memeorandum: Wilting greens — Britain falls out of love with environmentalism (Economist)

11:15 PM ET, December 11, 2011

Top Items:

First Read / msnbc.com:

Gingrich opens up big leads in South Carolina and Florida — Newt Gingrich's surge in the polls isn't limited to just the early presidential-nominating contest of Iowa. — According to new NBC News-Marist polls, the former House speaker has now opened up commanding leads in South Carolina and Florida …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, 2012 Decoded, Outside the Beltway, The Political Carnival, Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots, Hullabaloo, americanthinker.com, Balloon Juice and Scared Monkeys

Matthew Putney / ABCNEWS:

Democrats Blast Newt Gingrich in First Video Ad as ‘Original Tea Partier’ — For the first time in the presidential primary campaign, Democrats are turning their web video and “rapid response” email attack machine on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. — Just hours after the ABC News …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit and The Caucus

David Weigel / Slate:
The Iowa Debate: Newt Wins the Dress Rehearsal

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Eunomia, Daily Pundit and Mediaite

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Santorum: Look at Gingrich's record

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

San Francisco Chronicle:

Opposition grows to Occupy's port shutdown plan — Occupy Oakland's plan to shut down the city's bustling port on Monday for the second time in as many months is facing a complicating wrinkle nowhere in sight last time - opposition from several unions and some within the Occupy movement itself.

Discussion: Firedoglake

Laird Harrison / Reuters:

Anti-Wall Street activists look to block West Coast ports — (Reuters) - Anti-Wall Street protesters, hoping to briefly cripple a key supply chain of American commerce and re-energize their movement, plan to attempt to block major West Coast ports on Monday.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Lonely Conservative and The Other McCain

John T. Bennett / The Hill:

Perry, Huntsman pledge major changes for Congress — Two long shot Republican presidential candidates took aim at the nation's capital on Sunday, vowing to make major changes to Congress as they search for traction with GOP voters. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman …

Discussion: CNN and Outside the Beltway

Michael Barone / Campaign 2012:
Thoughts on the ABC/Drake debate

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Iowa Caucuses, Los Angeles Times and National Review

Kim Geiger / Los Angeles Times:
Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich spar over moon mining, child labor

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Guardian and No More Mister Nice Blog

New York Times:
Race Reshaped, Rivals Target Gingrich in G.O.P. Debate

Discussion: The Caucus, FiveThirtyEight, Reuters, The Politico, ABCNEWS, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Iowa Republican, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, The Page and American Power

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Debate 2.0: Romney and Gingrich surrogates attack

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Washington Post:
Gingrich comes under attack in GOP debate

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain, Campaign 2012, New York Times and Daily Kos

Barry Rubin / Rubin Reports:

Fact-Checking Newt Gingrich and the Fact-Checkers on the Middle East — ABC News “fact-checked” Newt Gingrich's Middle East statements and some readers asked me to fact-check ABC, so here is my view: — Gingrich said Palestinians are an “invented” people. ABC says: Not true.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, American Power, Israel Matzav, Outside the Beltway, americanthinker.com and Associated Press

Brian Bennett / Los Angeles Times:

Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front — Unmanned aircraft from an Air Force base in North Dakota help local police with surveillance, raising questions that trouble privacy advocates. — A Predator drone spy plane helped police make arrests after a North Dakota family's run-in with a local sheriff.

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog, The Jawa Report, The Impolitic, Balloon Juice, msnbc.com, Global Guerrillas and Newshoggers.com

Michelangelo Signorile / The Huffington Post:

Candace Gingrich-Jones Questions Whether Brother Newt Gingrich Really Believes His Own Anti-Gay Rhetoric … Gay Marriage , Newt Gingrich , Same-Sex Marriage , Video , 2012 Presidential Race , Candace Gingrich-Jones , Candace Gingrich-Jones Gay Marriage , Michelangelo Signorile …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Christopher Sherman / Associated Press:

US proposes unmanned border crossing with Mexico — BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas (AP) — The bloody drug war in Mexico shows no sign of relenting. Neither do calls for tighter border security amid rising fears of spillover violence. — This hardly seems a time the U.S. would be willing …

Discussion: PoliPundit.com and The Lonely Conservative

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Rick Perry: 'I Don't Have Memorized' The Names Of All 9 Supreme Court Justices — During a meeting with the Des Moines Register editorial board on Friday, Rick Perry asserted there were eight justices on the Supreme Court and mispronounced Sonia Sotomayor's name.

Discussion: bustardblog, The Political Carnival, Booman Tribune, Iowa Caucuses and Washington Post

Jason Clayworth / Iowa Caucuses:
Rick Perry campaign clarifies context on Supreme Court count

Discussion: Hot Air, Don Surber, The Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay, Burnt Orange Report, Campaign 2012 and Washington Post

Washington Examiner:

Why Americans no longer trust Washington — Survey after survey in recent months has shown an alarming decline in public confidence in the nation's chief federal institutions, as well as a deepening pessimism about America's future. Congressional approval is at an all-time low of 13 percent …

Discussion: The Other McCain

New York Post:

Rev. Al deep in the red — The Rev. Al Sharpton's nonprofit paid him nearly $242,000 — even as it carried $1.6 million in debt, according to documents obtained by The Post. — In all, the controversial activist and his empire, including the National Action Network and two for-profit companies …