memeorandum: Sarkozy Weighs Afghan Withdrawal After Soldier Kills 4 French Troops (New York Times)

10:15 AM ET, January 20, 2012

Top Items:

Palin: ‘Dumb arses’ in media ‘overplayed their hand’ with Gingrich — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has now weighed in on the controversy surrounding an ABC interview with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's ex-wife, and Palin had some tough words for the media.

Discussion: The Caucus, The Politico, Don Surber, Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots, Mediaite and Wizbang, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Gingrich maintains 6 point lead — Thursday may have been one of the most eventful days of the Republican campaign so far, but the state of the race in South Carolina didn't change much. Newt Gingrich continues to lead Mitt Romney by 6 points, 35-29, with Ron Paul and Rick Santorum each tied for third at 15%.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Salon, Politics, The Hill, Hot Air and Daily Kos

The Hill:

Gingrich's attack on the media sets feisty tone for GOP debate — Newt Gingrich lashed out at reports on his ex-wife's accusations and Mitt Romney stumbled in South Carolina. — CHARLESTON, S.C. — A fiery attack by Newt Gingrich on the news media for raising questions about his acrimonious divorce set …

Discussion: Reuters, The Politico, Scared Monkeys and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

Moralizing's High Cost — Multiple marriages and even adultery are not automatic disqualifications for the presidency. If they were, the country would have a very different roster of former presidents and candidates. But when a political party decides that moralizing about personal conduct …

Discussion: Washington Post, Opinion L.A. and NewsBusters.org blogs

Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Newt: CNN ‘Despicable’ To Bring Up ‘Trash’ Open Marriage Story

Discussion: Oliver Willis, Talking Points Memo, Seeing the Forest and Hullabaloo

New York Times:
Debate Opens With Questions on Gingrich's Marriages

Discussion: The New Republic, Slate, Media Decoder, USA Today, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, The Politico, ABCNEWS and FITSNews

Paul Werdel / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Romney Snaps At Questioner, 'America's Right, And You're Wrong!

Discussion: CNN, The Reality-Based Community and Shakesville

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Palin Says Interview With Ex-Wife Will Help Gingrich ‘Soar’

Discussion: CBS News, The Political Carnival, Public Policy Polling and The Daily Caller

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Gingrich Tied With Romney in South Carolina Forecast

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Iowa Caucuses, The Reaction, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, Hit & Run, Hot Air, CBS News, The Stranger … and Indecision Forever

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
The campaign's wildest day — POLITICO Slideshows require the Adobe Flash Player.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Telegraph, CNN and Shot in the Dark

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Limbaugh On Gingrich Cheating On His Ex-Wife: 'Newt's A Victim'

Discussion: Daily Kos, Rush Limbaugh, Gawker, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post and The Reaction

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:

“I THINK GRANDIOSE THOUGHTS” — Location — A Selection Of Speaker Gingrich's Thoughts Over The Years — Gingrich on Gingrich: — “I Am Essentially A Revolutionary.” (Adam Clymer, “House Revolutionary,” The New York Times, 8/23/92) — “Philosophically, I Am Very Different …

Discussion: Althouse, Swampland, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Mail Online and Outside the Beltway

newt.org:

Speaker Newt Gingrich and Mrs. Gingrich Release 2010 Income Tax Return and Gingrich Foundation Tax Return — Atlanta, GA - Today, Newt and Callista Gingrich released their 2010 federal income tax return, which they filed jointly with the Internal Revenue Service.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, The Page, Washington Post, Telegraph, CNN, Taylor Marsh, Washington Wire and Mediaite

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Republican Debate Audience Boos Mitt Romney Over Releasing Tax Returns — In recent days, the heat has been turned up on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, with pressure coming from rivals, allies, and revelations about his Cayman Islands investments. At Thursday night's South Carolina …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Campaign 2012 and Washington Post

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Romney dodges question on releasing multiple years of tax returns

Discussion: The Politico

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Taxes at the Top — Call me peculiar, but I'm actually enjoying the spectacle of Mitt Romney doing the Dance of the Seven Veils — partly out of voyeurism, of course, but also because it's about time that we had this discussion. — The theme of his dance, for those who haven't been paying attention, is taxes — his own taxes.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Prairie Weather

Wall Street Journal:
How Much the Rich Pay — Mitt Romney, the 1% and taxes.

