With Susan Rice Out, All Eyes on John Kerry for Secretary of State

With Susan Rice Bowing Out, All Eyes on John Kerry for Secretary of State. Rice, under fire for weeks for her initial characterization of the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, said she didn’t want the administration to go through a “very prolonged, very politicized, very distracting and very disruptive” confirmation process. With that, Kerry is shaping up as the front-runner to succeed Hillary Clinton.  [NBC | Washington Post]

Scott Brown: ‘It Was An Honor To Carry Your Flag in the Senate.’ Brown’s swan song begins with his guest column in today’s Globe. He writes:

“I never wanted to go to Washington just to be a senator. I ran because I believed our country was on the wrong track, and I thought I could help by being an independent voice more interested in building bridges than burning them. I kept my promise to be bipartisan, and to serve the interests of everyone in our state. Because we refused to bow to special interests, because we were willing to work across the aisle, we actually got things done to make a positive difference in the lives of our people.”  [Globe]

Tufts Student Paper Is Very Sorry for Parody That Makes Fun of Sexual Assault, Feminists, Lesbians. Student paper parody editions: never, ever, ever a good idea.  [WCVB]

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse Just Flip-Flopped on Casinos, Part 2. Here’s a play-by-play of Morse’s reversal of his reversal of his original stance on a casino in Holyoke: In November 2011, Morse became the youngest mayor in Massachusetts largely because of his anti-casino stance; then weeks later, he held a press conference to announce that he changed his mind and supported the development of a casino; this week, he’s realized the “flaws” of developing a casino and has halting all plans.  [WBUR]

Globe Says Goodbye to Marty Baron, New Exec Editor of the Washington Post. With a gathering in the newsroom and a fake cover of the Globe Magazine:

Hilarious fake #MartyBaron cover of @bostonglobemag: “Why his Dinner With Cupid date called him ‘yesterday’s news.'” twitter.com/martinepowers/…

— Martine Powers (@martinepowers) December 13, 2012