memeorandum: How Many Stephen Colberts Are There? (Charles McGrath/New York Times)

2:39 AM ET, January 5, 2012

Top Items:

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Suddenly, a fun candidate — The complaint that Iowa is not a typical American state is true but trivial because there is no such state. Can you name one whose political culture, closely considered, is more like than unlike any other state's? Anyway, someplace has to go first …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, DownWithTyranny!, Don Surber, The Daily Caller, ABCNEWS and Eunomia

Kevin Drum / Political Mojo:

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Mitt Romney? — Mitt Romney has a win in Iowa under his belt and is now headed to the friendlier environs of New Hampshire, where he's got a good chance of all but wrapping up the Republican nomination. Turns out, though, that this poses a problem for the Obama campaign …

Discussion: Swampland, New York Times and Truthdig

David Corn / MoJo Articles:

Newt the Destroyer — Gingrich is now on a single-minded mission to detonate Mitt Romney's presidential prospects. Will he blow up the GOP in the process? — Newt Gingrich has finally reached his destiny: destroyer of the GOP. — In a bitter and spiteful concession speech last night in Iowa …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Box Turtle Bulletin, Rod Dreher, The Atlantic Online, CNN, Indecision Forever, msnbc.com and Balloon Juice

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

After Iowa caucuses, GOP elites seek ‘consensus’ candidate — A group of movement conservatives has called an emergency meeting in Texas next weekend to find a “consensus” Republican presidential hopeful, POLITICO has learned. — “You and your spouse are cordially invited to a private meeting …

Discussion: CNN, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post, The Caucus, Indecision Forever, FreakOutNation, 2012 Decoded, USA Today, Washington Monthly, Business Insider, Nice Deb, ThinkProgress, Reuters, Daily Kos and Right Wing Watch

Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:
Morning Jay: What Iowa Tells Us About the State of the Race

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Washington Wire, Vodkapundit, The Atlantic Online, msnbc.com and Betsy's Page

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Credit Santorum with sinking Ron Paul

Discussion: News Desk

Emily Schultheis / The Politico:
Newt won't congratulate Mitt on win

Discussion: Hot Air

Jonathan Weisman / The Caucus:
For McCain, a Choice Between Old Enemies

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Philly.com, Sister Toldjah and Connecting.the.Dots

Bill / Pundits Blog:
Obama wins Iowa — without even campaigning!

Discussion: 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, The Politico and No More Mister Nice Blog

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
Everything You Heard Last Night Was Bull, Perry Might Want to Stay In, & a Newtlear Attack

Stephen Gutowski / MRCTV:

Richard Cordray: Any Legislation Which Has Even “Incidental Effects on the Economy” is a “Valid Exercise of Congressional Authority” — President Obama announced today that he was going to take a new step in the expansion of executive authority by recess appointing a head …

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Verum Serum, Washington Wire, Michelle Malkin and Nice Deb

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Doubling down: Obama follows Cordray recess appointment with three more to NLRB — Ed saw it coming this morning and now here it is. — Between this and The One waging war in Libya without congressional approval — a move which his own lawyers found dubious, I remind you …

Discussion: Speaker and Weasel Zippers

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Obama under strong pressure to break precedent on recess appointments — President Obama is under strong pressure from liberals to use his recess-appointment power during the congressional break, but doing so would break 20 years of precedent, putting him in a tough position.

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Post, CNN, The Daily Caller, The Volokh Conspiracy, US Politics, Los Angeles Times and RedState

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Reid backs Obama after using pro forma sessions to block Bush

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Mediaite and Weasel Zippers

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Court fight over recess appointments ‘almost certain,’ Chamber says

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Campaign 2012

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Breaking: Obama also set to make recess appointments to the NLRB

Discussion: Political Mojo, Firedoglake, American Prospect, The Hill, Main Street, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Heritage Foundation, Washington Monthly, Breitbart.tv, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Big Government

Joseph Williams / The Politico:
Obama makes 3 NLRB recess appointments

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The White House, ACS Blog and ThinkProgress

Brad Plumer / Washington Post:
With Cordray appointment, Obama sets new precedent

Discussion: Rortybomb, The Atlantic Online, The Caucus, Political Mojo, The New Republic, Prairie Weather and ThinkProgress

