memeorandum: Bush 41 mending, watches football in hospital (CNN)

6:40 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 Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Right Turn, The Week, Mondoweiss, Via Meadia, Quartz, The Agonist, ABCNEWS, The Daily Dish, Politico, The Atlantic Online, p m carpenter's commentary, Daniel W. Drezner and The Hill

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, Mondoweiss, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Right Turn, Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette, Post Politics, Washington Examiner and Washington Post

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, The Week, Firedoglake and The Atlantic Online

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

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, Salon, Talking Points Memo and J Street

Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:
Why Hagel Matters — If the former senator is confirmed …

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

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Dick Cheney Apparently Didn't Mind The Term “Jewish Lobby”

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
Topsy-turvy Hagel politics

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

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

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

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

Discussion: CNN and The Page

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

Discussion: The Page, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, Business Insider, Blue Jersey, The Fix, Washington Examiner, New Atlanticist, The National Memo and msnbc.com

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

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

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

Discussion: BuzzFeed, New York Times, Politicker and Washington Free Beacon

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

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Democratic Daily and AMERICAblog

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
Obama Taps ‘Patriot’ Hagel for Defense

Discussion: CNN, NationalJournal.com, Guardian, Politico, Progressive Alaska, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Week and ABCNEWS

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

Discussion: Guardian and Balloon Juice

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, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Informer, Gawker, The Week, Economist's View, 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

Josh Barro / Bloomberg:
Why Platinum Coin Opponents Are All Wrong

Discussion: The Plum Line, Business Insider and Wonkblog

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

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: Crooks and Liars, The Plum Line, Salon, New York Times, Reuters, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, Taylor Marsh, Lawfare, emptywheel and The Daily Dish

emptywheel:
The Seduction of John Brennan's “Moral Rectitude”

Discussion: Daily Kos

Stephen Moore / Wall Street Journal:

The Education of John Boehner — Leverage for the next clash: GOP willingness to let the spending sequester take effect. — What stunned House Speaker John Boehner more than anything else during his prolonged closed-door budget negotiations with Barack Obama was this revelation …

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

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 »

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

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, The Week, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller and Economist's View

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

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