memeorandum: Colbert for President: A Run or a Comedy Riff? (Brian Stelter/New York Times)

12:10 PM ET, January 13, 2012

Top Items:

Four Pinocchios for ‘King of Bain’ — Your Browser DoesNot Support IFrames. … — Voice-over from “King of Bain” video promoted by a pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC, “Winning Our Future.” — Newt Gingrich, meet Michael Moore! — The 29-minute video “King of Bain” is such an over-the-top assault …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Hot Air, Don Surber, The PJ Tatler, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Outside the Beltway, We Party Patriots, Politifact.com Truth …, FiveThirtyEight, 2012 Decoded, Fortune, Iowa Caucuses and Bangor Daily News

msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: Best of times (and worst of times) for Romney — NBC's David Gregory talks to TODAY's Matt Lauer about whether fierce attacks on Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney will backfire against his rivals or stop what seems to be Romney's inevitable march to the nomination.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Faith in Public Life, Politics, Taegan Goddard's …, Wonkette, Saint Petersblog, Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

What Really Happened In Gaffney? — The Left is carrying out a coordinated attack on Mitt Romney's business career. One sees exactly the same allegations, often phrased identically, whether you look at the Daily Kos, the Associated Press, Slate or Think Progress, or listen to Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry.

Discussion: Don Surber, Oliver Willis, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Los Angeles Times, TBogg and PolitiFact

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:

New Romney Ad Defends Candidate's Record at Bain — GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mitt Romney's campaign plans to release its latest television ad in South Carolina Friday, geared to combat the growing attacks — from both Republicans and Democrats — on Mr. Romney's career at Bain Capital as a corporate buyout specialist.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, News Desk, New York Times, GOP 12, Freedom Line Blog, Connecting.the.Dots and Wonkette

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Oops, He Did It Again: Perry Forgets The Three Federal Agencies He Wants To Abolish — During a November debate, Rick Perry inexplicably forgot the name of the third federal agency he wants to eliminate. He struggled for cringe-inducing 53 seconds, before acknowledging that he couldn't remember with an infamous “oops.”

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette

Toni Sandys / ABCNEWS:

Rick Perry Lists 3 Departments He'd Cut, But Adds One, Misses Another — BLUFFTON, S.C. - Oops he did it again. When asked to name and provide the number of federal departments he'd eliminate as president, Texas Gov. Rick Perry managed to list three, but they weren't the three agencies …

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite and The Political Carnival

Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:

Mitt Romney no stranger to tax breaks, subsidies — Bain Capital profited from a steel company that got them, and he used them to attract business when he governed Massachusetts — A Steel Dynamics plant in Butler, Ind. Bain Capital, the former private equity firm of Mitt Romney …

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Eamon Javers / CNBC:
Romney's Former Firm Bain Advised Obama on Auto Bailout

Discussion: BizzyBlog, National Review, Hot Air, Riehl World View and The Politico

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Yes, Romney Could Lose

Discussion: M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S …, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values and Saint Petersblog

Anjeanette Damon / Las Vegas Sun:
Sheldon Adelson distancing himself from documentary attacking Mitt Romney

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, PJ Media, ThinkProgress and CNN

William Galston / The New Republic:
Why Romney's Bain Problem Could Kill His Candidacy

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Feministing and Opinion L.A.

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Inside the Fed in 2006: A Coming Crisis, and Banter — WASHINGTON — As the housing bubble entered its waning hours in 2006, top Federal Reserve officials marveled at the desperate antics of home builders seeking to lure buyers. — The officials laughed about the cars that builders …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Awl, Wall Street Journal, THE CUNNING REALIST, Real Time Economics, Paul Krugman, Firedoglake and Eschaton

Steve Liesman / CNBC:
Fed to Weigh Further Easing Amid Doubts About Recovery

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Fed's image tarnished by newly released documents

Discussion: Hot Air and Economist's View

Eric Platt / Business Insider:
BUSTED: Fed President Made An Unbelievably Dismissive Joke About The Housing Bubble In 2006

