memeorandum: Senate approves raising federal debt limit to $14.3 trillion (Lori Montgomery/Washington Post)

6:50 PM ET, January 28, 2010

Top Items:

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Justice Alito's conduct and the Court's credibility — As I wrote at the time, I thought the condemnations of Rep. Joe Wilson's heckling of Barack Obama during his September health care speech were histrionic and excessive. Wilson and Obama are both political actors, it occurred in the middle …

Discussion: The Politico, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Dish, DownWithTyranny!, PostPartisan, Crooks and Liars, The Caucus, TalkLeft, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Balkinization and The BLT

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

After Obama rips lobbyists, K St. insiders get private briefings — A day after bashing lobbyists, President Barack Obama's administration has invited K Street insiders to join private briefings on a range of topics addressed in Wednesday's State of the Union.

Discussion: Pundits Blog, The Lonely Conservative, QandO and The Atlantic Politics Channel

Martin Kady II / Politico Live's Blog:

Justice Alito mouths ‘not true’ — POLITICO's Kasie Hunt, who's in the House chamber, reports that Justice Samuel Alito mouthed the words “not true” when President Barack Obama criticized the Supreme Court's campaign finance decision. — “Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century …

Adam Winkler / The Huffington Post:

Alito Was Rude (But Right) — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made headlines last night when he nodded and mouthed “It's not true” in response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. Facing six of the nine Justices, who were sitting right up front, Obama criticized …

Discussion: Townhall.com

Linda Greenhouse / Opinionator:

Justice Alito's Reaction — There was the president, and there were six members of the Supreme Court. The few words from the one to the others went by quickly. The president's tone was mild compared to the animation in some other parts of the speech, and I thought he looked momentarily awkward.

Discussion: The New Republic, Power Line, The Corner on National …, The Caucus, Reaganite Republican, Left Coast Rebel, The Daily Beast, Wizbang, POWIP, Swampland, Instapundit, The Lonely Conservative and Top of the Ticket

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Where Clinton Turned Right, Obama Plowed Ahead

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Politico and Associated Press

National Review:
Enter Your E-Mail Address to Sign Up

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Washington Post, Associated Press, New York Times, The Corner on National …, protein wisdom, NewsBusters.org, Conventional Folly, Cato @ Liberty, The Mahablog, OpenSecrets.org, JustOneMinute and Right Wing Nut House

New York Times:
Text: Obama's State of the Union Address

Kevin Hechtkopf Updated / CBS News:
Poll: 83% of Speech Watchers Approve of Obama's State of the Union Proposals

Discussion: Democracy Corps, Los Angeles Times, CNN, American Prospect, News Hounds, Ezra Klein, Newsweek Blogs, TPMDC, Grist, Pollster.com All Content, Erick's blog, PoliBlog, Washington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Sadly, No!

Thomas Burr / Salt Lake Tribune:
Hatch calls Obama's court critique ‘rude’

Discussion: The Hill, TPM LiveWire and The Politico

Andrew Breitbart / Big Journalism:

How David Shuster Lied to Get Me to Appear on MSNBC — Today is the day that I have been invited to go on MSNBC for the very first time. At no point during the ACORN story was I put on the hot seat to defend the work of James O'Keefe. My thesis from day one has been that the mainstream media …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and The Washington Independent

Michael Calderone / The Politico:

MSNBC: Shuster tweets ‘inappropriate’ — MSNBC may be obsessed with the four men arrested for trying to tamper with Sen. Mary Landrieu's telephones, but the network says reporter David Shuster crossed the line when he attacked one of them via Twitter. — Just before leaving for New Orleans …

Discussion: Mediaite, Media Matters for America, NewsBusters.org and Patterico's Pontifications

Patterico's Pontifications:

