memeorandum: QUESTION: No. — MR. TONER: No, let's go ahead. — QUESTION: Stay on Syria. (US Department of State)

12:55 PM ET, December 8, 2011

Top Items:

Priebus: ‘Malpractice’ for me to back Trump debate — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus spoke out Thursday against an upcoming GOP presidential debate to be moderated by Donald Trump, saying it would be “malpractice” for him as the leader of the party not to think the debate was problematic.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, National Review, INSTAPUTZ and 2012 Election Central

CNN:

RNC chair takes issue with Trump debate — (CNN) -Reince Priebus said Thursday his role as Republican National Committee chairman requires him to raise questions about the debate moderated by businessman Donald Trump. — “I think it would be malpractice for me as an RNC chairman not to believe that's an issue,” Priebus said.

Discussion: The Politico

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Huntsman lashes out at GOP frontrunners

Discussion: The Politico

Kevinliptak / CNN:
Trump: I know more than all the other moderators

Discussion: The Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Right Scoop

New York Times:

Democrats See 2-Horse Race, Adding Whip — WASHINGTON — The White House and its allies are starting to turn their sights to Newt Gingrich, invoking his tumultuous history as House speaker to brand him as the “king of gridlock,” a testament to his new viability and the sudden realization …

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABCNEWS, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Caucus, The Page, Prairie Weather, The Smoking Gun and Campaign 2012

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

GOPers prep for ‘alpha dog’ debate — In a Republican presidential campaign marked by eventful debates, Saturday's forum stands to outdo all the others that came before it. — The drama is unmistakably building. The ABC News/Des Moines Register debate at Drake University comes …

Discussion: CNN, Media Decoder, Swampland, Hot Air and The Caucus

Ann Coulter / Townhall.com:
Ann Coulter Newt Presents a Fresh New Virtual Face

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, The Politico and American Spectator

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Mitt Happens: Gingrich Camp Says Personal Attacks Will Backfire

Discussion: Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite and FrumForum

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
New Romney Ad Turns Up Heat on Gingrich

Discussion: NO QUARTER, The Caucus, RedState, Washington Post and msnbc.com

ABCNEWS:
The Forgotten Candidate: Ron Paul Gathers Momentum, Has Sights Set on Newt Gingrich

Discussion: GOP 12 and The Reaction

Swampland:
Topline Results of Nov. 29-Dec. 6, 2011, CNN/TIME/ORC Poll

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Shakesville, The Other McCain, ABCNEWS, 2012 Decoded, Washington Wire, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, Don Surber, Capital J | JTA, The Page, Business Insider, The Moderate Voice, Ballot Box, USA Today and National Review

Wall Street Journal:

Corzine: ‘I Simply Do Not Know Where The Money Is’ — A contrite Jon S. Corzine will express both sorrow and a firm defense of his actions Thursday in his first public appearance since the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd. in late October. — “Recognizing the enormous impact …

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air, Law Blog and americanthinker.com

David S. Hilzenrath / Washington Post:
Jon Corzine to tell House panel he doesn't know where customers' money went

Discussion: National Review, Outside the Beltway, New York Post, The PJ Tatler and The Lonely Conservative

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:
JON CORZINE WILL TESTIFY: ‘I Simply Do Not Know Where The Money Is’

Discussion: Firedoglake, Rolling Stone and Jammie Wearing Fools

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Republicans Less Enthusiastic About Voting in 2012 — Republicans' enthusiasm gap over Democrats narrows — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans' enthusiasm about voting in the election for president next year has decreased, with 49% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican now saying …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, IntoxiNation, Hotline On Call, Campaign 2012, The Politico and Prairie Weather

Josiah Ryan / The Hill:

Obama delaying Keystone pipeline to appease envelope stuffers, suggests McConnell — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday said President Obama decided to delay a decision on whether or not to permit construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in order to maintain the support …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Ben Geman / The Hill:
Obama threatens veto if pipeline decision is added to payroll tax cut

Discussion: National Review

Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:

Poll: Elizabeth Warren soars 7 up over Scott Brown — UMass-Lowell, Herald poll shows attack ads harm both — Democrat Elizabeth Warren has opened up a lead against Republican incumbent Scott Brown for the first time in their U.S. Senate showdown, but a barrage of attack ads appears …

