memeorandum: Family rejoices as Jakadrien Turner arrives from Colombia (Rebecca Lopez/WFAA-TV)

3:25 PM ET, January 7, 2012

Top Items:

Rick Santorum focuses on gay marriage — He suggests to a New Hampshire audience that an imprisoned father is preferable to a same-sex parent. — Mitt Romney leaves a campaign event outside an old peanut warehouse in Conway, S.C. (David Goldman, AP / January 6, 2012)

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish, Joe. My. God. and ThinkProgress

msnbc.com:

NBC/Marist Poll: Romney has 20-point lead in N.H.; Santorum gets Iowa bounce — A new NBC News-Marist poll of NH Republicans shows Romney with a 20-point lead. NBC's Chuck Todd reports. — Just four days until Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Franklin Center, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, WMUR and Rasmussen Reports

ABCNEWS:
Republican Candidates Ready to Rumble in Key New Hampshire Debate

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Power Line

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Romney pushing for four-state streak to steamroll GOP opponents

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and American Power

MiamiHerald.com:
Santorum again stresses social issues at event in N.H., criticizing gay marriage

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Little Green Footballs

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:

Michelle Obama and the Evolution of a First Lady — Michelle Obama was privately fuming, not only at the president's team, but also at her husband. — In the days after the Democrats lost Edward Kennedy's Senate seat in January 2010, Barack Obama was even-keeled as usual in meetings …

Discussion: The Hill, JustOneMinute, TalkLeft, Hullabaloo, The Impolitic, Bangor Daily News, Weasel Zippers and Chicago magazine

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

‘The Obamas’: Book Reveals Friction Between Rahm Emanuel, Michelle Obama (UPDATE) … Barack Obama , Michelle Obama , Rahm Emanuel , White House , Obama , Video , Jodi Kantor , Obama White House , The Obamas , Obama Marriage , Obamas Marriage , The Obamas Jodi Kantor , Politics News

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Weasel Zippers, Firedoglake, Guardian, Lynn Sweet and The Politico

Raf Sanchez / Telegraph:
Michelle Obama ‘raged against Rahm Emmanuel and White House advisors’

Discussion: Doug Ross, Atlas Shrugs and The Gateway Pundit

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

All We Are Saying . . . The establishment usually wins. That, after all, is what it means to be an establishment. But not always. Three of the last six presidents—Jimmy Carter in 1976, Ronald Reagan in 1980, and Barack Obama in 2008—ran against their own party's powerbrokers …

Discussion: American Spectator, Outside the Beltway and Washington Monthly

Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:

Gallegly to retire — Rep. Elton Gallegly will not seek reelection in 2012, he announced Saturday, forgoing an uphill post-redistricting race against fellow GOP Rep. Buck McKeon. — “The decision to step aside at this time did not come lightly,” the California Republican said in a statement.

Discussion: Capitol Alert

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

Rep. Gallegly to retire — Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) has announced he will not seek re-election in 2012, and will instead retire after 25 years in Congress. — In a statement issued Saturday, Gallegly said he and his wife had decided “now was the right time to begin the next chapter in our lives.”

Discussion: Ventura County Star Stories and Daily Kos

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Government: The redistributionist behemoth — Liberals have a rendezvous with regret. Their largest achievement is today's redistributionist government. But such government is inherently regressive: It tends to distribute power and money to the strong, including itself.

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and Maggie's Farm

The Right Scoop:

Hilarious! McCain mistakenly refers to Romney as Obama — Oh man, this is classic. McCain totally referred to Romney as “President Obama” and went on for a few seconds before Gov. Haley corrected him. Hilarious! You know what they say about drunk people being more truthful, right?

Discussion: Althouse and Michelle Malkin

Sydney Morning Herald:

Climate change castaways consider move to Australia — Ben Doherty in Male, Maldives — Threat ... much of the Maldives could be lost to climate change. — THE President of what could be the first country in the world lost to climate change has urged Australia to prepare for a mass wave …

Discussion: The Impolitic, Pirate's Cove, Fausta's Blog, Biased BBC, Tim Blair and ThinkProgress

Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:

Santorum: All Students Shouldn't Be Pushed to Go to College — GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — Former Sen. Rick Santorum expanded his populist message into education Saturday, accusing President Barack Obama and others of “snobbery” for pushing all kids to go to college.

Discussion: The Hill

Jon Gambrell / Associated Press:

Nigeria sect kills 15; Christians vow defense — MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A radical Muslim sect attacked a church during a worship service in Nigeria's northeast during assaults that killed at least 15 people, authorities said Saturday, as Christians vowed to defend themselves …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch

Mike Pflanz / Telegraph:
20 killed as Nigerian gunmen attack Christian mourners

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Libertarian Republican, The Gateway Pundit and Jihad Watch

CNN:

U.S. Navy rescues Iranian sailors — From Larry Shaughnessy, CNN Pentagon Producer — (CNN) — U.S. sailors from a carrier strike group whose recent presence in the Persian Gulf drew the ire of Iranian military officials have rescued 13 of the Middle Eastern country's sailors from a hijacked fishing boat …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress and The Jawa Report

Fars News Agency:
IRGC to Conduct Naval Wargames Soon

Discussion: New York Times, Booman Tribune and Danger Room

Barry Rubin / RubinReports:

Why Is an Anti-American Islamist Obama's Favorite Middle East Leader? — This article was published in a very different form in the Jerusalem Post. I own the rights and ask you to read and link to this version. — For the first time in forty years,Israel is not the American president's favorite Middle Eastern ally.

Discussion: Power Line and Israpundit

Rebecca Lopez / WFAA-TV:

Family rejoices as Jakadrien Turner arrives from Colombia — D/FW AIRPORT - A little before 10 p.m. Friday night, Jakadrien Turner walked out of a terminal at D/FW International Airport smiling and huddled with her family, surrounded by a horde of media. — She arrived at about 6:45 p.m. Friday …

Discussion: The Raw Story, ABCNEWS and The Daily What

Jill Schlesinger / CBS News:

December employment report: 200K new jobs, 8.5% unemployment — 2011 ended on a high note for jobs. The December jobs report showed that 200,000 new jobs were created in the month, and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.5, the lowest rate since February 2009.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Political Mojo, New York Times, The Raw Story and Calculated Risk