memeorandum: Obama At His Best — The president's excellent, nationalistic State of the Union address. (John B. Judis/The New Republic)

2:40 AM ET, January 27, 2011

Top Items:

Alvin Felzenberg / US News:

Obama's State of the Union Was Tantamount to Plagiarism — If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, what can be said of plagiarism? President Obama's second State of the Union address contained enough recycled ideas and lines lifted from speeches of others to make historians wince.

Discussion: American Glob, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Blue Crab Boulevard

NPR:

The State Of The Union, In Your Words — Right after President Barack Obama finished his State of the Union address, we asked our listeners to describe his speech in three words. We received responses from more than 4,000 of you. We've run them through a word cloud generator and this is what all of you said:

Discussion: Gawker, Tim Blair, New York Magazine, Federal Eye and Wonkette

Nielsen Wire:

43 Million Watch President Obama's State of the Union Address — On Tuesday, January 25, 2011 President Obama delivered his State of the Union address. The address was carried live from approximately 9:00 PM- 10:15 PM on 11 networks. The sum of the average audience for those networks …

Discussion: Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, TVbytheNumbers and Washington Wire

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Sarah Palin on Barack Obama speech: ‘WTF’ — Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday night that President Barack Obama's call for “winning the future” during his State of the Union address is best framed by the acronym it shares with a much different phrase — “wtf.”

Discussion: FrumForum, Taylor Marsh and The Hill

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Whoa!... Sarah Palin on Obama's SOTU Speech: “WTF Was Spot-On …

Discussion: American Glob, protein wisdom and iOwnTheWorld.com

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Why an Unexceptional Speech Got an Exceptional Response

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Rep. Weiner: ‘I just needed a drink’ after GOP response

Discussion: TPMDC, Weasel Zippers, Althouse and Gawker

Sahil Kapur / Raw Story:
Obama's TSA pat-downs joke infuriates ACLU

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Moderate Voice and Scared Monkeys

Jana Winter / Fox News:

Celebrity Journalist: I Never Spoke to Hawaii Gov About Obama Birth Certificate — A celebrity journalist now claims he misspoke when he said last week that Hawaii's governor told him he was unable to find President Barack Obama's original birth certificate after a search of state and hospital archives.

Discussion: Clayton Cramer's Blog, Confederate Yankee, Scared Monkeys, Sister Toldjah, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite, Nice Deb, The Daily Caller, Fox Nation, Daily Pundit, HillBuzz.org and WorldNetDaily

Sabrina Eaton / Plain Dealer:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich sues cafeteria over olive pit in sandwich — Rep. Dennis Kucinich has sued a U.S. House of Representatives cafeteria for selling him a sandwich wrap that caused dental damage when he bit into an olive pit, according to a Jan. 3 lawsuit filed in Superior Court for the District of Columbia.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, Pajamas Media and FrumForum

Gawker:

Dennis Kucinich Sues Congressional Cafeteria Over Olive Pit — Congressman Dennis Kucinich bought a sandwich from the Longworth House Office Building cafeteria in April 2008, and bit into it only to find an unpitted olive that cracked a tooth. This month, he sued the cafeteria for selling “dangerous” sandwiches.

Discussion: Wonkette, Courthouse News Service, Law Blog, Raw Story, Washington Post, Salon, CNN, FishbowlDC and Overlawyered

Associated Press:

Medicare official doubts health care law savings — WASHINGTON (AP) — Two of the central promises of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law are unlikely to be fulfilled, Medicare's independent economic expert told Congress on Wednesday. — The landmark legislation probably …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, National Review, Scared Monkeys, YID With LID, Commentary, Hot Air, Viking Pundit and Pajamas Media

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:

Rep. Paul Ryan 1, ObamaCare 0 — House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) held an important hearing on ObamaCare, showing just how important is the process for educating the public, and thereby setting defenders of ObamaCare back on their heels. — As he did last night …

Discussion: National Review

Washington Post:

A disappointing State of the Union address — PRESIDENT OBAMA entered office promising to be a different kind of politician - one who would speak honestly with the American people about the hard choices they face and would help make those hard calls. Tuesday night's State of the Union Address …

Discussion: Commentary, Wall Street Journal, Pajamas Media, New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Don Surber and PostPartisan

Associated Press:
Social Security to Run Permanent Yearly Deficits

Discussion: Hot Air, RedState, Associated Press and Firedoglake

Gallup:
Americans Oppose Cuts in Education, Social Security, Defense

Discussion: Hot Air, Top of the Ticket, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Plum Line, The Hill, Politics Daily and The Note

Bill Keller / New York Times:

Dealing With Assange and the Secrets He Spilled — This past June, Alan Rusbridger, the editor of The Guardian, phoned me and asked, mysteriously, whether I had any idea how to arrange a secure communication. Not really, I confessed. The Times doesn't have encrypted phone lines, or a Cone of Silence.

