memeorandum: Robert Menendez fights back (Politico)

10:35 PM ET, February 6, 2013

Top Items:

Southern Poverty Law Center website triggered FRC shooting … The Family Research Council shooter, who pleaded guilty today to a terrorism charge, picked his target off a “hate map” on the website of the ultra-liberal Southern Poverty Law Center which is upset with the conservative group's opposition to gay rights.

Discussion: Power Line, Jammie Wearing Fools, Patterico's Pontifications, his vorpal sword, Washington Free Beacon, NewsBusters and The PJ Tatler

WJLA-TV:

Floyd Corkins pleads guilty to Family Research Council shooting — (AP/ABC7) - A man accused of shooting a security guard inside the downtown Washington headquarters of a conservative Christian lobbying group pleaded guilty Wednesday in connection with the shooting.

Discussion: Bob Owens, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters and Joe. My. God.

Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:
Family Research Council shooter pleads guilty to three felonies, including terrorism charge, in federal court

Discussion: The Daily Caller and nation.foxnews.com

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:
Shooter at Pro-Life Office Pleads Guilty, Used Liberal Site to Target

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Jordy Yager / The Hill:
US Attorneys' office links shooting at FRC, high-capacity magazines

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

CNN:
Shooter planned to smear Chick-fil-A on victims

Discussion: The Other McCain, Washington Examiner and Towleroad News #gay

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Hagel Tells Lawmakers He Can't Provide Details On Speaking Engagements, Foreign Funders — “He is basically telling Senators they have no right to know if he has been unduly influenced by foreign governments or foreign agents over the last five years. What is he hiding?” GOP aide says.

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air, “The Lid”, Power Line, The Lonely Conservative and Weekly Standard

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

GOP senators call for delay in Hagel committee vote — Two senior GOP members of the Senate Armed Services Committee told The Cable Tuesday that they won't consent to a committee vote on Chuck Hagel's nomination to be secretary of defense until the former Nebraska senator discloses …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, NBCNews.com, First Read, Power Line, Taylor Marsh, Business Insider, Post Politics, National Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and CNN

Steve Clemons / The Atlantic Online:
Strange Days in the Senate: Could Ted Cruz Do What He Is Asking of Hagel?

Discussion: The Dish

The Daily Caller:

FBI sources: Menendez investigation moved to Newark, NJ — Two FBI sources have told The Daily Caller that the bureau's inquiry into Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is now based in New Jersey, not Miami. One added that pressure is mounting from the highest levels of the Justice Department to pursue the investigation.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and NewsBusters blogs

Politico:

Robert Menendez fights back — New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez is moving behind-the-scenes to control the damage caused by a series of unseemly allegations involving his personal life that now loom over his chairmanship of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee and could threaten his standing with Senate Democrats.

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools

Shane Goldmacher / NationalJournal.com:
Bob Menendez Spent Up to 87 Percent of Wealth Paying Back Donor

Discussion: The Fix, Washington Free Beacon, The PJ Tatler and Election Law Blog

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

Thanks To Congressional Incompetence, Saturday Mail Delivery Is History — The U.S. Postal Service announced on Wednesday that it will discontinue first class Saturday mail delivery, marking another milestone in the decline of the once-ubiquitous government service.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Fox News, UrbanGrounds and “The Lid”

Reuters:

Postal Service to Cut Saturday Mail — ABC OTUS News - US Postal Service to End Saturday Mail Delivery (ABC News) — Apparently trying an end-run around an unaccommodating Congress, the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service says it will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to disburse packages six days a week.

Discussion: The Week, The Moderate Voice, American Prospect, Poor Richard's News, Daily Kos, USA Today, The Democratic Daily, AMERICAN DIGEST, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Weekly Standard, The Stranger … and neo-neocon

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

4th Annual TV News Trust Poll — PPP's annual poll on TV news finds that there's only one source more Americans trust than distrust: PBS. 52% of voters say they trust PBS to only 29% who don't trust it. The other seven outlets we polled on are all distrusted by a plurality of voters.

Discussion: Truthdig, Business Insider, Wonkette, Taegan Goddard's …, msnbc.com, Liberal Values, The Dish, Outside the Beltway and TheBlaze.com

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Rubio to deliver GOP response to Obama's State of the Union — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will deliver the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address on February 12. — Rubio's response will be delivered in both English and Spanish, according to Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) office.

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air and Politico

Tim Mak / Politico:
Hagel committee vote delayed

Discussion: BuzzFeed, CNN and Pat Dollard

Spokesman.com:

Bill requires all Idaho kids to read ‘Atlas Shrugged’ — BOISE - Coeur d'Alene Sen. John Goedde, chairman of the Idaho Senate's Education Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday to require every Idaho high school student to read Ayn Rand's “Atlas Shrugged” and pass a test on it to graduate from high school.

