memeorandum: EXCLUSIVE: History Channel Pulls ‘The Kennedys’; Says Controversial … (Matthew Belloni/Hollywood Reporter)

2:35 PM ET, January 8, 2011

Top Items:

NPR:

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot In Arizona — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, Arizona Public Media reported Saturday. — The Democrat, who was re-elected to her third term in November …

ABCNEWS:

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Shot at Grocery Store Event — At Least 12 People Reportedly Wounded in Shooting at Grocery Store — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head at point-blank range today outside a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store where she was holding a campaign event, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Discussion: The Hill, msnbc.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Breaking News and Patterico's Pontifications

CNN:

Arizona congresswoman among 12 shot at Tucson grocery — (CNN) — At least 12 people were shot at a Tucson grocery store on Saturday, and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was among them, a Democratic party source told CNN. — Giffords, 40, was holding a constituent meeting at the grocery store …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and The Jawa Report

J. David Goodman / New York Times:

Congresswoman Giffords Shot in Tucson — A congresswoman from Arizona was shot on Saturday along with several others during at public event at a grocery store in Tuscon, according to her spokesman, C.J. Karamargin. The Tucson Citizen reported that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, had been shot at close range in the head.

Discussion: The Confluence

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:

AZ Democratic Congresswoman, 6 Others Shot and Killed At Event — NPR: … An MSNBC producer at the event tweeted that Giffords was shot in the head, which has yet to be confirmed. Fox News is reporting that three staffers have also been shot. — UPDATE: CNN is reporting that witnesses heard 15-20 gunshots.

Discussion: Mediaite and Outside the Beltway

Dominic Rushe / Guardian:

US tells Twitter to pass on messages — Icelandic MP to fight attempts by the US department of justice to access her private information — A member of parliament in Iceland who is also a former WikiLeaks volunteer says the US justice department has ordered Twitter to hand over her private messages.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, The Hill, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Balloon Juice, Informed Comment and Liberal Conspiracy, more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

DOJ subpoenas Twitter records of several WikiLeaks volunteers — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — Last night, Birgitta Jónsdóttir — a former WikiLeaks volunteer and current member of the Icelandic Parliament — announced (on Twitter) that she had been notified …

Discussion: Emptywheel, CNN, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Balloon Juice, American Power, Gawker and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
DOJ sends order to Twitter for Wikileaks-related account info

Discussion: TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
Feds Subpoena Twitter Seeking Information on Ex-WikiLeaks Volunteer

Discussion: Boing Boing and Little Green Footballs

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

O'REILLY TRIES TO SETTLE A THEOLOGICAL DEBATE.... Debates between atheists and monotheists over the supernatural can be lively and spirited, but generally don't serve much purpose. No matter how well meaning, participants almost certainly aren't going to change the minds of their rivals.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Lynette Rice / Inside TV:

'Sarah Palin's Alaska': No second season. (Dang?) — It's easily one of the most-buzzed about (or should we say slammed?) shows in the history of TLC, so it's natural to assume that Sarah Palin's Alaska could have a future on the cable network, right? Unfortunately for you caribou-hunting fans …

Discussion: Joe. My. God., TMZ.com and Towleroad News #gay

Matthew Belloni / Hollywood Reporter:

EXCLUSIVE: History Channel Pulls ‘The Kennedys’; Says Controversial Miniseries ‘Not a Fit’ … In a surprise move, A&E Television Networks has canceled plans to broadcast The Kennedys, the ambitious and much-anticipated miniseries about the American political family that was set to air this spring on the History channel.

Discussion: HillBuzz.org, ArtsBeat, Inside TV and TV Squad

Rick Ungar / The Policy Page:

More Small Businesses Offering Health Care To Employees Thanks To Obamacare — The first statistics are coming in and, to the surprise of a great many, Obamacare might just be working to bring health care to working Americans precisely as promised. — The major health insurance companies around …

Discussion: The Incidental Economist, Firedoglake, Newshoggers.com, Christian Science Monitor, Outside the Beltway, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and No More Mister Nice Blog

Ezra Klein: When opposition to health-care reform stops being polite and starts getting scary

The Huffington Post:
Obama Objects To Gitmo Limits, But Doesn't Claim Right To Defy Them

Discussion: TalkLeft, FrumForum and Lawfare

Digby / Hullabaloo:

The Village: like Real Americans, but worth a lot more. — Out of Touch? Nah, They're Just Better Than Everyone Else — Begala and Matalin on Biltzer this afternoon: … I'll just let that sit there for a minute. Read it again, keeping in mind that Robert Gibbs is the presidential press secretary.

The Politico:

A conservative civil war over the Conservative Political Action Conference — Friction between parts of the social conservative and libertarian wings of the conservative movement has escalated into a shooting war in the run-up to the 28-year old Conservative Political Action Conference …

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Michael Powell / New York Times:

Obama the Centrist Irks a Liberal Lion — BERKELEY, Calif. — So how would he grade President Obama's economic policies, and the new team put in place this week? — Though Robert B. Reich, the former labor secretary, endorsed Mr. Obama and has traveled to the White House to provide economic counsel …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Wall Street Journal:

ObamaCare's Reality Deficit — If you believe that a new entitlement saves money, you'll believe anything. — Of all the claims deployed in favor of ObamaCare, and there are many, the most preposterous is that a new open-ended entitlement will somehow reduce the budget deficit.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Betsy's Page and Viking Pundit

Todd Starnes / Fox News:

‘Mother,’ ‘Father’ Changing to ‘Parent One,’ ‘Parent Two’ on Passport Applications — Section of current passport application asking for “father” and “mother” information. — The words “mother” and “father” will be removed from U.S. passport applications and replaced with gender neutral terminology, the State Department says.