memeorandum: Sol Yurick obituary (Eric Homberger/Guardian)

6:15 PM ET, January 7, 2013

Top Items:

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

The Real Reason Republicans Hate Hagel — It has more to do with President Obama than the former senator from Nebraska. — It's good news that President Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel as his secretary of defense, despite the frantic campaign against him that's been mounted by certain Republicans.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Right Turn, The Week, Quartz, Via Meadia, The Agonist, ABCNEWS, Mondoweiss, The Daily Dish, Politico, The Atlantic Online, p m carpenter's commentary, Daniel W. Drezner and The Hill

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Why Hagel Matters — According to various reports, Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel for defense secretary. Beinart puts the nomination in context: … To my mind, this is his core qualification. Unlike so many of the lemmings and partisans of Washington DC, Hagel actually called out the catastrophe of the Iraq War as it happened.

Discussion: Guardian, The Other McCain, Connecting.the.Dots, Business Insider, p m carpenter's commentary, Mondoweiss, Mother Jones, Hullabaloo, Wired and Firedoglake

Lee Enterprises / Lincoln Journal Star:

Exclusive: Hagel says critics distort his views on Israel, Iran — Chuck Hagel said Monday an accurate assessment of his record will demonstrate “unequivocal, total support for Israel” and endorsement of tough international economic sanctions against Iran. — Critics have “completely distorted” …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Right Turn, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette, Post Politics and Washington Examiner

Dovid Efune / Algemeiner.com:

Ed Koch on Chuck Hagel Nomination: Obama's Reneging on His Conveyed Support for Israel Has Come Earlier Than I Thought — Chuck Hagel in Kuwait. — In an interview with The Algemeiner, former Mayor of New York, Ed Koch, a lifelong Democrat who supported President Obama's recent re-election …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, National Review and The PJ Tatler

Lanny J. Davis / The Hill:

Hagel must address ‘Jewish lobby’ comment — I believe a president — Republican or Democrat — almost always deserves to have the Cabinet that he wishes, with the bar very, very high to oppose his choice. Thus, there should be heavy presumption that President Obama's reported nominee …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Daily Dot

Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:

Why Hagel Matters — If the former senator is confirmed over Republican objections as Obama's new secretary of defense, it could signal the beginning of a new era in American foreign policy, says Peter Beinart. — If media reports are true, Barack Obama will soon nominate Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, PERRspectives, AEIdeas, No More Mister Nice Blog, Crooks and Liars and The Daily Caller

Hayes Brown / ThinkProgress:

FLASHBACK: Bill Kristol Wanted Chuck Hagel To Be Vice President — The lead-up to today's nomination of former GOP senator from Nebraska Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense has been marked by an aggressive smear campaign by neoconservatives determined to scuttle the bid.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, J Street and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Kevin Bohn / CNN:
White House officials reach out to Jewish community to answer Hagel concerns

Discussion: Politico, ABCNEWS, The Hinterland Gazette, Israel Matzav and Business Insider

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
Topsy-turvy Hagel politics

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, Weekly Standard, Politico, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air, Israel Matzav, Forbes, The Spectacle Blog and Power Line

First Read:
First Thoughts: Hagel — a man without a party

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Page, The Moderate Voice, Business Insider, The Fix, New Atlanticist, The National Memo, msnbc.com, Capital New York and CNN

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
How The White House Is Selling Chuck Hagel

Discussion: CNN and The Page

Valerie Jarrett / White House.gov Blog:
Hagel for Secretary of Defense

Discussion: BuzzFeed, AMERICAblog and The Democratic Daily

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Crack Pipe — I'm watching a lot of neoconservative policy activists …

Discussion: Guardian and Balloon Juice

Katie Glueck / Reuters:
The critics' case against Chuck Hagel

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Politico, Politicker and Washington Free Beacon

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
FLASHBACK: GOP Senators Praised Chuck Hagel's Statesmanship, Foreign Policy Expertise

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Michael Schwirtz / New York Times:
Obama Expected to Pick Chuck Hagel for Defense Post

Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:
Still a potent gay rights voice, Barney Frank dials back opposition to Chuck Hagel nomination

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Huffington Post, The Maddow Blog, The Back Channel, Right Turn, Politico and American Prospect

Mickey Kaus / The Daily Caller:
Hagel's Mideast blunder-not on Israel

Discussion: Politico and The Week

Paul Krugman:

Be Ready To Mint That Coin — Should President Obama be willing to print a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default? Yes, absolutely. He will, after all, be faced with a choice between two alternatives: one that's silly but benign, the other that's equally silly but both vile and disastrous.

