memeorandum: Who's to Blame for the Hostess Bankruptcy: Wall Street, Unions, or Carbs? (Jordan Weissmann/The Atlantic Online)

11:10 PM ET, November 16, 2012

Top Items:

Petraeus testifies CIA's Libya talking points were changed, lawmaker says — Former CIA Director David Petraeus testified in a closed-door hearing Friday morning that his agency determined immediately after the Sept. 11 Libya attack that “Al Qaeda involvement” was suspected …

Discussion: Politico, protein wisdom, Roger L. Simon, CNN, Hot Air, The Right Scoop, Riehl World News, www.wnyc.org, Weekly Standard, Power Line, National Review and Jihad Watch

Hayes Brown / ThinkProgress:

GOP Rep Admits CIA Approved U.N. Ambassador's Talking Points On Libya — Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has admitted that the CIA and intelligence community approved U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice's talking points before she made her much-derided Sept. 16 appearance on several Sunday news shows to discuss the attacks in Benghazi.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Wired, Associated Press, CNN, Hullabaloo, FP Passport, Little Green Footballs and This Just In

Donna Cassata / Associated Press:

DOZEN HOUSE WOMEN DEFEND RICE OVER LIBYA COMMENTS — WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators' angry criticism of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice over her initial account of the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya smacks of sexism and racism, a dozen female members of the House said Friday.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Nice Deb, The Gateway Pundit and Althouse

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
In testimony, Petraeus says he always saw Benghazi as terrorism

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Politico and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Jordan Weissmann / The Atlantic Online:

Who's to Blame for the Hostess Bankruptcy: Wall Street, Unions, or Carbs? — Try all of the above. — (Reuters) — Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkie and Wonder Bread, is getting ready to bake its last corn-syrupy snack cake. After failing to win major contract concessions …

Discussion: The Seattle Times, The Heritage Foundation, Addicting Info and No More Mister Nice Blog

nbcdfw.com:
Twinkies Maker Hostess Going Out of Business, CEO Blames Union Strike

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Union: ‘Bain-style’ killing of Twinkie

Discussion: CNBC, Weasel Zippers and The Greenroom

David White / International Brotherhood of Teamsters:
TEAMSTERS: BAKERY WORKERS SHOULD HOLD SECRET BALLOT VOTE AT HOSTESS

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Associated Press, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, ProfessorBainbridge.com and The Greenroom

Byron Tau / Politico:
Petition wants Obama to save Twinkies

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, American Glob and The Greenroom

CNNMoney.com:
Hostess Brands closing for good

Discussion: Click Orlando l Orlando News …, Gawker, Daily Kos, Fortune, The Agonist, Wonkette, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, The Right Scoop, LewRockwell.com Blog, This Just In, Washington Examiner and Patterico's Pontifications

USA Today:
No more Twinkies? Others could buy Hostess' brands

Discussion: Forbes, Reuters and Washington Post

Meghan McCain / The Daily Beast:

Meghan McCain on Why the Republican Party Needs to Wake Up — Four years after her father lost his bid for presidency, Meghan McCain on why the Republican Party is still having a major identity crisis. — I found out early on Election Day that Mitt Romney wouldn't become our next president.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

In U.S., Views of Obama, Democrats Improve After Election — Favorable opinions of Obama highest in three years — PRINCETON, NJ — Now that the presidential election is over, Americans look a bit more positively toward both the winner (Barack Obama) and the loser (Mitt Romney) …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Taegan Goddard's …

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Chris Christie unwraps Mitt Romney's ‘gift’ claim — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday joined the chorus of Republican governors and other officials criticizing Mitt Romney's assertion that “gifts” from President Barack Obama helped the Democrat win reelection.

Discussion: Associated Press and Washington Monthly

Chris Moody / Associated Press:
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez: Comments like Romney's set ‘us back as a party’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, NBC Latino, Washington Post, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, Election 2012 and New York Magazine

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

The Iron Dome, Press Bias, and Israel's Lack of Strategic Thinking — Some observations as the Gaza crisis continues to unfold: — 1. The Iron Dome anti-rocket and missile defense system seems to work better than most people expected. Israel is becoming very good at shooting down missiles.