Washington Times:
Obama defies Congress with ‘recess’ picks

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Power Line, The Politico, Campaign 2012 and Big Government

Dan Pfeiffer / White House.gov Blog:
America's Consumer Watchdog

Rebecca Lopez / WFAA-TV:

Dallas teen missing since 2010 was mistakenly deported — DALLAS - “It's very frustrating,” Lorene Turner said. — She has spent hours on Facebook trying to find her granddaughter, Jakadrien. — “Once I get home I am up until 3 or 4 in the morning searching and looking,” Turner said.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hullabaloo, The Raw Story, emptywheel, msnbc.com and The Agitator

Rush Limbaugh:

This Race is Far From Over — RUSH: I can't tell you the number of people — and I stayed up all the way until they found the votes. My gosh, I thought I was watching the Democrats last night. Ninety-nine percent of the votes in and they can't find the votes from two counties. They couldn't find 'em.

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and The Gateway Pundit

NRO Symposium / National Review:
What Iowa Means — The Iowa caucuses provide four big takeaways:

Discussion: Guardian, The Huffington Post, Clayton Cramer's Blog, Roger L. Simon, Campaign Stops and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Rick Perry surprises staff, stays in race

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, GOP 12, The Hill, CNN, Hit & Run, American Prospect, LifeNews.com and Daily Kos

Charles McGrath / New York Times:

How Many Stephen Colberts Are There? — There used to be just two Stephen Colberts, and they were hard enough to distinguish. The main difference was that one thought the other was an idiot. The idiot Colbert was the one who made a nice paycheck by appearing four times a week on …

Wall Street Journal:

Kodak Teeters on the Brink — Eastman Kodak Co. is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection in the coming weeks, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would cap a stunning comedown for a company that once ranked among America's corporate titans. — The 131-year-old company …

Discussion: Guardian, The Verge, AllThingsD and Atlas Shrugs, more at Techmeme »

Juana Summers / The Politico:

Herman Cain to launch 9-9-9 bus tour — Herman Cain's not a candidate anymore, but he's launching a new bus tour anyway. — The former Godfather's Pizza CEO announced plans to tour the country to raise support for the “9-9-9” plan that was the star of his aborted presidential run …

Discussion: NewsHounds blog

A.Killough / CNN: Cain aims to keep 9-9-9 alive

Hollie McKay / Fox News:

Do Musicians Block GOP Candidates From Using Their Songs? — When GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's team was looking for a theme song for his campaign, Kid Rock's hit “Born Free” hit a chord. But instead of doing what countless other politicians before him had done …

Discussion: Big Hollywood and No More Mister Nice Blog

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:

New Hampshire GOP Bill Mandates That New Laws Find Their Origin In 1215 English Magna Carta — New Hampshire Republicans are taking textual originalism to a whole new level: three lawmakers have proposed a bill that requires that all legislation find its origin not in the U.S. constitution, but an English document crafted in 1215.

Discussion: Angry Black Lady Chronicles

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Keith Olbermann Blasts Current TV; Internal Memo Reveals Tension Over GOP Primary — “I was not given a legitimate opportunity to host under acceptable conditions,” Olbermann said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “They know it and we know it. Telling half the story is wrong.”

Discussion: Hot Air, Ed Driscoll, National Review, Mediaite and The Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Elizabeth Llorente / Fox News:

Georgia Survey Finds Farmers Are Having Hard Time Replacing Migrant Workers — A study by the Georgia Agriculture Department of the state farm workforce shows that finding legal employees with the skill and desire to do labor-intensive harvesting is extremely difficult.

Vauhini Vara / Wall Street Journal:

California Train Plan Hits Bump Over Funds — SAN FRANCISCO—California's ambitious plan for a high-speed rail system hit a big roadblock Tuesday, as an independent panel urged lawmakers to deny authorizing the issuance of $2.7 billion in bonds to kick off the $98.5 billion project.

Discussion: The Informer, Via Meadia and ThinkProgress

Los Angeles Times:
Review urges delay in borrowing billions for bullet train

Discussion: Hot Air

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Santorum has raised $1M since last night — Rick Santorum has raised just over $1 million since his eight-vote loss in Iowa last night, his top strategist tells POLITICO. — John Brabender, who revealed that their server briefly went down under the crush last night, said almost all of the cash came online.

Discussion: The Week