Discussion: Threat Level, Gawker, Runnin' Scared, Balloon Juice and The Awl, more at Mediagazer »

ABCNEWS:

Sen. Harry Reid Says Earmarks Will Return, Despite Obama's State of the Union Vow — Senate Democratic Leader Concedes GOP Can Force Health Care Repeal Vote — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told ABC News that earmarks will return to Capitol Hill despite President Obama's vow …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, CNN, Hot Air, The Hill, Daily Kos and Liberty Pundits Blog

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Senate nears approval of filibuster changes

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The Hill

Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:
Rep. Broun Says Obama, Pelosi, & Reid Want Gov't To Take Over ‘All Of Society’

Discussion: Mediaite, AOL News and Daily Kos

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:

U.S. Budget Deficit to Pass $1.5 Trillion This Year — “Grim” doesn't seem to be a terrifying enough word to describe the budget outlook that the CBO released today. Oh, sure, we sort of knew this was coming—tax cuts are expensive if you don't find spending cuts to match.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and Instapundit

CBO's Latest 10 Documents:
BUDGET AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK: FISCAL YEARS 2011 THROUGH 2021

Discussion: The Caucus, Director's Blog, Yglesias, Politics Daily, Washington Wire, Hit & Run, Raw Story, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Atlantic Online, YID With LID, National Review, Swampland and The Note

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
CBO: U.S. budget deficit to reach $1.5 trillion in 2011, highest ever

Discussion: PostPartisan, Politics Daily, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

Jon Walker / Firedoglake:

After Failing to Change Senate Rules, Democrats Lose Right to Blame Mitch McConnell — Senate Democrats must blame themselves now, rather than Mitch McConnell. — Senate Democrats had an opportunity to get together and make the Senate a working, majority-rule-based chamber.

The Huffington Post:
Senate Democrats Forfeit 50-Vote Option For Rules Changes

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Outside the Beltway and ThinkProgress

Brian Donohue / New Jersey Online:

Slopes behind ropes: fear of lawsuits closing great New Jersey sledding hills … It's one of the simple, most wonderful pleasures of life: zooming down a snow-covered hill just fast enough for a touch of fear to quicken your pulse. Maybe it's a solo run. Maybe you're clinging to a loved one as you tear down the hill tandem.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Maggie's Farm and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:

Loughner researched lethal injection before Tucson shooting, sources say — TUCSON — In the weeks and days before the shooting rampage in Tucson, suspect Jared Lee Loughner surfed the Internet on his computer in what investigators believe was an effort to prepare for his alleged assassination attempt …

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story, Scared Monkeys, Los Angeles Times, TPMMuckraker, The Politico, TalkLeft, Hullabaloo, msnbc.com and FrumForum

Paul Kengor / American Thinker:

The 40-Percent President: Obama's Cruise to Reelection — We're at the halfway mark of Barack Obama's first term as president. I say “first term” because I'm confident that this isn't his last. Conservatives will not want to hear this, but I've felt all along that Obama will be a two-term president …

Discussion: Israpundit

Carlos Lozano / L.A. NOW:

Border authorities arrest controversial Muslim cleric east of San Diego — U.S. border authorities have arrested a controversial Muslim cleric who was deported from Canada to Tunisia three years ago and was caught earlier this month trying to sneak into California inside the trunk of a BMW, according to court documents.

Discussion: Jihad Watch, AOL News, The Gateway Pundit and The Jawa Report

John B. Judis / The New Republic:

Obama At His Best — The president's excellent, nationalistic State of the Union address. — I thought that my reaction to President Obama's State of the Union speech was colored by having spent the day listening to Chicago mayoral candidates talk about pensions and potholes …

Discussion: The Reaction and Hit & Run

Washington Times:
Obama's spaced out speech

Discussion: Pajamas Media and Nice Deb

Jillian Rayfield / TPM LiveWire:

Matthews Yells At Tea Party Leader: Why Is ‘Balloon-Head’ Bachmann Speaking For You — Chris Matthews was nearly apoplectic in his questioning of Tea Party Express co-founder Sal Russo on the topic of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and her controversial re-imagining of history …

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community, Politics Daily and Mediaite

Alessandra Stanley / The Caucus:
TV Watch: Michele Bachmann's Rogue Rebuttal Defies Unity Theme

Discussion: Gawker, Mediaite, The Hill, The Impolitic, Indecision Forever, AOL News and Politics Daily

Simmi Aujla / The Politico:

House votes to end public financing — The House passed a GOP-sponsored bill to end public financing for presidential campaigns Wednesday. Ten Democrats, most of them Blue Dogs, joined Republicans in the vote. — The bill suspends a 35-year-old program that lets taxpayers direct $3 …

Discussion: CNN

Pete Kasperowicz / Ballot Box:
House votes to end publicly financed presidential campaigns

Discussion: The Hill

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Against Obligatory Editorials — He still loves his wife. But after 25 years of marriage, he has lost his enthusiasm for sex with her. Still. It is Valentine's Day. And she has been hinting. So he takes her to a nice dinner, uncharactertistically orders an after-dinner drink …

Discussion: Hot Air

W. Thomas Smith Jr / Human Events:

Bill Aimed at Protecting S.C. From Foreign Law Introduced in Legislature — COLUMBIA, S.C. - A legislative initiative aimed at preventing “a court or other enforcement authority” from enforcing foreign law in the Palmetto State was introduced today in both the S.C. House and Senate by Rep. Wendy Nanney …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Ben Smith's Blog