CBS News and the L.A. Times Owe O'Keefe Corrections and Clarifications — As I noted last night, the Washington Post yesterday retracted its claim that the feds are charging James O'Keefe with an attempt to bug Mary Landrieu's phones: … Some other organizations owe corrections and clarifications.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, New Orleans Times-Picayune, NewsBusters.org, Washington Post, Pajamas Media and GayPatriot

Charles McGrath / New York Times:

J. D. Salinger, Literary Recluse, Dies at 91 — J. D. Salinger, who was thought at one time to be the most important American writer to emerge since World War II but who then turned his back on success and adulation, becoming the Garbo of letters, famous for not wanting to be famous …

Discussion: ArtsBeat

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Landrieu: Bill on “life support” — If President Barack Obama hoped his State of the Union speech would revive the health care debate on Capitol Hill, signs of movement were not immediately apparent Thursday. — Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said health care reform “is on life support …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, The Fix, Hot Air, QandO, Wonk Room, Ezra Klein, TPMDC, Dennis the Peasant, The Page and The New Republic

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

AP's ten whoppers from the SOTU speech — Only ten? Maybe the Associated Press got as tired as everyone else listening to Barack Obama's lengthy State of the Union speech last night and stopped paying attention after an hour. AP's headline focuses on the “toothless commission” …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Big Government and The Greenroom

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:
FACT CHECK: Obama and a toothless commission

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and 2.0: The Blogmocracy

Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
Senate permits gov't to borrow an additional $1.9T

Discussion: QandO and Moonbattery

Sewell Chan / New York Times:

Bernanke Confirmed for Second Term as Fed Chief — WASHINGTON — Ben S. Bernanke has been confirmed for a second term as head of the Federal Reserve. — The Senate voted 70-30 on Thursday to leave Mr. Bernanke at the helm of the central bank for another four years.

Discussion: CBS MoneyWatch.com RSS and Jeff Mapes on Politics

The Hill: Seven senators flip to vote against Bernanke on final passage

Victoria McGrane / The Politico:
Bernanke wins second term

Discussion: The Swamp

Justin Elliott / TPMMuckraker:

Judge Orders 25-Year-Old O'Keefe To Live With His Parents — As if James O'Keefe hasn't suffered enough indignity after botching an alleged phone tampering operation at a U.S. senator's office, getting arrested, and being photographed leaving jail, the judge in the case has now ordered …

Discussion: USA Today, Politics Daily, Runnin' Scared, Media Matters for America, Gawker, Open Left and The Washington Independent

Walter Alarkon / The Hill:

Senate OKs debt ceiling hike to $14.3T — Senate Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion increase in the federal debt limit Thursday, seeking to push off another politically painful debt vote until after the midterm elections. — All 60 Democrats and no Republicans voted for the debt limit increase.

Discussion: The Swamp and theblogprof

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Senate approves raising federal debt limit to $14.3 trillion

Discussion: The Hill

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Iran sanctions bill “moving into high gear”

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Ta-Nehisi Coates:

I Just Remembered Chris Matthews Was White — Here's Matthews on Obama: … I think it's worth noting that Chris Matthews wasn't trying to take a shot at anybody. I also think it's worth noting that he was attempting to compliment Obama and say something positive about what he's done for race relations.

Discussion: RealClearPolitics Video Log, Michael Calderone's Blog, Talking Points Memo, Newsweek Blogs, Mediaite, The Other McCain, News Desk, ATTACKERMAN and The Moderate Voice

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Gregg scolds MSNBC: ‘Irresponsible’ — Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) attacked MSNBC hosts Contessa Brewer and Melissa Francis on Thursday, questioning their “integrity” as journalists and calling them “irresponsible.” — The scuffle started with Francis asking Gregg to name specific areas …

Matt Corley / Think Progress: Gregg Throws A Hissy Fit When Asked To Provide Specifics About Programs He Would Cut

Sarah Ebner / Times of London:

Scientists in stolen e-mail scandal hid climate data — Ben Webster, Environment Editor, and Jonathan Leake — The university at the centre of the climate change row over stolen e-mails broke the law by refusing to hand over its raw data for public scrutiny.