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, Crossing Wall Street, Free exchange, New York Times, Brad DeLong and FT Alphaville

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Obama to propose combining agencies to shrink federal government — President Obama will ask Congress on Friday for the power to shrink the federal government, proposing a first step of combining several trade and commerce agencies under a plan that the White House said could eliminate …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Daily Kos, Ron Paul 2012 Presidential … and The Hill

Ben Feller / Associated Press:
APNewsBreak: Obama seeks power to merge agencies

Discussion: IntoxiNation, The Strata-Sphere and Washington Wire

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:
Obama opposes laws ‘designed to take rights away’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Good As You, Towleroad News #gay and Boy in Bushwick

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Arthur Brisbane and selective stenography — The real media sin is not uncritical printing of false claims: it's extending that license only to the powerful — The New York Times' Public Editor Arthur Brisbane unwittingly sparked an intense and likely enduring controversy yesterday when he pondered …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, LewRockwell.com Blog, Washington Post, Poynter, National Review and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

Arthur S. Brisbane / The Public Editor's Journal:
Update to my Previous Post on Truth Vigilantes

Charles P. Pierce / New York Times:
The End Of Truth

Discussion: The Mahablog, Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, Hullabaloo, Viking Pundit and The Awl

Jim Romenesko:
NYT public editor on reaction to Truth Vigilante post

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Colbert for president (again) — (CNN) - Faux-news host and comedian Stephen Colbert announced Thursday night he was launching his second run for president in South Carolina. — “I'm proud to announce I plan to form an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my candidacy …

Discussion: The Politico, The Atlantic Online, Patterico's Pontifications, Reuters, Election Law Blog, The Hill, The Hinterland Gazette, Saint Petersblog, The Political Carnival and Indecision Forever

Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Colbert for President: A Run or a Comedy Riff?

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, Tales from the Trail, Media Decoder, PopWatch, The Moderate Voice, The Stir By CafeMom, Univision News Tumblr and American Prospect, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Wehner / Commentary Magazine:
The E.J. Dionne Vote in South Carolina

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Power Line, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hot Air and Washington Post

New York Times:
PACs' Aid Allows Romney's Rivals to Extend Race

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Guardian, The Caucus, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Los Angeles Times, Ballot Box and Daily Kos

New York Times:

U.S. Warns Top Iran Leader Not to Shut Strait of Hormuz — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, The Atlantic Online, Tikun Olam, Outside the Beltway, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Battleland

Chris Rawson / TUAW:

Most of Apple's $82 billion cash stockpile is ‘trapped’ overseas — Apple may have enough cash on hand to make Scrooge McDuck's money vault look like a kiddie pool by comparison, but according to SeekingAlpha, most of that cash is effectively trapped overseas.

Buzzfeed Politics / Politics:

Book Depicts Cranky Obama On Baghdad Visit — The then-candidate “didn't want to take pictures with any more soldiers. — President Obama at a recent Pentagon briefing. — (Getty Images / SAUL LOEB) — Michael Hastings' new book, The Operators, jabs at what could be a vulnerable spot …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and Atlas Shrugs

Mark Meckler / Across The Fence With Mark Meckler:

NYC Gun Charges Dropped. Now I Can Speak Out. — On December 15, 2011 at approximately 5:15 a.m., I was at LaGuardia International airport preparing to check in for a flight out of the city. During a routine check-in, I requested a firearms declaration form from the ticket agent.

Discussion: New York Post, Samizdata.net, The Politico and The Daily Caller

Anna Harvey / The Hill:

Tar sands pipeline will comfort our enemies — By Steven M. Anderson, retired Army brigadier general, and senior mentor with the Army's Battle Command Training Program - 10/25/11 10:21 AM ET — As the military's senior logistician in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, I saw the impact of our oil addition in the Iraq combat zone.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

How low can he go? — Everyone has probably heard the corny “I once caught a fish this big” joke. A guy boasts about the size of the fish he reeled in, but when pressed, he gradually reduces the actual size of his catch. The little comedic routine is about exaggeration. — I wonder if Mitt Romney has heard it.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Daily Kos and The Maddow Blog