Wire reports say that a 28-year-old axe-wielding Somali national was shot and arrested after trying to break into the home of Danish editorial cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.
Westergard is the man who drew the famous/infamous Mohammad cartoons that caused an uproar in 2006.
Late Update: The man who was shot and arrested was apparently one of three assailants.
--Josh Marshall
Remember a few days ago I wrote a few posts batting around The National Review's Marc Thiessen for his hapless attempt to explain why "shoe bomber" Richard Reid's case was any different from Xmas bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. This morning when I was at the playground with my family I noticed that Karl Rove had flagged for me on Twitter that Thiessen had responded with yet another rejoinder.
--Josh Marshall
From all of us at TPM, thank you. To our readers for returning again and again, for helping us with our stories and being part of our team.
From me, thanks to our amazing, kick-ass TPM staff. Our best year ever and we've got a lot more to come next year.
Happy New Year.
We'll see you in 2010.
--Josh Marshall
Sen. John Ensign goes on CNN to demagogue the terrorism issue and gets ambushed with a series of questions he's never answered about his affair and the ethics investigation surrounding his and his parents efforts to cover it up with lobbying infractions and pay-offs.
Truly must-see.
--Josh Marshall
Oh man! I just mentioned below that John Ensign was on CNN bloviating about terrorism. And I noted how I was a little tired of him going on to talk about topics he doesn't know anything about before he answers a lot of key questions about his own scandal -- not about the sex but about pay offs involving federal money and violation of lobbying laws. But then Rick Sanchez turned the tables on Ensign and started asking him very pointed questions about the scandal.
It seems very clear that Ensign had no idea this was coming. Not sure if he explicitly violated ground rules. But Ensign did not appear to be prepared.
--Josh Marshall
Not to get lectured by Sen. John Ensign on terrorism until he explains how a man who's over 50 has to have his mom and dad pay off his mistress' husband so he won't talk about his affair. Just ain't gonna do that no more.
--Josh Marshall
Any guesses who won the 2009 Golden Duke Award for Meritorious Achievement in The Crazy?
Drum roll ... It goes to Orly Taitz!
Any guesses who won the 2009 Golden Duke Award for Best Public-Policy Based Fib?
Drum Roll ... It goes to Sarah Palin and Death Panels!
Any guesses who won the 2009 Golden Duke Award for Outstanding Achievement in Corruption-based Chutzpah?
Drum Roll ... It goes to Joe Arpaio!
Any guesses who won the 2009 Golden Duke Award for Best Scandal -- Sex and Generalized Carnality?
Drum Roll ... (honestly this has to be considered a shocking upset) It goes to Sen. John Ensign!
(We weren't even sure it made sense to hold the category this year since we were certain Gov. Mark Sanford simply had a lock. But that's not how it played out. In fact, the only one to vote for Sanford with Golden Dukes Judge Susie Bright. Go figure.)
Any guesses who won the 2009 Golden Duke Award for Best Scandal -- Local Venue?
Drum roll ... (I think this may be the first unanimous verdict in Golden Dukes history) It goes to Judges Mark Ciavarella & Michael Conahan!
And what did these two do? Judge Susie Bright explains: "I don't care how much sex or cash the other nominees stuffed in their pie-holes-- no one else thought it would be a great idea to poach thousands and thousands of kids-- many of whom had done nothing whatsoever criminal-- and throw them away in a prison with no release date, all so they could get a taxpayer check for each victim. $2.6 million, to be exact."
And it's down to the final award. Best Scandal -- General Interest. Any guesses?
The 2009 Golden Duke Award for Best Scandal -- General Interest goes to Gov. Mark Sanford!!!
Discuss your reactions on Twitter at #goldendukes. And read each judges' vote and their explanation for their vote on the 2009 Golden Duke Awards Winners page.
--Josh Marshall
Did you hear how the masterminds of the Xmas attack had just been released from Gitmo, the bomb was made by Iran, and Janet Napolitano not only bought Abdulmutallab's ticket but also purchased him three bags of Fritos to eat on the plane over?
Pass it on ...
--Josh Marshall
Republicans across the board hitting the fundraising lists to raise money on near-catastrophe on Flight 253.
--Josh Marshall
That big ABC News report on Monday that pointed the finger at two former Gitmo detainees as organizers of the Detroit bombing attempt turns out to have had a key fact wrong. ABC has now corrected the report, but not before it got picked up far and wide.
--David Kurtz
The National Republican Senatorial Committee sends out a fundraising letter on the failed Detroit attack.
--David Kurtz
In the less than a week since the Christmas Day bombing attempt on approach to Detroit conventional wisdom has already calcified around the notion that this represents an intelligence failure, an intelligence-sharing failure, and more evidence that we take a Keystone Kops approach to counterterrorism.
But of course it isn't as simple as all that, and Spencer Ackerman has a succinct but fine-grained explanation of the policy implications involved here, as well as the potential trade-offs involved if you want the government to (over)react to every potential threat.
--David Kurtz
If Obama bungled flight 253 why have his poll numbers tracked up since Christmas day?
--Josh Marshall
Among the casualties of the Washington Times collapse: TheConservatives.com, a much-ballyhooed new media platform to allow "the Joe the Plumbers of the world to speak up to major thinkers, like Newt Gingrich." The site has gone dark.
--David Kurtz
The Democratic Party is re-examining the role of superdelegates (remember them?) in the nominating process. That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
Local press reports in Hawaii report that Rush Limbaugh was rushed to the hospital in Honolulu today with chest pains. He is reported in serious condition.
Local station KITV in Honolulu reports that paramedics responded to a call at 2:41 PM local time. Limbaugh was treated at the resort he was staying at and then rushed to Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.
Late Update: The Honolulu Advertiser, in a hopeful note, adds that Limbaugh was "reported to be alert and conscious."
--Josh Marshall
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The chairman of the Democrats' House election committee says he will put the GOP on the spot for its questionable votes on national security issues.
Early signs indicate that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can indeed pick up some votes from Blue Dog Democrats when health care legislation returns to the floor for a final vote.
A new Rasmussen poll finds that voters want to go to great lengths against Flight 253 bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, with a majority saying he should be waterboarded to extract information.
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