memeorandum: Christie: Armed guards won't make schools safer (Melissa Hayes/NorthJersey.com)

4:10 PM ET, December 21, 2012

Top Items:

Inside the Meltdown — “How the hell can you do this?” — • followers — At a quarter to 8 p.m. on Thursday night, House Republicans gathered in the Capitol basement for an urgent, closed-door conference meeting. The scene was hushed and confused.

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Washington Wire, The PJ Tatler, The Strata-Sphere, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Booman Tribune, NewsBusters.org and Commentary Magazine

Politico:

Behind the scenes of a GOP meltdown — Things were so bad for Speaker John Boehner Thursday night, support for his Plan B tax bill so diminished, the limits of his power with his own party laid bare, that he stood in front of the House Republican Conference and recited the Serenity Prayer.

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Playing Taxes Hold 'Em — A few years back, there was a boom in poker television — shows in which you got to watch the betting and bluffing of expert card players. Since then, however, viewers seem to have lost interest. But I have a suggestion: Instead of featuring poker experts …

Discussion: The Plum Line, Off the Charts Blog, Daily Kos, Robert Reich and Balloon Juice

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Will Boehner's speakership survive until Plan C?

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Tell, his vorpal sword, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, Econbrowser, Connecting.the.Dots and The Huffington Post

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Boehner Points — Subtly — Toward A Way Forward After Failure Of Plan B

Discussion: Daily Kos

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
The Failure of Last Night's “Plan B” Vote Makes a Fiscal Cliff Deal More Likely

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, Wonkblog, Wall Street Journal and Firedoglake

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Does A Speaker Survive This?

Discussion: Washington Monthly and American Prospect

Steve Kornacki / Salon:
The humiliation of John Boehner

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and A plain blog about politics

Washington Post:
How Boehner's Plan B for the ‘fiscal cliff’ began and fell apart

Discussion: The Fix, Reuters, US News, Hullabaloo, The Monkey Cage, americanthinker.com, Hot Air, First Read, Prairie Weather, The National Memo, Shakesville and ABCNEWS

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Boehner Calls on Obama and Senate for Fiscal Solution

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Prairie Weather

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
How Boehner could cut a deal and still keep his speakership

Discussion: Washington Wire, National Review, The New Republic, Hit & Run and Wall Street Journal

Politico:
Behind the scenes of a GOP meltdown

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Plum Line, The Demos Blog and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Remarks from the NRA press conference on Sandy Hook school shooting, delivered on Dec. 21, 2012 (Transcript) — Video: After a week of silence in the wake of the Newtown shootings, the National Rifle Association finally spoke out Friday defending guns and decrying violence.

CNN:

Community Resource Officer Called to “Back Lot” — Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner soon would complete his second year as the uniformed community resource officer assigned to Columbine High School. Gardner, a 15-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, normally ate his lunch …

Discussion: National Review, Business Insider, Wonkblog and Twitchy

Melissa Hayes / NorthJersey.com:

Christie: Armed guards won't make schools safer — Governor Chris Christie said he doesn't agree that placing armed guards at every school in the state would help prevent tragedies like the Newtown, Conn. school shooting last week. — “In general I don't think that the solution to safety …

Discussion: Post Politics and Mediaite

John H. Cushman Jr / New York Times:

N.R.A. Calls for Armed Guards in Schools to Deter Violence — WASHINGTON — The National Rifle Association on Friday called for schools to be protected by armed guards as the best way to protect children from gun violence. — The group, long the most vocal and influential organization …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online, Hit & Run, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Spectator, AEIdeas, Mashable!, FlowingData and Pew Research Center …

David Weigel / Slate:
Wayne LaPierre Wants Armed Guards at Schools. Columbine Had an Armed Guard.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The PJ Tatler, Boing Boing and The New Republic

Philip Elliott / Associated Press:
NRA CALLS FOR ARMED POLICE OFFICER IN EVERY SCHOOL

