Top Items:

NEWT EX-WIFE UNLOADS ON CAMERA; NETWORK DEBATES ‘ETHICS’ OF AIRING BEFORE SC PRIMARY — Marianne Gingrich has said she could end her ex-husband's career with a single interview. — Earlier this week, she sat before ABCNEWS cameras, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Jawa Report, M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S …, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Big Journalism, TVNewser, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Stranger … and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:

CNN/Time Poll: Race for South Carolina tightening — Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - With three days to go until the first-in-the south primary, Mitt Romney remains in the lead in the Palmetto State, but according to a new poll, his advantage over Newt Gingrich is rapidly shrinking.

Rick Perry's Final Act: King Maker? — “Rick Perry's campaign has come to an end. But he could leave on an unexpected high note — helping conservatives unite around one not-Romney” — Barring a miracle, this is Rick Perry's final act in the 2012 elections. On Saturday, he will come in last in South Carolina.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, Los Angeles Times, Ballot Box, Hot Air, CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Democratic Daily and The Caucus


Anxious Mitt Romney lights into Newt Gingrich — ROCK HILL, S.C. — Clear signs Mitt Romney is again worried about Newt Gingrich: He released two new negative web videos, unleashed attacking surrogates and even went after the former House speaker himself. — And that was all before lunch on Wednesday.
Discussion:
CNN and This Just In


Jimmy Carter Tells Piers Morgan That Newt Gingrich ‘Has That Subtlety Of Racism’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Israel Matzav

Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline — The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm's application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Business Insider, Grist, The Huffington Post, Michelle Malkin, Opinion L.A., Questions and Observations, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers, Sunlight Foundation Blog, Booman Tribune, Conservatives4Palin, Hot Air, St. Louis Activist Hub and Mediaite
RELATED:

Obama's jobs council report says ‘drill’ — President Obama's jobs council called Tuesday for an “all-in approach” to energy policy that includes expanded oil-and-gas drilling as well as expediting energy projects like pipelines. — “[W]e should allow more access to oil …

Statement by the President on the Keystone XL Pipeline
Discussion:
Power Line, Firedoglake and Political Mojo

President Obama: ‘Rushed And Arbitrary Deadline’ Of GOP Forced Me To Reject Keystone XL
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers

AFL-CIO's Trumka slams Obama's jobs council
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Keystone Pipeline Delay Sparks Outrage on Capitol Hill
Discussion:
Fox News Insider and nation.foxnews.com

Denial of the Keystone XL Pipeline Application
Discussion:
New York Times, RedState, Campaign 2012 and Grist

Boehner Blasts Obama Over Approving Solyndra But Rejecting Keystone XL Pipeline
Discussion:
Pat Dollard and ThinkProgress


SOPA blackout leads co-sponsors to defect — Amid online protests that include major websites like Wikipedia blacking out their sites, a few co-sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act in Congress are defecting. — Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), originally a co-sponsor of the bill, pulled his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday.
RELATED:


By the Numbers: 103,785 — A total of 103,785 people signed …
Discussion:
L.A. Times Tech Blog, CNN, Blog of Rights, Scientific American and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

SOPA blackout: Bills lose three co-sponsors amid protests
Discussion:
nytm.org, Bits, Mashable!, Heritage Action for America, GigaOM, THEROOT.COM and Runnin' Scared, more at Techmeme »


Morning Jay: What to Make of Obama's Approval Bounce? — You might have noticed recently that Barack Obama's job approval has ticked up slightly in the last few weeks. What to make of this? — Here is the RealClearPolitics average: — Two months ago, the president's job approval was 43.7 percent.
RELATED:

G.O.P. in Congress Gets Blame for Gridlock
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Dish


Gingrich's College Records Show a Professor Hatching Big Plans — A year into his first full-time teaching job, Newt Gingrich applied to be college president, submitting with his application a paper titled “Some Projections on West Georgia College's Next Thirty Years.”
Discussion:
The Political Carnival, Wonkette, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, FishbowlDC, Washington Post and Swampland


Bill Clinton: Someone We Can All Agree On — Even his staunchest enemies now regard his presidency as the good old days. He has become the rare consensus figure in a country that has lost all sense of consensus. So we talked to him about where it went, and how we might get it back.
RELATED:

Bill Clinton: MSNBC is ‘our version of Fox’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers


Unpopular Nationally, Romney Holds Solid GOP Lead — OVERVIEW — Days ahead of the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney maintains a substantial lead nationally in the race for the GOP nomination. Yet his image among all voters has slipped since November and he runs no better …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Indecision Forever, American Prospect, The Political Carnival and Weekly Standard


Prosecutors aim new weapon at Occupy activists: lynching allegation — Screen grab from youtube video showing the arrest of Occupy LA activist Sergio Ballesteros on Thursday, Jan. 12. Ballesteros, 30, was released on $50,000 bail early Tuesday. He is charged with “lynching” …
Discussion:
Don Surber and Weasel Zippers


Romney Parks Millions in Cayman Islands — Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven. — A spokesperson for the Romney campaign …
Discussion:
Guardian, The Political Carnival and Washington Examiner

Obama pollster calls Herman Cain ‘racist’ on camera... then denies he did it — We'll have to see if this one makes Anderson Cooper's “Keeping Them Honest” segment on CNN's “AC360.” — On Cooper's Tuesday program, Democratic strategist and Obama 2012 campaign pollster Cornell Belcher took aim …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers

3rd Annual TV News Trust Poll — PPP's 3rd annual TV news trust poll (2011 version here, 2010 version here) finds that Fox News tops the list for both the source Americans trust the most and the one they trust the least. — Fox is the most trusted TV news source for 34% of voters …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Firedoglake and Hot Air


Julian Assange: The Rolling Stone Interview — Under house arrest in England, the WikiLeaks founder opens up about his battle with the ‘Times,’ his stint in solitary and the future of journalism — It's a few days before Christmas, and Julian Assange has just finished moving to a new hide-out deep in the English countryside.
Discussion:
Pat Dollard and Weasel Zippers, more at Mediagazer »


Editor's Note of the Day — This was attached to the end of a nauseating Boston Globe article celebrating the amorous relations between Occupy protesters: … Oops. — The Boston Herald called out the Globe for its lazy vetting: … Bias? What bias? Congrats, Boston Globe.
Discussion:
Hot Air

David Brooks: Gail, I'm sorry we missed each other in South Carolina, but I've moved on to the next primary state, Florida, in search of people who pay Mitt Romney's 15 percent tax rate. I'm in Palm Beach now. I think I've found them. — By the way, why do we make candidates release their tax forms?
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Gawker, The New Republic and Eunomia


In Libya, a Fundamentalist War against Moderate Islam Takes Shape — The Libyan revolution has not been kind to Mahmud al-Arabi. Last March, forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ransacked his grocery store in Zuwara after he fled to Tunisia, stealing about $6,000 worth of supplies.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and NewsBusters.org blogs

Scott Brown floats plan to bar outside group spending from Senate race — Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) has offered his Democratic rival a creative way to dispose of pesky outside groups who have already pledged to spend millions in his Senate race. The first-term senator wants both campaigns …
Discussion:
The Politico