memeorandum: Tax Code May Be the Most Progressive Since 1979 (Annie Lowrey/New York Times)

6:50 PM ET, January 5, 2013

Top Items:

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Hagel: War for Oil — In a post yesterday waxing enthusiastic about Chuck Hagel as defense secretary, Michael Moore called attention to a statement of Hagel that I don't believe had been previously much noted. Here it is, from September 2007: … This rounds out a Hagelian worldview …

Discussion: Associated Press, The PJ Tatler and Washington Free Beacon

Michael Moore / The Huffington Post: Six Years Ago, Chuck Hagel Told the Truth About Iraq

Los Angeles Times:
Obama likely to nominate Chuck Hagel for Defense secretary

Discussion: The Back Channel

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Ex-Officer Is First in C.I.A. to Face Prison for a Leak — WASHINGTON — Looking back, John C. Kiriakou admits he should have known better. But when the F.B.I. called him a year ago and invited him to stop by and “help us with a case,” he did not hesitate.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Truthdig, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Republican Congressman Insults Nancy Pelosi's Appearance: 'There's No Facelift With John Boehner' — An outspoken Republican congressman castigated House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's looks during a radio interview Friday. — Speaking with guest host Larry O'Connor on the Dennis Miller Show …

Discussion: The Political Carnival and msnbc.com

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Conservatives gone wild — Mindless slaps at the speaker — The most passionately anti-Obama Republican politicians and activists consider themselves the truest and purest of conservatives, and often unleash their scorn and fury on others who also call themselves conservative but differ on strategy and tactics.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Outside the Beltway

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Boehner absolves GOP defectors, seeks to reassert his command

Discussion: The Hill and DownWithTyranny!

Wall Street Journal:
The Outrageous Sandy Outrage

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Investor's Business Daily, Politicker, Hot Air, Right Turn and Capital New York

Wall Street Journal:

Have We Lost the War on Drugs? — After more than four decades of a failed experiment, the human cost has become too high. It is time to consider the decriminalization of drug use and the drug market. — President Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs” in 1971.

Discussion: Liberal Values, The Volokh Conspiracy and AEIdeas

Juliet Macur / New York Times:

In Reversal, Armstrong Is Said to Weigh Admitting Drug Use — Lance Armstrong, who this fall was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping and barred for life from competing in all Olympic sports, has told associates and antidoping officials that he is considering publicly admitting …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Spectator, Guardian, BBC News and Telegraph

WSB-TV:

Woman hiding with kids shoots intruder — Police investigate a home invasion in Walton County — LOGANVILLE, Ga. — A woman hiding in her attic with children shot an intruder multiple times before fleeing to safety Friday. — The incident happened at a home on Henderson Ridge Lane …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, UrbanGrounds and Cold Fury

Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit:
GUNS: Woman hiding with kids shoots intruder.

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Annie Lowrey / New York Times:

Tax Code May Be the Most Progressive Since 1979 — WASHINGTON — With 2013 bringing tax increases on the incomes of a small sliver of the richest Americans, the country's top earners now face a heavier tax burden than at any time since Jimmy Carter was president.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, msnbc.com, americanthinker.com, Prairie Weather, American Power and Middle Earth Journal

Gregory Wallace / CNN:

Don't call it gun control, says Democrats' point person on the issue — (CNN) - The Californian picked to lead congressional Democrats' efforts on gun control says the positions held by some gun rights advocates are unnecessarily divisive, and that government action should go beyond simply outlawing certain weapons.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Elisabeth Rosenthal / New York Times:

More Guns = More Killing — IN the wake of the tragic shooting deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month, the National Rifle Association proposed that the best way to protect schoolchildren was to place a guard — a “good guy with a gun” — in every school …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Washington Monthly

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Gun Show Held Near Sandy Hook Outrages Residents — Connecticut residents are outraged that a gun show will take place this weekend just 40 miles from Newtown, where 26 people were killed in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School just weeks ago. The East Coast Firearms Show is being advertised as the …

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Alabama Lawmaker To Introduce Bill Arming Teachers, Despite Opposition From School Officials — An Alabama lawmaker plans to introduce a bill to arm teachers and principals next week, despite the opposition of school administrators. State Rep. Kerry Rich's (R) proposal would …

Jazz Shaw / Hot Air:

Joe Manchin: Say... about that gun grabbing thing... I actually owe Jim Geraghty and his indispensable Morning Jolt newsletter a big hat tip for this story, though we wrote about the roots of it multiple times here. In any event, astute readers will recall the response of long …

Discussion: Doug Ross

Fox News:

Inmates using newspaper's gun owner map to threaten guards, sheriff says — Law enforcement officials from a New York region where a local paper published a map identifying gun owners say prisoners are using the information to intimidate guards. — Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco …