memeorandum: SECRETARY OF STATE FAINTS, SUSTAINS CONCUSSION (Matthew Lee/Associated Press)

3:45 PM ET, December 15, 2012

Top Items:

SECRETARY OF STATE FAINTS, SUSTAINS CONCUSSION — WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who skipped an overseas trip this past week because of a stomach virus, sustained a concussion after fainting, the State Department said Saturday.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler and Althouse

Michael Sneed / Chicago Sun Times:

Source: Obama has chosen John Kerry as Secretary of State — President Barack Obama has chosen Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to be the next secretary of state, a source has told Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed. — His replacement as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee …

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Liberal Values, Weasel Zippers, Power Line and Outside the Beltway

Russell Berman / The Hill:

Hillary Clinton faints, suffers concussion — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fainted and suffered a concussion, the department said Saturday. She is now recovering at home. — “While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion …

Discussion: Politico and CNN

NY Daily News:

Sandy Hook mass murderer Adam Lanza, 20, ‘deeply disturbed kid’ — Lanza, who friends and officials said suffered from Asperger's syndrome or a personality disorder, had a tortured mind. — Alleged Sandy Hook Elementary shooter Adam Lanza as seen in this 2005 photo. ABC News Exclusive

Discussion: The Reaction, Slate, The Lonely Conservative, ABCNEWS, CNN, Power Line, The Dana Show, Althouse, CBS New York, Gawker, Weasel Zippers and ABCNEWS

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Nancy Lanza Not a Teacher? — There have been a lot of factual errors in the chaotic rush to get details about today's shooting in Connecticut. But one fact that seemed established across the board was that victim Nancy Lanza, the mother of alleged shooter Adam Lanza …

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Guardian, New York Times, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Gawker

Talking Points Memo:

Huckabee: Schools ‘A Place Of Carnage’ Because We ‘Systematically Removed God’ — Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee attributed the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in part to restrictions on school prayer and religious materials in the classroom.

Discussion: Wake up America, Towleroad News #gay, The Hinterland Gazette, The Huffington Post, CANNONFIRE and Taylor Marsh

Spencer Ackerman / Wired:
Internet Identifies, Threatens Wrong Man as Newtown Shooter

Discussion: Allergic to Bull, New Jersey Online, Daily Mail and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Dr. Keith Ablow / Fox News:
Tragedy in Connecticut: How do children, parents move forward?

Discussion: NewsHounds blog

Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:
Hours After Connecticut Kindergarten Shooting, Michigan GOP Calls For Allowing Guns In Schools

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Eclectablog, ABCNEWS, The Great Debate, Gawker and The Reaction

CNN:
Police: 20 children among 26 victims of Connecticut school shooting

Discussion: Metropolis, Washington Post, Gawker, KRQE-TV, Weasel Zippers, This Just In, Mashable!, TechCrunch, Business Insider, Mediaite and The BRAD BLOG

Washington Post:
Sandy Hook Elementary shooting leaves 28 dead, law enforcement sources say

Discussion: Wonkblog, Daily Kos, Metropolis, WorldViews, PostPartisan, Post Politics, Los Angeles Times, Truthdig, The Young Turks …, Reuters and The Democratic Daily

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo: Bloomberg On CT Shooting: Calling For Meaningful Action Is Not Enough

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

In Public ‘Conversation’ on Guns, a Rhetorical Shift — Friday's mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., has already touched off a heated political debate. Opponents of stricter regulation on gun ownership have accused their adversaries of politicizing a tragedy.

Discussion: Althouse, News Desk, Daily Kos, The Atlantic Online, American Power, Towleroad News #gay, Gawker, The Caucus, Corrente and Firedoglake

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:
What Can We Do to Stop Massacres?

Discussion: American Power, News Desk, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Dish and david-frum

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
McCarthy: I will embarrass Obama on gun control

Discussion: Firedoglake, Kansas City Star, The Hill, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, ABCNEWS, ABCNEWS, The Hill, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', ABCNEWS and Reuters

Josh Gerstein / Reuters:
Connecticut school shooting tragedy ups gun-control pressure on Obama

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Politico

Dana Davidsen / CNN:
Obama: ‘Our hearts are broken’

Discussion: Politico and The Hill

Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy:

A Thought Experiment Related to School Shootings — Imagine that you ran a school district, and some rich foundation, worried about school shootings, gave you the following offer: We'll hire armed security guards for you, who could try to do something about the school shooter.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns & Money:

“As Charles Manson Once Argued, Personality Cults Are Completely Harmless.” — Glenn Reynolds got off to a pretty good start yesterday. But never think he can't top himself: … Wait, what? … Ah, yes, William Burroughs: … It's the gun nut/misogynist exacta!

Discussion: TBogg

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / USA Today:
Column: Gun-free zones provide false sense of security

Discussion: American Power, Business Insider, Hot Air, The Other McCain and Little Green Footballs

John Barnes / MLive.com:
Sweeping changes in Michigan's concealed handgun law go beyond allowing weapons in ‘gun free zones’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Confluence, Hullabaloo, Gawker and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

New York Times:

A Political Brawler, Now Battling for Microsoft — SEATTLE — Mark Penn made a name for himself in Washington by bulldozing enemies of the Clintons. Now he spends his days trying to do the same to Google, on behalf of its archrival Microsoft. — Since Mr. Penn was put in charge of …

Discussion: The Verge

Reuters:

Egyptians vote on divisive constitution — (Reuters) - Egyptians queued in long lines on Saturday to vote on a constitution promoted by its Islamist backers as the way out of a political crisis and rejected by opponents as a recipe for further divisions in the Arab world's biggest nation.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, americanthinker.com and The Reaction

PBS NewsHour / Online NewsHour:

Shields and Brooks on Gun Control Policy, Susan Rice, ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Talks — Transcript — JUDY WOODRUFF: And to the analysis of Shields and Brooks. That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks. — So, gentlemen, we have all been torn …

Discussion: EconLog