

NY Daily News:

Cops swarm Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue, shoot knife-wielding man after student gets stabbed (VIDEO) — WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT NYPD anti-terror officers swarmed Chabad-Lubavitch in Crown Heights after Israeli student Levi Rosenviat, 22, was stabbed during prayer early Tuesday.

Discussion: Capital New York, New York Times, New York Magazine, Truth Revolt, Gawker, Hatewatch, The Jawa Report and Washington Free Beacon

New York Post:
Cops fatally shoot synagogue attacker

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

Ken Kurson / The New York Observer:

Source: Rolling Stone Deputy Editor Tendered Resignation; Wenner Declines — Deputy managing editor offered to resign in wake of UVA reporting brouhaha — Rolling Stone Managing Editor at Will Dana speaks onstage at the New York Public Library on October 17, 2013.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Capital New York, The Daily Caller, Shots in the Dark, abc7chicago.com, Guardian, The Daily Banter, Mediaite, Poynter, National Review, The Concourse, American Spectator, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Jezebel

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Republicans clash on reversing nuclear option in Senate — Republicans are split over whether to change the Senate's rules to allow filibusters on executive and judicial nominations. — As they head into a conference meeting on Tuesday, some Republicans say it's time to undo a wrong committed …

Discussion: rubber hose, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and The PJ Tatler

National Journal:

Congress Will Say D.C. Can Legalize Pot, But Can't Tax or Regulate It — D.C. mayor and council will be blocked by spending bill from taking additional steps on marijuana law. — Congress will prevent the District of Columbia from writing regulations to expand its recently passed ballot …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, Washington Post and Hit & Run

Emily Atkin / ThinkProgress:

FBI Files Charges Against President Of Company Behind West Virginia Chemical Spill — Gary Southern, president of Freedom Industries, takes a sip of water at a press conference on the chemical spill. — The former president of the company that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 West Virginians …