Discussion: Althouse

Sam Biddle / Gizmodo:

Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline — Anonymous has sure been quiet lately, but today's federal bust of Megaupload riled 'em up good: a retaliatory strike against DoJ.gov (and plenty of other foes) leaving them completely dead.

Discussion: rt.com, Gawker, Ars Technica, The Gateway Pundit, TalkLeft, The Daily Caller, TechCrunch, The Moderate Voice, Unqualified Offerings and Kathy Gill, more at Techmeme »

Ben Sisario / New York Times:
7 Charged as F.B.I. Closes a Top File-Sharing Site

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Ars Technica, Right Wing News, Scared Monkeys, Rolling Stone, msnbc.com, Gothamist, FP Passport, Gizmodo, Media Decoder and Engadget, more at Mediagazer »

The United States Department of Justice:
Justice Department Charges Leaders of Megaupload with Widespread Online Copyright Infringement

Discussion: Guardian, The Verge, TechCrunch, Stuff.co.nz, Threat Level, GigaOM, Law Blog, Washington Post, TalkLeft, Pat Dollard, Big Government, Wall Street Journal, Deadline.com, Gizmodo, Techdirt and Truthdig, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Barakat / Associated Press:
Popular file-sharing website Megaupload shut down

Discussion: Washington Post, Gizmodo, Company Town, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Mashable!, Associated Press and BuzzFeed, more at Techmeme »

Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:

Rejecting the Keystone pipeline is an act of insanity — President Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn't often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Salon.com, Power Line, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Huffington Post, Doug Ross, Ron Radosh, The Heritage Foundation, Via Meadia, Campaign 2012, New York Times and FP Passport

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:
Secretary Clinton won't testify on Keystone pipeline rejection

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Politico and New York Times

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

The Ex Factor — Romney gets a break from Gingrich's former wife. But why has she changed her story? — Bye-Ku for Rick Perry — Trounced in Iowa — New Hampshire and—the third one — I can't. Sorry. Oops — Mitt Romney just got his biggest break in over a week.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mail Online, Don Surber, TalkLeft, ABCNEWS and Washington Wire

Evan McMorris-Santoro / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Looking The Other Way: South Carolinians Yawn Over Newt ‘Bombshell’

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Firedoglake, Washington Post and Indecision Forever

Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:

Afghanistan's Soldiers Step Up Killings of Allied Forces — KABUL, Afghanistan — American and other coalition forces here are being killed in increasing numbers by the very Afghan soldiers they fight alongside and train, in attacks motivated by deep-seated animosity between the supposedly allied forces …

Discussion: Pat Dollard and Battleland

New York Times:
Sarkozy Weighs Afghan Withdrawal After Soldier Kills 4 French Troops

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Six in 10 Voters Would Be OK With Obama-Romney Matchup — Democrats would be the most satisfied — PRINCETON, NJ — Six in 10 registered voters would be satisfied if Barack Obama and Mitt Romney become the nominees for president this year, while 34% say they would not be satisfied.

Discussion: Hot Air, Opinion L.A. and FiveThirtyEight

Sydney Morning Herald:

Love online: 100,000 Grindr users exposed in hack attack — The Grindr app, left, and founder Joel Simkhai's profile. — A popular “meat-market” smartphone app that spawned a sexual revolution in Australia's gay community has been compromised by a Sydney hacker, potentially exposing …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

ABCNEWS:

Obama Sings Soul Tune in Harlem — Shortly after taking the stage tonight for a fundraiser at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, President Obama broke into song. — Obama, standing behind the presidential podium, thanked his hosts and the performers who preceded him, including soul singer Al Green.

Discussion: Gothamist

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Herman Cain will deliver Tea Party response to the State of the Union — Herman Cain will deliver the Tea Party Express response to President Obama's State of the Union address. — Tea Party Express, a political action committee, announced on Thursday that the former presidential candidate would be the speaker.