memeorandum: Obama displays menorah rescued from Sandy destruction in Hanukkah ceremony (Justin Sink/The Hill)

10:55 PM ET, December 13, 2012

Top Items:

Tracy Connor / Rock Center with Brian Williams:

EXCLUSIVE: Susan Rice drops out of running for secretary of state; saddened by partisan politics — Embattled U.N. envoy Susan Rice is dropping out of the running to be the next secretary of state after months of criticism over her Benghazi comments, she told NBC News on Thursday.

Hans Nichols / Bloomberg:

Hagel Said to Top Obama's List to Take Over at Pentagon — Former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has emerged as the leading candidate to become Obama's next Secretary of Defense and may be nominated as soon as this month, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Boston Globe, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, First Read, National Review, American Prospect, Israel Matzav, Truthdig, Hot Air, Politico, Firedoglake, WorldViews, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Political Watch, Business Insider and Taylor Marsh

Susan Rice / Washington Post:

Why I made the right call — View Photo Gallery — What you need to know about Susan Rice: The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has withdrawn from consideration for secretary of state — On Thursday I asked that President Obama no longer consider me for the job of secretary of state.

Discussion: American Spectator, Hot Air, Zandar Versus The Stupid and The Daily Beast

Washington Post:

Susan Rice withdraws as candidate for secretary of state — View Photo Gallery — What you need to know about Susan Rice: The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has withdrawn from consideration for secretary of state — U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice withdrew her name …

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', TalkLeft, ComPost, Booman Tribune, The Plum Line, PostPartisan, Post Politics and Mother Jones

Lucy Madison / CBS News:
Hillary Clinton to testify on Benghazi

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Fix and Taylor Marsh

New York Times:
Rice Ends Bid for Secretary of State, and Fight With G.O.P.

Discussion: The Democratic Daily

Reid J. Epstein / Reuters:
Susan Rice withdraws for secretary of state

Discussion: CNN, Politico and americanthinker.com

BuzzFeed:

Death Star Petition Requires White House Response — The petition has passed the 25,000 threshold needed for a response from the White House. The White House petition is now quite operational. — Andrew Kaczynski — a half hour ago — 3 responses

Discussion: ComPost, AMERICAblog, Truthdig and The Greenroom

TheFW:

Petition to Build Death Star Gaining Steam — On the White House's website there is a “We The People” section, which allows citizens to “petition the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country.” If any submitted petition gets 25,000 E-signatures …

Discussion: Wired, Michelle Malkin, Mashable! and Betabeat

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:
Senator Wants Answers On White House Pot Plan

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Salon, The Raw Story and The Atlantic Online

John Gramlich / Roll Call:

House GOP Boosts Funds for DOMA Legal Defense — House Republicans quietly have raised the value of a contract with a private law firm that is handling the chamber's Supreme Court defense of a 1996 federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

Discussion: Washington Blade, BuzzFeed, Towleroad News #gay and Politico

Megan Ruyle / The Hill:
House Republicans made scarce during ‘cliff’ talks

Discussion: Politico

CNN:
GOP budget concerns could stall Sandy emergency aid

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Hill and National Review

Wall Street Journal:
Debate Grows in GOP Over Tax Stance

Discussion: Eschaton and Firedoglake

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / New York Post:

Where big GOP bucks could matter — Mitt Romney and the GOP lost, but it wasn't for lack of money. They spent a lot; they just didn't get enough bang for the buck. — Billionaire Sheldon Adelson alone donated $150 million. But Romney lost anyway, especially among unmarried women.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Crooks and Liars, Hot Air, American Glob, alicublog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

John Hinderaker / Power Line: A Modest Proposal — The old adage goes, “Don't get mad, get even.”

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:
The Strange Republican Shift on Taxes

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Eschaton

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Neil Cavuto cuts off Rep. E.B. Johnson — Fox News' Neil Cavuto cut to commercial during a heated interview with Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson where the congresswoman told him to “shut up for just a second” and he later called their discussion “a total waste of time.”

