memeorandum: U.S. on the Way toward Losing AAA Credit Rating (Kevin D. Williamson/National Review)

10:50 AM ET, January 13, 2011

Top Items:

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: Washington Monthly, News Desk, Taylor Marsh, Swampland, News Hounds, Obama London, Don Surber and neo-neocon

Michelle Malkin:

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.

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, Politics Daily, PostPartisan, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, MyFox Phoenix, American Power, Connecting.the.Dots, CNN, The Moderate Voice and The Democratic Daily

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:

Conservatives Criticize Free T-Shirts At Tucson Memorial Service — TUCSON, AZ — Some conservatives are upset over t-shirts bearing the logo “Together We Thrive: Tucson & America” that were handed out to attendees at tonight's memorial service in the McKale Center on the campus of the University Of Arizona here.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, AmSpecBlog, Talking Points Memo, nancynall.com, Arizona Republic, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, iOwnTheWorld.com and skippy the bush kangaroo

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

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

Discussion: FrumForum

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 Moderate Voice, The Hill, ThinkProgress, The Note, CNN, USA Today, Hotline On Call, The Page, New York Times, The Hill and Gretawire

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, USA Today, Outside the Beltway, The Plum Line, Taegan Goddard's …, GayPatriot, Crooks and Liars, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report and AMERICAblog News

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 Monthly, msnbc.com, Runnin' Scared, AMERICAblog News and Marbury

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

John Boehner turns down Air Force One ride to Tucson — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) turned down an offer by President Barack Obama to travel on Air Force One to Arizona for a memorial service on behalf of the victims of Saturday's shooting, a decision that has upset some Democrats.

Discussion: CNN, Riehl World View, Outside the Beltway and The Hill

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 Page, The Hill, JammieWearingFool, The Note and Naked Politics

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

Discussion: The Caucus, Daily Kos and AOL News

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

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

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

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

Wall Street Journal:

S&P, Moody's Warn On U.S. Credit Rating — LONDON—Two leading credit rating agencies on Thursday cautioned the U.S. on its credit rating, expressing concern over a deteriorating fiscal situation that they say needs correction. — Moody's Investors Service said in a report Thursday …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Suburban Guerrilla

Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:
U.S. on the Way toward Losing AAA Credit Rating

Discussion: Hot Air

Washington Post:

Sarah Palin's effort to defuse controversy backfires with ‘blood libel’ comment — The presidential-quality stagecraft was there: an American flag over Sarah Palin's left shoulder and another over her heart. So was the rhetorical polish, with its invocations of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, God and Ronald Reagan.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Informed Comment and PostPartisan

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, Hot Air, Doug Ross and The Iconic Midwest, more at Mediagazer »

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: Moriah Jovan, JammieWearingFool, American Power, Patterico's Pontifications, Big Journalism, Instapundit and Sister Toldjah

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

Associated Press:
Officials: Frenetic morning for rampage suspect

Discussion: AOL News and TPMMuckraker

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.

Jennifer Bendery / Roll Call:

Boehner to Host RNC Party During Tucson Memorial — Speaker John Boehner will host a cocktail party for the Republican National Committee at the same time that President Barack Obama will be addressing the nation at the memorial service for victims of the Tucson shooting.

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

Tim Mak / FrumForum:
RNC Shocker: Boehner Backs Cino for RNC Chair

Discussion: Politics Daily, Weekly Standard, Ben Smith's Blog, Riehl World View, TPMDC and The Fix

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

David Frum / FrumForum:

The Uneasiness of Talk Radio — Interesting experience listening to talk radio these past days. The tone? Extra militant and - in the case of Rush Limbaugh especially - extra provocative. Sarah Palin's video address seems to have been composed under the influence of this mood …

Discussion: Riehl World View and Outside the Beltway

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

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Gun-control advocates disappointed with White House silence — The White House has disappointed gun-control advocates on and off Capitol Hill with its silence on the issue. — Although President Obama ran on campaign vows of reinstating the assault-weapons ban and closing the gun-show loophole …

Discussion: Washington Post and TPMDC