Discussion: Don Surber, Pajamas Media, The Corner on National … and The Huffington Post

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:

Pentagon To Announce Some “Don't Ask” Details Next Week — Before President Obama announced last night that he would work with Congress and the Pentagon to end the military's ban on service by gays and lesbians, the White House consulted Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Daily Dish, The Washington Independent, Ben Smith's Blog and AMERICAblog Gay

Rob Diamond / The Huffington Post:

Republicans Use Military as a Stage Prop (Yet Again)....and This Time Break the Law — You did not have to be paying much attention during last night's Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address to notice a young Army Staff Sergeant in full dress uniform seated …

Joe / Joe. My. God.:

Photo Of The Day -Joint Chiefs Of Staff React To Obama's DADT Message — UPDATE: For those of you saying that protocol demands that the Joint Chiefs remain passive and non-reactive during presidential speeches, here's how they lept to their feet to applaud the president's threat to stick it to Iran over their nuclear program.

Discussion: Raw Story, Think Progress, The Daily Dish and AMERICAblog Gay

Michael McAuliff / NY Daily News:

NY pols stunned to learn Obama administration opposes funding for 9/11 health bill — The Obama administration stunned New York's delegation Thursday, dropping the bombshell news that it does not support funding the 9/11 health bill. — The state's two senators and 14 House members met …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Hot Air

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Pelosi: Obama's Health Care Appeal “Very Powerful” And “Helpful To Us” — There've been some rumblings among House Dems that Obama's speech last night, despite its urgent appeal for passage of health reform, didn't chart out a specific enough road map for Congress to break its logjam on the issue.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars, The Politico, Commentary and Daily Kos

Daniel B. Klein / Originals:

Why So Few Conservative And Libertarian Professors? — Two researchers offer a new twist on an old question—why do college professors overwhelmingly lean to the left? Bias against conservatives is not the main reason, nor are the allegedly higher IQs of liberals, say Neil Gross …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog and The Corner on National …

Chris Frates / The Politico:

Nelson calls on GOP colleagues to help avoid reconciliation — Saying reconciliation was never his first choice, Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson today urged his Republican colleagues to join him to help negotiate a bipartisan bill that can get 60 votes. — From his release: … Full release after the jump.

Ray LaHood / The Fast Lane:

President Obama delivers on American High-Speed Rail — I have looked forward to this day for a long time. — It is a great honor—a great honor—to have President Obama and Vice President Biden in Tampa, Florida, to announce our American Recovery and Reinvestment Act High-Speed and Inter-city Passenger Rail grants.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The New Republic, Streetsblog New York City and The Washington Independent

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:

SEC to require disclosure of climate change risks — A politically divided Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Wednesday to make clear when companies must provide information to investors about the business risks associated with climate change. — The commission, in a 3 to 2 vote …

Discussion: Hot Air, Dennis the Peasant, Ezra Klein and Hit & Run

Erin McPike / Hotline On Call:

Hackers Hit House Websites — Hackers struck at least 10 House websites overnight, substituting expletives aimed at Pres. Obama just hours after his State of the Union address. — The hackers targeted many House Dem freshmen, including Reps. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Harry Teague (D-NM) …

Discussion: Praetorian Prefect, The Politico and The Atlantic Politics Channel

Jeremy Scahill / The Nation:

Blackwater's Youngest Victim — Every detail of September 16, 2007, is burned in Mohammed Kinani's memory. Shortly after 9 am he was preparing to leave his house for work at his family's auto parts business in Baghdad when he got a call from his sister, Jenan, who asked him to pick …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com and ATTACKERMAN

Nielsen Wire:

48 Million Watch President Obama's First State of the Union Address — On Wednesday, January 27, 2010 President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address was carried live from 9:00PM to approximately 10:20PM on 11 networks. The sum of average audience for those networks was 48,009,595 viewers.

Discussion: Michael Calderone's Blog and Media Decoder