memeorandum: EXCLUSIVE - Taliban commanders in talks with U.N. envoy (David Brunnstrom/Reuters)

6:15 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 Daily Dish, The Moderate Voice, The Corner on National …, DownWithTyranny!, PostPartisan, TalkLeft, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Crooks and Liars, The Caucus, Balkinization, The BLT and The New Republic

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 …

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, The Atlantic Politics Channel and QandO

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, POWIP, Wizbang, TPM LiveWire, Swampland, The Lonely Conservative, Instapundit and Top of the Ticket

New York Times:

Text: Obama's State of the Union Address — Following is the prepared text of President Obama's State of the Union address, delivered Jan. 27, 2010, as released by the White House: — Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

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

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

Discussion: The Politico

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, Pollster.com All Content, Newsweek Blogs, TPMDC, Grist, PoliBlog, Washington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Erick's blog and Sadly, No!

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

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

Emptywheel:
The Word Not Spoken: Foreclosure

Discussion: The Huffington Post and American Power

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

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

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, Pajamas Media, Washington Post, NewsBusters.org 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, The Fix, Matthew Yglesias, Hot Air, QandO, Wonk Room, Ezra Klein, TPMDC, Dennis the Peasant, The Page and The New Republic

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, Gawker, Media Matters for America, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Open Left and The Washington Independent

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

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, News Desk, Mediaite, The Moderate Voice, The Other McCain, ATTACKERMAN and Top of the Ticket

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

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

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

Discussion: QandO and Moonbattery

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

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

Kleinheider / Post Politics:

Blackburn Will Not Attend Opryland Tea Party Convention — From Blackburn spokesman Claude Chafin: … From Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn herself: … The Tea Party Convention and its sponsor organization, Tea Party Nation, have been under fire as of late by former members of the group.

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, The Caucus, The Hill and Mother Jones

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Reps. back out of tea party event

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Think Progress

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

Iran sanctions bill “moving into high gear” — Lots of rumors today of movement on Chris Dodd's Iran sanctions legislation, which the administration may not be thrilled about as it pursues the U.N. track. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Reid provides hazy timetable

Discussion: Wonk Room

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: Think Progress

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

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 and Ezra Klein

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

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 …

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2010: Wisconsin Senate — Wisconsin Senate: Thompson 47%, Feingold 43% — One more Democratic senator who has long been regarded as a safe prospect for reelection may be facing a challenging year in 2010. — A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters …

Discussion: GayPatriot, Hot Air, This ain't Hell … and Scorecard's Blog

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

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

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