memeorandum: Krauthammer on debating Palin's use of ‘blood libel’: 'Have we … (Jeff Poor/The Daily Caller)

9:50 AM ET, January 13, 2011

Top Items:

Branding the Tucson massacre: “Together We Thrive” in white and blue; Updated: Liveblogging the bizarre pep rally; Gov. Brewer booed; in sum: right speech, too late, boneheaded venue (WOOT!) — President Obama used to preach that there was no “Red America” and no “Blue America,” just one America.

The Politico:

Pelosi is there as Giffords opens eyes — TUCSON, Ariz. — Simple sentiments, spoken by family and some of her closest friends in Congress, inspired the “miracle” of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' open eyes Wednesday evening. — Surrounded in her hospital room by her husband, her parents …

Discussion: Reuters, TPMDC, The Hill, JammieWearingFool, The Note and Naked Politics

New York Times:

Obama Calls for a New Era of Civility in U.S. Politics — TUCSON — President Obama offered the nation's condolences on Wednesday to the victims of the shootings here, calling on Americans to draw a lesson from the lives of the fallen and the actions of the heroes, and to usher in a new era of civility in their honor.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Guardian, FiveThirtyEight, Gallup, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, AOL News, Prairie Weather, Outside the Beltway, PostPartisan, Gothamist and The Caucus

New York Times:
As We Mourn — It is a president's responsibility to salve a national wound.

Discussion: Daily Kos

John Bresnahan / The Politico:
John Boehner turns down Air Force One ride to Tucson

Discussion: CNN, Outside the Beltway and The Hill

Associated Press:
Obama tells polarized nation: ‘We can be better’

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, The Gateway Pundit, First Draft and Official News Blog …

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Conservatives Criticize Free T-Shirts At Tucson Memorial Service

Discussion: nancynall.com, Talking Points Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, iOwnTheWorld.com and skippy the bush kangaroo

Jennifer Bendery / Roll Call:
Boehner to Host RNC Party During Tucson Memorial

Discussion: Firedoglake, Los Angeles Times, Taylor Marsh, New York Times, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Booman Tribune and The Maddow Blog

Washington Post:
Tucson shootings: Let us heal together, Obama says at memorial event

Discussion: The Fix, Achenblog, The New Republic, PostPartisan, Right Turn, News Desk, Raw Story, Harry's Place and Betsy's Page

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
Obama to Eulogize Tucson Victims

Discussion: Fox Nation, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Wire, Metropolis, Conservatives4Palin, ThinkProgress and Philly.com

The Note:
The Note: Obama, Palin And Arizona: A Tale Of Two Speeches

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Reuters, Hot Air, Bookworm Room, blogs.abcnews.com, Conservatives4Palin, The Other McCain, Ballot Box, Gawker, Washington Post and protein wisdom

Michael Shear / The Caucus:

Obama and Palin, a Tale of Two Speeches — President Obama gives his speech honoring the January 8 shooting victims at McKale Memorial Center. — Wednesday was bookended by two remarkable — and remarkably different — political performances that demonstrated the vast expanse of America's political landscape.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Runnin' Scared, AMERICAblog News and Marbury

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Barack Obama takes opportunity Sarah Palin missed — In the span of a single news cycle, Republicans got a jarring reminder of two forces that could prevent them from retaking the presidency next year. — At sunrise in the east on Wednesday, Sarah Palin demonstrated that she has little interest …

Discussion: USA Today, Guardian, GayPatriot, Crooks and Liars, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Richard PéRez-PeñA / The Caucus:

Christie Says Palin Needs to Go Unscripted to Contend for 2012 — Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey says it's way too early to handicap the field of his fellow Republicans who might run for president in 2012, but on Wednesday he voiced a few sharp words about the most famous one.

Discussion: The Note, CNN, USA Today, Hotline On Call, New York Times, Gretawire, National Post and Mediaite

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Person Tweeting Death Wish For Palin Now Wants Privacy — I linked earlier to a YouTube video montage [video removed, see update below] of death wishes tweeted about Sarah Palin after various bloggers maliciously linked Palin's electoral target map to the Tucson shooting.

Discussion: Big Journalism, Patterico's Pontifications and Instapundit

Jewish Americans for Sarah Palin:

Sarah Palin is right about a ‘blood libel’ — Statement of Jewish American for Sarah Palin — regarding Gov. Palin's use of term ‘blood libel’ — . — Sarah Palin got it right. — Falsely accusing someone of shedding blood is the definition of a blood libel …

Discussion: Israpundit, Conservatives4Palin, Patterico's Pontifications and Atlas Shrugs

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Palin aide: She's getting death threats at unprecedented levels — I almost wish that this wasn't being reported as it'll only inflame things further among fringe types, but after four days of screeching about Palin the murderer, who can blame her staff for wanting to show the world the ironic outcome?