Discussion: Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jammie Wearing Fools and HotAirPundit

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Rick Perry's Anti-Gay Iowa Ad Divides His Top Staff … 2012 Election , Log Cabin Republicans , Elections 2012 , Rick Perry , Video , Iowa Caucuses , Fabrizio Perry , Iowa Caucus 2012 , Perry Ad , Perry Dadt , Rick Perry 2012 , Rick Perry Ad Campaign , Rick Perry Don't Ask Don't Tell …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and The Political Carnival

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:

Eric Boehlert Targeted In Bungled ‘Verizon’ Sting … Verizon , Video , 99 Percent , Eric Boehlert , Mandy Nagy , Media Matters , Media Criticism , Mike Flynn , Sam Stein , Andrew Breitbart , James o'Keefe , To Catch a Journalist , Politics News — It was the middle of the day on Friday, and Eric Boehlert heard a knock on the door.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Big Journalism and Balloon Juice

CBS News:

Putin: Clinton, U.S. to blame for voter unrest — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (AP/Getty) — (CBS/AP) Updated at 8:57 a.m. Eastern. — MOSCOW - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin strongly criticized U.S. Secretary …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Agonist and Business Insider

Miriam Elder / Guardian:
Russia's anti-Putin protests grow

Discussion: americanthinker.com and US Politics

Investor's Business Daily:

Five Big Lies in Obama's Economic Fairness Speech — Election '12: One thing is certainly true about President Obama — no matter how many times people point out the falsehoods in his speeches, he just keeps making them. Case in point: his latest “economic fairness” address.

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Alec Baldwin / The Huffington Post:

A Farewell to Common Sense, Style, and Service on American Airlines … Airlines , American Airlines , Alec Baldwin , Alec Baldwin American Airlines , Flight Attendants , Flying , Travel News — First off, I would like to apologize to the other passengers onboard the American Airlines flight that I was thrown off of yesterday.

Discussion: National Review, PopWatch, Gawker, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Hot Air, Associated Press, ECHIDNE of the snakes, L.A. NOW, Ace of Spades HQ, ABCNEWS, Sister Toldjah, Gothamist, New York Post and TMZ.com

Deanna Lambert / WSMV-TV:

Friends say classmate killed self after bullying on sexuality — Students at a local school are grieving a classmate. Friends say the young man took his own life because he couldn't take any more bullying. — And they say school officials knew about the torment but didn't do enough to stop it.

Discussion: Joe. My. God., Towleroad News #gay, Box Turtle Bulletin and Runnin' Scared

Journalism.org:

TWITTER AND THE CAMPAIGN — HOW THE DISCUSSION ON TWITTER VARIES FROM BLOGS AND NEWS COVERAGE AND RON PAUL'S TWITTER TRIUMPH — A detailed examination of more than 20 million Tweets about the race for president finds that the political discussion on Twitter is measurably different …

Discussion: The Politico, Poynter and Campaign 2012

Washington Post:

Air Force dumped ashes of more troops' remains in Va. landfill than acknowledged — The Air Force dumped the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago, records show.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, News Desk, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, msnbc.com, Mediaite and Booman Tribune

Jonathan Allen / The Politico:

Eric Cantor smacks down ‘insider’ Spencer Bachus — A day after Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said he would move forward on an insider-trading bill, Majority Leader Eric Cantor stopped him dead in his tracks. — In a Wednesday meeting described by one source as …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Booman Tribune

Wall Street Journal:

Banks Prep for Life After Euro — Countries Study Printing Their Own Notes in Case Monetary Union Unravels — Some central banks in Europe have started weighing contingency plans to prepare for the possibility that countries leave the euro zone or the currency union breaks apart entirely …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Guardian, Washington Post, naked capitalism and Business Insider

Maggie Fazeli Fard / Washington Post:

Three Occupy D.C. members launch hunger strike — Three members of the Occupy D.C. group said they will begin a hunger strike Thursday, ceasing all eating in support of “D.C. democracy” and full voting rights for District residents. — But not until after breakfast.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers and msnbc.com