memeorandum: Half of All States Now Suing to Stop Obamacare (Conn Carroll/The Foundry)

11:35 AM ET, January 13, 2011

Top Items:

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, Taegan Goddard's …, Los Angeles Times, AOL News, Outside the Beltway, USA Today, The Plum Line, 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 Moderate Voice, The Hill, ThinkProgress, The Note, The Huffington Post, CNN, Hotline On Call, National Review, New York Times, Shakesville, The Page, The Hill and Gretawire

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.

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: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, News Desk, Jim White's myFDL diary, Taylor Marsh, Swampland, News Hounds, Obama London, Don Surber and neo-neocon

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, AMERICAblog News, Runnin' Scared and Marbury

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

Facing Challenge, Obama Returns to Unity Theme — TUCSON — When President Obama took the stage here Wednesday to address a community — and a nation — traumatized by Saturday's killings, it invited comparisons to President George W. Bush's speech to the nation after the attacks of Sept. 11 …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Weasel Zippers, The Empire, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

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, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, skippy the bush kangaroo and iOwnTheWorld.com

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

New York Times:
Obama Calls for a New Era of Civility in U.S. Politics

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

Associated Press:
On shootings and politics, Palin has her own rules

Discussion: USA Today, Sweetness & Light and MyFox Phoenix

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:
Obama's Moving But Ultimately Unsatisfying Speech

Discussion: Yglesias and Achenblog

Gail Collins / New York Times:
Obama Brings It Home

Discussion: Raw Story, Guardian and American Power

TheDc / The Daily Caller:
Text of President Obama's speech at Arizona memorial service

Discussion: Hot Air and News One

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

Discussion: The Caucus, AOL News and Daily Kos

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

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

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: Politics Daily, USA Today, CNN, Riehl World View, FrumForum, The Daily Caller, 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: TPMDC, Wonkette, Reuters, The Page, JammieWearingFool, The Hill, The Note and Naked Politics

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

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Taylor Marsh, Los Angeles Times, Firedoglake, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, New York Times, Booman Tribune, The Maddow Blog and Ben Smith's Blog

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: The Foundry, 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 and Informed Comment

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

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

Thomas P. Melady / Washington Times:

Michael S. Steele for RNC chairman — Tomorrow, Republicans through their state chairmen and committeemen will elect the chairman of the Republican National Committee. There is special importance to the election as this chairman will lead the party in the national presidential elections of November 2012.

Discussion: Ballot Box

Reid Wilson / Hotline On Call:
Puerto Rico Governor Backs Priebus For RNC Chair

Discussion: TPMDC and The Fix

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

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Palin aide: She's getting death threats at unprecedented levels

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

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: The Moderate Voice and Swampland

Wall Street Journal:

Health-Law Repeal Hardly a Panacea for CEOs' Concerns — Newly emboldened Republicans want to repeal the Obama health law, a symbol of all that they—and many voters—dislike about President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats' approach to governing. If you were a business executive and employer, would you really favor repeal?

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Felix Salmon

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

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.