memeorandum: Gun debate opponents gear up for fight; Sens. Blumenthal, Ayotte on president's picks for his new national security team (Chris Wallace/Fox News)

7:05 PM ET, January 13, 2013

Top Items:

Ginger Gibson / Politico:

Powell: GOP has ‘a dark vein of intolerance’ — While continuing to identify as a Republican, former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday criticized the GOP for a series of racist attacks against President Barack Obama. — “There's also a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Raw Story, The Fix, The Reaction, NewsBusters.org blogs, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and The Hinterland Gazette

Greg Clary / CNN:

Colin Powell is bucking his own party, again — (CNN) - When President Barack Obama nominated former Sen. Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense last week, criticism came in swiftly from several Republicans. But there's one member of the GOP who couldn't be more supportive of Hagel, and that's former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Discussion: Politico

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Old Foes Lead Charge Against Chuck Hagel

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Caucus, The Back Channel, American Power and Prairie Weather

Amanda Peterson Beadle / ThinkProgress:

NRA President: Americans Are Buying Firearms Because They Fear Obama — Gun sales skyrocketed at the end of 2012 after the tragic shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. The FBI conductedmore than 2 million criminal background checks ahead of gun purchases in December, according …

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Washington Monthly

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Sweeping new gun laws proposed by influential liberal think tank

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Politico and American Power

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Like President Obama, Rahm Emanuel pivots on gun control

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
NRA president predicts assault weapons ban won't pass Congress

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

The Fed Killed Trillion-Dollar Coin — Senior administration official tells BuzzFeed the Federal Reserve would not have recognized the vast sum for depositing the coin. — The Federal Reserve Building stands in Washington April 3, 2012. — Source: images.newscred.com

Discussion: Business Insider

Paul Krugman:

By George — End This Depression Now! — How bad have things gotten? How did we get stuck in what now can only be called a depression? And, most of all, how do we free ourselves? A call-to-arms from Paul Krugman. — Buy the book » — Some links to stuff I've written bearing on macroeconomic policy.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

George Stephanopoulos / ABCNEWS:

Sen. Corker Says There Are Questions About Chuck Hagel's ‘Temperament’ — ABC — This morning on “This Week,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee expressed concerns about the “temperament” of Chuck Hagel, the man President Obama nominated to be his next Secretary of Defense.

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Sen. Corker questions Hagel's ‘temperament’ for top Pentagon post

Discussion: ABCNEWS

BBC:

Mass Paris rally against gay marriage in France — The BBC's Hugh Schofield said the organisers did not want to be seen as homophobic — Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Paris over plans to give gay couples in France the right to marry and adopt children.

Discussion: Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:

History suggests that era of entitlements is nearly over … It's often good fun and sometimes revealing to divide American history into distinct periods of uniform length. In working on my forthcoming book on American migrations, internal and immigrant, it occurred to me that you could do this using …

Chris Wallace / Fox News:

Gun debate opponents gear up for fight; Sens. Blumenthal, Ayotte on president's picks for his new national security team — Special Guests: Neera Tanden, Larry Pratt, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Sen. Richard Blumenthal — The following is a rush transcript of the January 13, 2013, edition of “Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace.”

Discussion: Right Turn and Washington Examiner

Annie Lowrey / New York Times:

The Low Politics of Low Growth — WE typically blame Washington for not doing more to help the economy grow. But what if we have it backward: What if it is the weak economy that is driving the failures in Washington? — That is what Benjamin Friedman, a Harvard economist who has studied …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org blogs:

Candy Crowley On Lack Of Diversity In Obama White House: ‘Does It Matter?’ — It really has been amazing to watch Obama's media cover for the lack of diversity in his cabinet picks. — A fine example of this hypocrisy came on CNN's State of the Union Sunday when host Candy Crowley actually began …

Discussion: Mediaite and Weasel Zippers

Egypt Independent:

Military source: US arms deal continuing despite lawmakers' objections — views: — Send to friend — Egypt's negotiations with the US to acquire F-16 aircraft and M1A1 Abrams tanks are proceeding smoothly, a senior Egyptian military source has said. — The source added that the negotiations …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch

Zach Carter / The Huffington Post:

Aaron Swartz, Internet Pioneer, Found Dead Amid Prosecutor ‘Bullying’ in Unconventional Case … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Conde Nast, Economy, Hackers, Internet, Barack Obama , PIPA, Politics, Video, Aaron Swartz, Larry Lessig, RSS 1.0, Aaron Swartz Suicide, Demand Progress, Doj, FBI …