Discussion: Big Journalism, JammieWearingFool, Whiskey Fire and The Mahablog

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:
Krauthammer on debating Palin's use of ‘blood libel’: 'Have we …

Discussion: The Politico, Mediaite, Big Government, Questions and Observations, Doug Ross, Hot Air and The Iconic Midwest, more at Mediagazer »

Publius / Big Government:
Exclusive: Alan Dershowitz Defends Sarah Palin's Use of Term ‘Blood Libel’

David Gibson / Politics Daily:
‘Blood Libel’ and Sarah Palin: Christian Conservatives' Infatuation with Judaism

Discussion: American Power, Wizbang, Big Government and Taylor Marsh

The White House:

Remarks by the President at a Memorial Service for the Victims of the Shooting in Tucson, Arizona — McKale Memorial Center University of Arizona — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Please, please be seated. (Applause.)

Discussion: Obama London, News Hounds and Don Surber

New York Times:

Obama's Remarks in Tucson — Following is a text of President Obama's prepared address on Wednesday to honor those killed and wounded in a shooting on Jan. 8, as released by the White House. — To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university …

Discussion: New York Times, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Connecting.the.Dots, The Moderate Voice, The Democratic Daily and MyFox Phoenix

Byron Tau / Ben Smith's Blog:
Obama in Tucson — Here's the speech: … Rest of the speech after the jump.

Discussion: FrumForum

Wall Street Journal:

Suspect's Downward Spiral — Police Records Show Accused Killer Growing More Erratic Before College Suspension — TUCSON, Ariz.—Students and faculty at Pima Community College feared for their safety as Jared Lee Loughner's increasingly erratic behavior led to a series of encounters …

Discussion: Right Wing News, Runnin' Scared and The Wire

New York Post:

Prez perfect - but the crowd was appalling — Never before in the annals of national moments of mourning have the words spoken been so wildly mismatched by the spirit in which they were received. — The sentences and paragraphs of President Obama's speech last night were beautiful and moving and powerful.

Wall Street Journal:

A Fifth Star for David Petraeus — The general clearly deserves to join the rank held by MacArthur, Marshall and Nimitz. His promotion would also honor our troops and their mission in the war on terror. — On a cold December evening in 1783, at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan …

Discussion: Swampland

Michael C. Moynihan / Hit & Run:

The Assassin Who Would Save America from the Extreme Right — If political rhetoric can inspire murder, then it follows that those issuing warnings about the current “tone” in American discourse—those breathless invocations of “eliminationists” acting like “Brownshirts” and “fascists,” …

Discussion: Pirate's Cove and Hot Air

A New Way Forward:

Afghanistan Study Group - Survey Results of Conservatives — The following is an analysis of a poll taken of conservative voters nationwide. Drawn from a sample of randomly selected phone numbers, this poll contains 1,000 registered voters who describe their political ideology as conservative.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway and New Atlanticist

Max Boot / Commentary:
The True ‘Cost’ of Defeat in Afghanistan

Discussion: Foreign Policy and Politics Daily

Simmi Aujla / The Politico:

Gohmert drafts bill to allow guns on House floor — Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert says his office is drafting a measure to allow members of Congress to carry guns in the District of Columbia, including in the Capitol and on the House floor. — Gohmert says he and his colleagues need …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker, Joe. My. God., Bloomberg, Harry's Place, Balloon Juice, Swampland, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and Washington Post

Robert Lenzner / StreetTalk:

US Banks Reporting Phantom Income on $1.4 Trillion Delinquent Mortgages — The giant US banks have been bailed out again from huge potential writeoffs by loosey-goosey accounting accepted by the accounting profession and the regulators. — They are allowed to accrue interest on non-performing mortgages …

Discussion: Vox Popoli and Foreclosureblues

Levi Pulkkinen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

One arrested in threats against Seattle congressman — FBI: California man admitted calls, said he wouldn't risk his $3 mil. trust fund by hurting McDermott — A California man accused of threatening to kill Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott has been arrested and charged in federal court.

Discussion: The Caucus, CNN, Daily Kos, TPMMuckraker, Gawker, Politics Daily, The Moderate Voice and Balloon Juice

Eric Marrapodi / CNN:

Monks make, donate casket for youngest victim in Arizona shooting — By Eric Marrapodi and Kara Devlin — A group of Trappist monks in Iowa have donated a handmade casket to bury 9-year-old Christina Green, the youngest victim in the Saturday attack that killed six and wounded 13 others in Arizona.