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Washington Monthly, Taegan Goddard's …, The Raw Story, The Week, Joe. My. God. and Wonkette

Politico:

Obama to provide Congress with drone info — President Obama has reversed course and agreed to provide the congressional intelligence committees with classified Justice Department legal advice authorizing the use of drones to kill U.S. citizens abroad, two administration officials said Wednesday evening.

Discussion: CNN and The Democratic Daily

Humberto Sanchez / Roll Call: Wyden Hints at Brennan Filibuster

Russell Berman / The Hill:

Biden delivers impassioned plea to House Democrats on gun control — LEESBURG, Va. - Vice President Joe Biden delivered an impassioned and at times emotional plea to House Democrats to rally around the Obama administration's gun-control proposals, telling lawmakers they can't rely on political excuses for inaction.

Discussion: CNN

Russell Berman / The Hill:
House Democrats unimpressed by Cantor's support of DREAM Act

Discussion: CNN

Duncan Black / USA Today:

401Ks are a disaster: Column — Recent and near-retirees, the first major cohort of the 401(k) era, do not have nearly enough in retirement savings to even come close to maintaining their current lifestyles. — We need an across the board increase in Social Security retirement benefits of 20% or more.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Corrente, The Impolitic, The Stranger …, Booman Tribune, Eschaton and Philly.com

Politico:

Obama nominates REI chief Sally Jewell for Interior secretary — Western Energy Alliance President Tim Wigley — whose coalition of oil and gas production companies has been a frequent critic of the Obama administration — also had glowing words for Jewell, saying that “her experience …

Discussion: Anchorage Daily News and Firedoglake

First Read:
Obama to nominate head of REI for Interior secretary

Discussion: New York Times

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:

Progressive Caucus Introduces Legislation To Replace Spending Cuts With Revenues, Investments … The Congressional Progressive Caucus announced today that it is introducing legislation to cancel the automatic spending cuts — known as the “sequester” — that are scheduled to take place at the beginning of March.

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The absurdity of the GOP position on spending, in one chart

Discussion: Firedoglake, The White House, Washington Examiner, The Maddow Blog and Hullabaloo

Erik Wemple:

Fox News drops Dick Morris: Hooray — No more Fox News contributor Dick Morris. His contract to spout republic-damaging nonsense on Fox airwaves has expired, and the network isn't renewing it. — Taken together with the news that Sarah Palin will no longer be contributing …

Discussion: The Wrap, American Prospect, FishbowlDC and The Daily Caller

David Weigel / Slate:
Fox News Ends the Dick Morris Era

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly and Truthdig

Grace Wyler / Business Insider:

Here's Rand Paul's Grand Vision For U.S. Foreign Policy — In a highly-anticipated speech at the Heritage Foundation Wednesday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul laid out a vision for a “middle path” in U.S. foreign policy, calling for more “moderation” and “restraint” in the use of military force.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and American Spectator

Rand Paul / Reason:
Containment and Radical Islam

Discussion: Hot Air, Daily Pundit and American Spectator

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Michigan Republicans Introduce Bill Mandating Transvaginal Ultrasound Before An Abortion — Michigan Republicans have introduced a bill requiring all women to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, a move that rekindles last year's firestorm when other GOP-led states were considering similar measures.

Discussion: Tennessean.com and The Raw Story

United We Dream:

CORE PRINCIPLES FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM — DIRECT AND STRAIGHFORWARD ROADMAP TO CITIZENSHIP … THE TIMELINE FOR THE ROADMAP TO CITIZENSHIP SHOULD BE REASONABLE AND FAIR. — Individuals who came to the U.S. as adults should be eligible to apply for a temporary immigration status immediately …

Discussion: New York Times, The Raw Story, Colorlines and Post Politics

Sorourke / nation.foxnews.com:

CHRIS ROCK: ‘THE PRESIDENT IS OUR BOSS’... OUR ‘DAD’ — Comedian Chris Rock showed up on Capitol Hill today to support President Barack Obama's gun control proposals. Here is what he said during the morning press conference: … Apparently the comedian has flip-flopped on his previous gun control position, i.e. “bullet control” ...

Discussion: Twitchy, Sister Toldjah, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit, Politico and The Truth About Guns

Ryan Pearson / bigstory.ap.org:

BRUCE WILLIS: DON'T INFRINGE ON SECOND AMENDMENT — You are here — Home » Hollywood » Bruce Willis: Don't infringe on Second Amendment — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bruce Willis says he's against new gun control laws that could infringe on Second Amendment rights.

Discussion: Reuters, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Poor Richard's News

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

Broun jumps into Georgia Senate race — Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) made it official Wednesday after dropping hints for several weeks — he'll run for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss's (R-Ga.) seat. — “I'll be the only candidate in this race whose first priority is to stop the runaway spending …

Discussion: Politico and CNN