memeorandum: BREAKING: While Dems Distracted by Inauguration, Virginia Senate GOP Stages a Coup (Lowkell/Blue Virginia)

1:25 AM ET, January 22, 2013

Top Items:

Obama's Startling Second Inaugural — This was the most sustainedly “progressive” statement Barack Obama has made in his decade on the national stage. — I was expecting an anodyne tone-poem about healing national wounds, surmounting partisanship, and so on.

Discussion: Wonkblog, The Fix, The New Republic, Daily Kos, Addicting Info, The Democratic Daily, CANNONFIRE, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Hullabaloo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hinterland Gazette, No More Mister Nice Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

New York Times:

Obama's Second Inaugural Speech — The following is a transcript of President Obama's second inaugural speech: — MR. OBAMA: Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: — Each time we gather to inaugurate a president …

Discussion: Esquire, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, White House.gov Blog, Daniel W. Drezner, Power Line, CNN, The Huffington Post, Weekly Standard, Little Green Footballs and Gawker

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

First inaugural use of the word ‘gay’ — President Barack Obama on Monday became the first president to use the word “gay” in an inaugural address in reference to sexual orientation, making two references to gay rights as he began his second term. — “Our journey is not complete until …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Weasel Zippers, The Atlantic Online, Truthdig, The Fix, Reuters, ABCNEWS, Associated Press and CNN

Washington Post:
President Obama's second inaugural address (Transcript)

Discussion: PostPartisan, Mother Jones, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, News Desk, The Fix, Right Turn, Washington Monthly, The Hinterland Gazette and National Review

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Obama's Second Inaugural

Discussion: Guardian

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
How Obama Made His Second Inaugural Address A Landmark Moment For LGBT Equality

Discussion: Addicting Info, The Atlantic Wire and The Agonist

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Lays Out Liberal Vision at Inauguration

Discussion: Guardian, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Los Angeles Times, American Power and Reuters

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration — While the eyes of the nation were turned toward President Barack Obama's second inauguration on Monday, the Virginia State Senate managed to hurriedly pass a bill that would redistrict the state's senate seats.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and Balloon Juice

Lowkell / Blue Virginia:

BREAKING: While Dems Distracted by Inauguration, Virginia Senate GOP Stages a Coup — You don't get more slimy, sneaky, underhanded, etc. than this (great work by Ben Tribbett alerting us to what was going on in the following series of Facebook updates): — “Wow- Republicans in the Virginia Senate …

Discussion: Mercury Rising, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:

Virginia GOP Pulls ‘Dirty Trick’ On Inauguration Day — Democrats in Virginia are accusing state Republicans of taking advantage of a prominent civil rights leader's trip to Washington for the presidential inauguration to pull a “dirty trick” in order to take control of the state Senate in the 2015 elections.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Associated Press and Discourse.net

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Va. Republicans push through rewrite of Senate districts — Senate Republicans this afternoon pushed through a surprise rewrite of the 2011 redistricting plan that erases a Democratic seat in western Virginia and creates a sixth majority black district that would be located between Petersburg and Danville.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette

U.S. News:

Where's Mitt? In warm, sunny California — It's chilly on the Capitol steps today, but that's no problem for Mitt Romney. — The former Republican presidential contender is spending Inauguration Day at his home in La Jolla, Calif., where it's sunny with a forecasted high of 73 degrees.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Addicting Info and National Review

Aliyah Frumin / msnbc.com:
Where in the world is Mitt Romney? (Hint: Not in D.C.)

Discussion: Mediaite and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

Obama Becomes A “Great” President — And Republicans start looking for ways to embrace him. Liberals should be prepared to lose him. — Image by Pool / Reuters — This time about 12 years from now, President Tagg Romney will, with a mixture of exasperation and amusement …

Discussion: Gawker, Washington Examiner, nation.foxnews.com and The Daily Dish

Chris Brown / TMZ.com:

Cops Swarm L.A. Home — Cops raced to Chris Brown's Hollywood Hills home Monday afternoon ... after someone called 911 and reported a domestic incident involving a gun, but we're told it was all a prank. — Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the caller claimed a mother and father …

Discussion: Gawker

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:

Colin Powell Slams ‘Idiot Presentations’ by Some Republicans, Urges GOP Leaders to ‘Speak Out’ — In an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos during ABC's special inauguration day coverage this morning, former Secretary of State Colin Powell lashed out at people …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, ABCNEWS and Yahoo! News

Ben Shapiro / BREITBART.COM:

EXCLUSIVE: MARK LEVIN'S INAUGURAL DAY MESSAGE— FIGHT! — As President Barack Obama prepares for his inauguration, Breitbart News sat down with radio talk show host Mark Levin, the bestselling author of the blockbusters Liberty and Tyranny, Ameritopia, Men in Black, and Rescuing Sprite.

Discussion: Doug Ross

Daily Mail:

Wanted: ‘Adventurous woman’ to give birth to Neanderthal man - Harvard professor seeks mother for cloned cave baby — His ambitious plan requires a human volunteer willing to allow the DNA to be put into stem cells, then a human embryo — They're usually thought of as a brutish, primitive species.

Discussion: Maggie's Farm, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Addicting Info, Althouse, Forbes and Mediaite

Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress:

Teenager Accidentally Kills Brother While Playing With Mother's Gun — A 14-year-old in Henry County, Georgia unintentionally shot and killed his 15-year-old brother early Saturday morning while playing with his mother's gun, according to police. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Bloomberg:

Obama's Bogus Journey — By Ramesh Ponnuru 2013-01-21T22:26:38Z — The world will little note nor long remember anything President Barack Obama said in his second inaugural address; still less will it remember any of the gushing encomiums his admirers in the press reliably produce …

Discussion: Brad DeLong

Matt Hadro / NewsBusters:

Giddy CNN Correspondent: ‘I Feel Like I Should Pinch Myself Right Now’ — CNN correspondent Jim Acosta was positively giddy while covering President Obama's inauguration parade on Monday afternoon, and didn't hold back his feelings on-air. — “You know, I feel like I should pinch myself right now, Wolf.

Discussion: American Power, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative and Poor Richard's News

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Two lines that sum up Obama's presidency … President Obama's Second Inaugural Address was devoid of memorable lines, but for me, two of them jumped out: “We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief …

Discussion: Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Business Insider and The National Memo

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

An expansive case for progressive governance, grounded in language of Founding Fathers — Halfway through President Obama's inaugural address, James Fallows tweeted: “I believe this is the most ‘progressive’ speech he's ever given.” — I would take that a step further.

Discussion: Eschaton, PostPartisan, American Power and Angry Bear

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Obama Prepares To Govern From The Left

Discussion: Politico and Right Turn

Wall Street Journal:

Support Grows for Roe v. Wade — Seven in 10 Americans believe Roe v. Wade should stand, according to new data from a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, as the landmark Supreme Court abortion-rights ruling turns 40 on Tuesday. — That is the highest level of support for the decision …

Discussion: American Power

Caitlin McDevitt / Reuters:

Joan Rivers: First lady's new 'do is a 'don't' — Hollywood fashion critic Joan Rivers does not approve of first lady Michelle Obama's newly cut bangs. — “Today starts President Obama's next four years in the White House,” Rivers tweeted Monday. “Let's hope the same isn't true about the first lady's new hairdo.”