Discussion: The Daily Dish

New York Times:
Suspected Collaborator With Israel Killed on Gaza Street

Discussion: Firedoglake, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Weasel Zippers, Reuters, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and pchrgaza.org

bigstory.ap.org:
HAMAS AIMS AT JERUSALEM, ISRAEL CALLS RESERVES

Discussion: Politico, NewsBusters.org blogs, Jerusalem Post and Hot Air

New York Times:
Jerusalem Targeted by Rockets for First Time in Gaza Conflict

Discussion: BBC and New York Magazine

George Bennett / Post on Politics:

Judge denies Allen West's recount request; focus now on 4 p.m. canvassing board meeting — FORT PIERCE — A judge today denied U.S. Rep. Allen West's request that he order a recount of 37,379 ballots from early voting in St. Lucie County — effectively leaving the decision …

Discussion: Ballot Box, The BRAD BLOG, The Fix, Mock, Paper, Scissors, The Right Scoop and Politico

Politico:

Judge denies Allen West recount request — A judge on Friday denied Rep. Allen West's request for a recount of more than 30,000 early votes — a blow to the Florida Republican's bid to overcome a 1,907-vote, or 0.58 percent, deficit in his race against Democrat Patrick Murphy.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Neil Munro / The Daily Caller:

House GOP: Obama officials using secret emails to avoid oversight — The House science committee is demanding the White House explain why top administration officials are using secret e-mail accounts and other techniques to conceal their taxpayer-paid activities from public oversight.

Discussion: Politico and The Lonely Conservative

Donovan Slack / Politico:
Broadwell, Kelley visited White House

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Gothamist and Business Insider

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
John Boehner Lengthens The Fuse On The Austerity Bomb

Discussion: Firedoglake, msnbc.com and Eschaton

Matthew Hendley / Valley Fever:

Obama Voters No Longer Allowed at Pinetop Gun Store — “Effective Immediately” — If you're one of the 736 people in Pinetop who voted for President Obama last week, let it be known that you are no longer welcome inside one of the town's gun shops. — At least, that's according to the store's owner …

Discussion: Gawker, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Weasel Zippers and Mediaite

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Arizona Gun Store: No Obama Voters Allowed — A gun shop in Arizona has a clear message to would-be customers who happened to vote for President Barack Obama: take your business elsewhere. — The Southwest Shooting Authority in Pinetop, Ariz. took out an advertisement last week in the local newspaper …

Discussion: Valley Fever and Booman Tribune

John O'Brien / Syracuse Post-Standard:

Cortland County district attorney admits acting in porn movies in 1970s — Mark Suben, the Cortland County district attorney, said today he acted in pornographic movies in the 1970s. — In a 3 p.m. news conference today, he admitted that he lied about his history to The Post-Standard …

Discussion: Gothamist, New York Magazine and The Raw Story

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Roger Ailes on Election Night: ‘Rove was wrong. He backed down. Our guys were right.’ — On election night, Fox News co-founder and chairman Roger Ailes watched election coverage in the News Corp. Sports Suite, down the hall from his second floor office.

Discussion: Mediaite, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Politico, The Daily Caller and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Todd Ruger / The BLT:

Alito Defends ‘Citizens’ in Speech to Federalist Society — Justice Samuel Alito defended the 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission on Thursday night, jabbing at critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's majority opinion but also admitting the success of their public relations campaign.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Hullabaloo and Above the Law

Alexis Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

When the Nerds Go Marching In — How a dream team of engineers from Facebook, Twitter, and Google built the software that drove Barack Obama's reelection — Three members of Obama's tech team, from left to right: Harper Reed, Dylan Richard, and Mark Trammell (Photo by Daniel X. O'Neil).

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones and The Daily Dish

Jon Walker / Firedoglake:

Most Republican States Won't Build Exchanges and That Is a Good Thing — Map showing party affiliation by Governors, current — Now that we have approached what should have been the deadline for states to say whether or not they plan to build state exchanges to comply with the Affordable Care Act …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, TIME and Politico

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:

Income Inequality Has Risen In Nearly Every State Over The Last Three Decades — Income inequality has grown in nearly every state in the country over the last three decades and continues to climb across the nation, according to new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute.

Discussion: Firedoglake and Hullabaloo

David Brody / The Brody File:

Franklin Graham to Brody File on Obama's Re-Election: Christians Should Be ‘Upset at Themselves’ — Rev. Franklin Graham tells The Brody File that one of the lessons of President Obama's re-election is that more Christians in this country need to vote and he tells me that, “if Christians are upset, they need to be upset at themselves.”

Discussion: First Read, The Raw Story, Washington Monthly, LifeNews.com and The Hinterland Gazette