Discussion: Hot Air and Unfair Park

Hamed Aleaziz / ThinkProgress:

Steve King: I Don't Know What Happened In Benghazi But It's Worse Than Watergate — Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has no idea what happened in Benghazi but he does know that it's worse than Watergate and the Iran-Contra scandal times 10. Here's King from a Washington Times article published on Wednesday:

Discussion: Dependable Renegade and Little Green Footballs

David Sherfinski / Washington Times:
King: Benghazi 10 times bigger than Watergate, Iran-Contra combined

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jonathan Allen / Politico:

‘The a—hole factor’ — Back-bench freshmen Justin Amash, Tim Huelskamp and David Schweikert are gaining martyr status among conservative activists after they were “purged” from House committees for what they say is a matter of sticking to their principles on tough votes.

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Washington Monthly, Washington Examiner, Daily Kos and rubber hose

Cal Fussman / Esquire:

Arnold Schwarzenegger: What I've Learned — Actor, former governor, 65, Los Angeles — The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, Inc./Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York — Warhol photographed Schwarzenegger, then a bodybuilder, with a Polaroid Big Shot camera in 1977.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Patrick Gavin / Politico: Arnold Schwarzenegger: ‘I love paying my taxes!’

Richard Hall / The Independent:

‘Gangnam Style’ death prompts warning to middle-aged men not to attempt the vigorous dance — NOTE: WE DO NOT STORE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) BUT YOUR IP ADDRESS WILL BE LOGGED TO PREVENT ABUSE OF THIS FEATURE. PLEASE READ OUR LEGAL TERMS & POLICIES — The death of a father-of-three …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, TheFW, Mediaite and Gawker

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

More staffers recount confrontational elevator rides with Rep. Foxx — More House staffers are coming forward with cautionary tales of their members-only elevator rides with Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). — ITK last week brought you one tipster's claims of Foxx laying the verbal smackdown …

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', The Maddow Blog and Hullabaloo

David Morgan / CNBC:

Only 15 States Opt to Run Obamacare Exchanges — Only 15 states have told the federal government they plan to operate health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for two-thirds of the country.

Discussion: Power Line and National Review

Alex Nussbaum / Bloomberg:
Aetna CEO Sees Obama Health Law Doubling Some Premiums

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin, Moonbattery, The Gateway Pundit and Vodkapundit

Margalit Fox / New York Times:

N. Joseph Woodland, Inventor of the Bar Code, Dies at 91 — N. Joseph Woodland, who six decades ago drew a set of lines in the sand and in the process conceived the modern bar code, died on Sunday at his home in Edgewater, N.J. He was 91. — His daughter Susan Woodland confirmed the death.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, BBC, Gawker, The Verge and Althouse

First Read:

First Thoughts: GOP goes off the image cliff — NBC/WSJ poll: GOP already goes off one cliff — the image cliff... American public: We want compromise... But this also presents dilemma for White House: Does it bend over backwards to achieve compromise, or does it try to make the GOP cry …

Discussion: The Plum Line, The Democratic Daily, Washington Examiner, Politico, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Matt Vande Bunte / MLive.com:

State Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons tried to exempt husband from right-to-work law — ALTO, MI - Michigan House Democrats are calling an assistant majority floor leader a hypocrite for proposing an amendment that would have exempted her husband from right-to-work bills that lawmakers passed, and Gov. Snyder then signed into law.

Discussion: emptywheel, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and The Raw Story

Joe Romm / ThinkProgress:

Mother Nature Is Just Getting Warmed Up: Record-Smashing Early December Assures 2012 Will Be Hottest In U.S. History — We've had spring weather in early December — and that guarantees 2012 will be the hottest year on record for the United States. — I had reported on Monday that 2012 …

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Obama ‘May Decide To Go Blow Up Small Countries’ For Fun, Norquist Predicts … Although a growing number Republicans are distancing themselves from the Americans for Tax Reform anti-tax pledge, Grover Norquist is confident that Congressional Republicans will force massive cuts to government programs …

Discussion: The Raw Story and Mediaite

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Grover Norquist's war plan for the GOP

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Lee Stranahan / BREITBART.COM:

LANSING UNION ATTACK VICTIM: ASSAILANT WORE GUY FAWKES-LIKE ‘DEVIL MASK’ — Local Lansing Michigan hot dog vendor Clint Tarver was catering for Americans For Prosperity during the right-to-work demonstrations at the State Capitol on Tuesday, when two men rushed into the tent.