memeorandum: ... Won't Be Down To Breakfast — Two empty places at the table. (Jules Crittenden)

2:05 PM ET, January 29, 2010

Top Items:

Statement from James O'Keefe — The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu's office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.

Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:

Scott Roeder convicted of murdering abortion doctor George Tiller — A jury in Wichita deliberates for just over a half-hour before finding Roeder guilty. He had admitted that he shot Tiller, who performed late-term abortions, at a church in May. — Reporting from Wichita, Kan. …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Politics Daily and Indecision Forever

Judy L. Thomas / Kansas City Star:

Roeder found guilty of murdering abortion doctor — After 37 minutes of deliberation, a jury today found Scott Roeder guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller. — Jurors also convicted Roeder of two counts of aggravated assault …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, ACS Blog, Runnin' Scared and Feministing

msnbc.com:

Abortion doc's killer found guilty of murder — Shooter convicted of first-degree culpability in death of Kansas physician — Scott Roeder, found guilty of murdering prominent Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, testifies at his trial on Thursday.

Discussion: Newsweek Blogs and Little Green Footballs

CNN:

Anti-abortion activist guilty of murder — (CNN) — A Kansas jury deliberated just 40 minutes before convicting an anti-abortion activist of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of an abortion provider. — The jury found Scott Roeder, 51, guilty of gunning down Dr. George Tiller …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Telegraph and Confederate Yankee

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: FOURTH QUARTER 2009 (ADVANCE ESTIMATE) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, (that is …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Liberal Values, The Daily Dish, Real Time Economics, Newsweek Blogs, Daily Kos, MyDD, The Glittering Eye, Calculated Risk, FT Alphaville and The Consumerist

Catherine Rampell / New York Times:

U.S. Economy Grew at Fastest Pace in 6 Years Last Quarter — The United States economy grew at its fastest pace in over six years at the end of 2009, but a sluggish job market is still souring economists on the sustainability of the recovery. — Gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Associated Press and The Moderate Voice

Megan McArdle:
Dude, Where's My Job?

Discussion: The Hunting of the Snark

Christina Romer / White House.gov Blog Feed:
On the Advance Estimate of GDP for the Fourth Quarter of 2009

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Ben Smith's Blog and MarketWatch

Ezra Klein:

Rahm Emanuel makes me very pessimistic about health-care reform — According to the New York Times, the “White House on Thursday signaled the outlines of its strategy for breaking the partisan logjam holding up President Obama's agenda.” And that outline is the most depressing thing I've read on the chances for health-care reform.

Washington Post:

After Obama speech, Democrats confused about path ahead — A day after President Obama called on them to renew efforts to pass his ambitious agenda, congressional Democrats remained in disarray Thursday about how to move forward, with at least some pointing at the White House as the cause …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Politico, New York Times, Washington Times, The Note, TPMDC, Riehl World View, USA Today, Associated Press and The Plum Line

New York Times:
Health Bill Stalled, Obama Juggles an Altered Agenda

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Mother Jones, USA Today, The Hill, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, Baltimore Sun, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Gawker, AMERICAblog Gay, TPMDC, The Democratic Daily and AMERICAblog News

NY Daily News:

White House orders Justice Department to look for other places to hold 9/11 terror trial — White House officials have told the Justice Department to consider other venues for the 9/11 terror trial that was to be held in lower Manhattan, the Daily News has learned.

New York Times:

Administration Considers Moving Site of 9/11 Trial — WASHINGTON — Facing mounting pressure from New York politicians concerned about costs and security, the Obama administration on Thursday began considering moving the trial of the chief organizer of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks out of Manhattan, administration officials said.

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog: Newburgh mayor wants terror trials

WISH-TV:

Congressman Buyer won't seek reelection — 24-Hour News 8 has learned Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer (R-4th District) will announce he will not seek reelection during a news conference Friday. — Buyer is perhaps best known for his 1998 role as a prosecutor in President Clinton's impeachment hearings.

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Page, Hotline OnCall, Politics Nation, TPMDC and The Washington Independent

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Steve Buyer to retire in Indiana

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Salah Nasrawi / Associated Press:

Bin Laden blasts US for climate change — CAIRO — Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming, according to a new audiotape released Friday.