Discussion: Forbes, The Week, Business Insider, The Page and Taegan Goddard's …

Reuters:
NRA's Newtown solution: Armed guards in schools

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', American Prospect, Hot Air and ABCNEWS

ABCNEWS:
NRA Calls for Armed School Guards, Scoffs at Gun Laws

Discussion: Politico, The Atlantic Online, ABCNEWS and Riehl World News

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Journalists slam NRA throughout press conference

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Obama Nominates Kerry for Secretary of State — WASHINGTON — President Obama nominated Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts as secretary of state, choosing an elder of the Democratic Party's foreign policy establishment and a crucial political ally in the Senate to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, Twitchy, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Business Insider and Daily Kos

Boston Globe:
Roots of John Kerry's secretary of state ambition lie in wake of 2004 defeat

Discussion: The National Memo

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Kerry a Frequent Visitor with Syrian Dictator Bashar Al-Assad

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and The Spectacle Blog

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Kerry Has Investments in Companies Accused of Violating Iran Sanctions

Discussion: Roll Call, Jammie Wearing Fools and OpenSecrets.org

CNN:
John Kerry will be nominated for secretary of state, official says

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Shakesville and ImmigrationProf Blog

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama calls Kerry ‘perfect choice’ to succeed Clinton

Discussion: CNN

Mj Lee / Politico:
Frank not saying ‘no’ to Senate appointment

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Advocate, BuzzFeed, Post Politics and Business Insider

Mike Allen / Politico:

Chuck Hagel apologizes for gay slur — Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, seeking to preserve his viability for nomination as secretary of Defense, on Friday issued a strong apology for a gay slur in 1998 that turned some top Democratic activists against his potential selection.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Plum Line, Taegan Goddard's …, Wall Street Journal, The Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay and The Daily Dish

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
EXCLUSIVE: Top Republican Senator will oppose Hagel nomination

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Washington Free Beacon and Post Politics

Mark Landler / New York Times:
Chuck Hagel Is Criticized Over Gay Rights Record

Discussion: The Caucus, The Page, Exposing Liberal Lies, Power Line, Washington Free Beacon, Weekly Standard, Politico, Post Politics, The Daily Dish, Mondoweiss, Right Turn and BuzzFeed

Scott Johnson / Power Line:
Shock audio: Hagel on the “Jewish lobby” [UPDATE: Hagel Apologizes for Gay Comments]

Discussion: Politico

Wjac Web / WJAC-TV:

4 dead in Blair Co. shooting; 3 troopers injured — Sponsored Links — BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. — The Blair County district attorney said that four people, including the alleged gunman, are dead after a series of shootings along a rural road on Friday. — The district attorney …

Discussion: The Altoona Mirror, The Hinterland Gazette, Balloon Juice and The Raw Story

Neetzan Zimmerman / Gawker:

While the NRA Was on TV Talking About the Need for More Guns Some Guy Was Walking Up and Down a Road in Pennsylvania Shooting People — The National Rifle Association today held its first press conference since last week's deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, and the takeaway was clear: We need more guns.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Poynter and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed:

10 Things The NRA Blamed For The Sandy Hook Massacre — Not guns. At a press conference Friday morning, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre offered some other villains. — The Media — “Rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonize gun owners.” — Image by Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images

Ron Nixon / New York Times:

With Farm Bill Stalled, Consumers May Face Soaring Milk Prices — WASHINGTON — Forget the fiscal crisis and the automatic budget cuts. Come Jan. 1, there is a threat that milk prices could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon if Congress does not pass a new farm bill that amends farm policy dating back to the Truman presidency.

Discussion: Firedoglake, CRFB.org, LewRockwell.com Blog and The PJ Tatler

Noah Smith / The Atlantic Online:

The Single Best Anti-Gun-Death Policy? Ending the Drug War — Universal gun confiscation is impossible, and even aggressive gun control might not dramatically reduce gun-related deaths. But ending our ridiculous and expensive war on drugs could. — Reuters — This is not a column against gun control.

Discussion: Washington Monthly