Discussion: MarketWatch, Mother Jones, Business Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Informer, The Hill, Gawker, The Week, Economist's View, Daily Kos, Vodkapundit, Capital New York, Marginal Revolution and Post Politics

Congressman Greg Walden: 2010:

Greg Walden plans to introduce bill to stop U.S. Treasury from creating trillion dollar platinum coins to pay bills and expand debt — THE DALLES, Ore. - U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) today announced plans to introduce a bill to stop a proposal to mint high-value platinum coins to pay the federal government's bills.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Political Watch, Mediaite and National Review

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
14th Amendment Option: Nancy Pelosi Urges Obama To ‘Just Go Do It’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Weasel Zippers, The Week and Associated Press

This Just In:

Hillary Clinton back at work - with a football helmet — Hillary Clinton went back to work as secretary of state this morning and was greeted by colleagues showing off their sense of humor. — First off, we got the official State Department photo of her hosting the weekly meeting of assistant secretaries of state.

Discussion: Joe. My. God., The Immoral Minority, Mediaite, Sense of Events and Towleroad News #gay

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:

CASTING VOTES — Here's a safe prediction for 2013: few people will pine for the Presidential campaign of 2012. Even Barack Obama's most ardent supporters acknowledge that his victory provided little of the euphoria of four years ago. Not many Republicans have longed to hear …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Sam Baker / The Hill:
Supreme Court to hear arguments in March on same-sex marriage

Discussion: Politico

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

After Pinpointing Gun Owners, Paper Is a Target — WHITE PLAINS — Local newspapers across the country look for stories that will bring them national attention, but The Journal News, a daily nestled in a wooded office park in a suburb north of New York, may have gotten more than it bargained for.

Discussion: Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Right Wing News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, Capital New York and Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Pareene / Salon:

The conservative movement is still an elaborate moneymaking venture — The story of FreedomWorks' big Glenn Beck payout encapsulates the right-wing media — The conservative media movement exists primarily as a moneymaking venture. As Rick Perlstein explained in the Baffler …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Impolitic, Liberal Values and The Immoral Minority

Paul Krugman:

The Outside Man — Yes, I've heard about the notion that I should be nominated as Treasury Secretary. I'm flattered, but it really is a bad idea. — Part of the reason is that I am indeed the World's Worst Administrator — and that does matter. Someone else can do the paperwork …

Discussion: Politico, Ballot Box, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller and Economist's View

Gustavo Arellano / Navel Gazing:

Huell Howser, California TV Legend, Passes Away :-( — Huell Howser—a California broadcasting legend for his various shows that have appeared on public broadcasting over the past couple of decades—has passed away, according to sources who spoke to the Weekly on condition of anonymity.

Discussion: Hit & Run and The Informer

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:

John Brennan's extremism and dishonesty rewarded with CIA Director nomination | Glenn Greenwald — Obama's top terrorism adviser goes from unconfirmable in 2008 to uncontroversial in 2013, reflecting the Obama legacy — (updated below - Update II) — Prior to President Obama's …

Discussion: The Plum Line, New York Times, Salon, emptywheel, Reuters, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Dish

Kyle Olson / EAGnews.org:

Crowd laughs as Chicago Teachers Union president talks about killing the rich — CHICAGO - The Chicago Teachers Union is not just about looking out for its members' interests. The union wants to fundamentally change America, too. — That shift occurred when the radical Karen Lewis was elected as its president two years ago.

Discussion: Mediaite, FreedomWorks, Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Mexican Restaurant In South Carolina Under Fire For Racist ‘How To Catch An Illegal Immigrant’ T-Shirt — A Mexican restaurant in Columbia, South Carolina is being criticized for its racist T-shirts showing a wooden trap using tacos as bait with the caption “HOW TO CATCH AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT”.

Discussion: Mediaite and The Raw Story

Jenna Mullins / E! Online:

NEWS/NBC Bosses Admit to Talking Donald Trump Out of Presidential Race — How close were we to seeing Donald Trump try to run for President? Close enough for NBC to have to talk him out of it! — NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt took the stage with NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Breaking News …

Nick Wing / The Huffington Post:

Joe Arpaio Dispatches Armed Volunteer Posses To Begin School Patrols … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Arizona Politics, Video, Maricopa County, Arizona, Arpaio School Patrols, Joe Arpaio Armed Posse, Joe Arpaio School Patrols, Joe Arpaio Schools, Politics News

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Joe. My. God.