Discussion: Washington Post, Politics Daily, Stop The ACLU, LewRockwell.com Blog, Swampland, The Daily Caller, The Washington Independent and RedState

Aljazeera:

Bin Laden deplores climate change — Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, has condemned the US and other industrial economies, holding them responsible for the phenomenon of climate change. — In an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera, bin Laden criticised George Bush, the former US president …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, BBC, Guardian, AmSpecBlog, Raw Story, Sweetness & Light, The Long War Journal, JammieWearingFool, Another Black Conservative, YID With LID and Political Byline

Fox News:

Palin to Obama: Stop the Fingerpointing — This is a rush transcript from “On the Record,” January 28, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. — GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Tonight, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin right here, right now! She joins us from Wasilla, Alaska.

Discussion: Democratic Strategist, TPMMuckraker and The Washington Independent

Andy Barr / The Politico:
NOW tackles Palin over Tebow ad

Discussion: News Hounds, Politics Daily, RHRealityCheck.org, The Other McCain, The Page and Weasel Zippers

David Sessions / Politics Daily:
Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn Back Out of Tea Party Convention

Discussion: Prairie Weather, American Power and Little Green Footballs

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Brown on Romney: 'He's changed' — One Washington habit Scott Brown doesn't seem to be adopting is message control. — Some highlights from his wide-ranging interview,with the Globe, in which he seems to stake quite a bit on his and others' personal qualities, include a description …

Discussion: GOP 12

John Tlumacki / Boston Globe:
Scott Brown interview transcript

Discussion: The Page

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

March of the Peacocks — Last week, the Center for American Progress, a think tank with close ties to the Obama administration, published an acerbic essay about the difference between true deficit hawks and showy “deficit peacocks.” You can identify deficit peacocks, readers were told …

Discussion: QandO, The Business Insider, Dennis the Peasant, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and Pacific Views

Timothy Jost / The New Republic:

You Call This a Better Idea? — Timothy Jost is a professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law. He posts regularly on the Politico health reform arena and on Georgetown University's Legal Issues in Health Reform blog. — Although President Obama's primary health reform message …

Discussion: Progressive Fix and Newsweek Blogs

Uwe E. Reinhardt / Economix:
No Such Thing as ‘Simple’ Health Reform

Discussion: The Daily Dish and PNHP's Official Blog

Jules Crittenden:

... Won't Be Down To Breakfast — Two empty places at the table. J.D. Salinger and Howard Zinn. Well, we can sit here awkwardly silent, listening to the clink of cutlery, or we can have a cheery chinwag! I vote for chinwag. — Salinger first. I may be one of the few people …

Discussion: Originals, New York Times, Achenblog and Pajamas Media

Karina Grazina / Reuters:

Pork better for sex than Viagra? — Buzz up! — BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's president recommended pork as an alternative to Viagra Wednesday, saying she spent a satisfying weekend with her husband after eating barbecued pork. — “I've just been told something I didn't know …

Discussion: The Jawa Report

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Has Obama become bored with being president? — This is about the time Barack Obama becomes bored with his job. — He's in his second year as president, and he's discovered that even with all the powers of office, he can't do everything he wants to do, like remake America. Doing stuff is hard.

Discussion: Moe Lane

Lisa Lerer / The Politico:

Environmentalists target Blanche Lincoln — Environmentalists have found their first target for the 2010 election cycle: Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln. — Lincoln is the first senator to make the League of Conservation Voters' “Dirty Dozen” list of candidates it hopes to help defeat.

Discussion: The Hill, Firedoglake and Top of the Ticket

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The handling of the Christmas Day bombing suspect: the scandal grows — The real scandal surrounding the failed Christmas Day airline bombing was not the fact that a terrorist got on a plane — that can happen to any administration, as it surely did to the Bush administration …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, GINA COBB, Fausta's Blog, Betsy's Page, American Thinker and Sadly, No!

SusanAnne Hiller / Big Government:

Why Is Senator Kirk Still Voting on Legislation? — The Senate has voted on three pieces of legislation today that required 60 votes-to raise the debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion, to reduce the deficit by establishing five-year discretionary spending caps, and Ben Bernanke's confirmation …

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, PoliBlog, Cold Fury, Associated Press and Weasel Zippers

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

What Killed Obama's Approval Numbers? — If we look back at the trajectory of Barack Obama's approval ratings, which began at about 65 at the time of his inauguration and have fallen to about 48 now, there were two periods that account for most of the decline.