memeorandum: After Ruling Critical of N.S.A., Uncertain Terrain for Appeal (Adam Liptak/New York Times)

10:40 PM ET, December 17, 2013

Top Items:

Jennifer Epstein / Reuters:

For U.S. Sochi delegation: Diversity, not diplomacy — The Obama administration's delegation to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi includes two openly gay athletes — including tennis legend Billie Jean King — and, in a snub to Russian President Vladimir Putin, does not include the president …

Discussion: CNN and The Daily Caller

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Obama, Biden, Top U.S. Officials To Stay Away From Sochi Olympics — Neither President or Mrs. Obama nor Vice President or Dr. Biden will be a part of the U.S. delegation to the Sochi Olympics. Instead, Janet Napolitano, the president of the University of California and former secretary …

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, Advocate and Hot Air

Kelly Whiteside / USA Today:

Obama sends message by naming Sochi Olympic delegation — The White House delivered a strong message of opposition to Russia's anti-gay laws Tuesday with the announcement of its delegation to the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. — The White House delegation will include an openly gay athlete: tennis great Billie Jean King.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay, National Review, ABC News and Balloon Juice

Washington Post:

Post-ABC poll: Obama, Republicans, Health care and 2014 midterm — Poll Questions

Discussion: Politico, The Plum Line, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, CNN, National Review, Scared Monkeys and The Fix

The Fix:
Haters gonna hate. But they plan to vote Republican.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly and ABC News

Gary Langer / ABC News:
A Drop in Opposition to Obamacare Helps Stabilize a Struggling Presidency

Discussion: Daily Kos and NewsBusters

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Thought Leader — Little boys and girls in ancient Athens grew up wanting to be philosophers. In Renaissance Florence they dreamed of becoming Humanists. But now a new phrase and a new intellectual paragon has emerged to command our admiration: The Thought Leader.

Discussion: Capital New York, Paul Krugman, Mediaite, Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog and Patterico's Pontifications

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
WAS IT SOMETHING WE SAID? — Moral Hazard, the Irish setter owned …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Mediaite

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:

GOP congressman's retirement could put key district in play — Washington (CNN) - Virginia Republican Rep. Frank Wolf announced Tuesday that he will not run for re-election in 2014, setting up a competitive race to replace him in the suburbs and exurbs outside Washington, D.C.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

The Hill:
Rep. Wolf retires after 17 terms

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Politico

Jill Shatzen / Congressman Frank R. Wolf:
Wolf Won't Seek Re-Election In 2014

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and The Huffington Post

Abby Livingston / Roll Call:
Frank Wolf Will Not Seek Re-Election (Updated)

Discussion: Post Politics, Daily Kos, The Rothenberg Political … and Rothenblog

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

After Ruling Critical of N.S.A., Uncertain Terrain for Appeal — WASHINGTON — As Judge Richard J. Leon heard arguments last month in a challenge to a National Security Agency program, he said only one thing was certain. — “I'm not sure how I'm going to come out,” he said, “but I know it's going upstairs.”

Discussion: ACS Blog, The Volokh Conspiracy and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Emily Bazelon / Slate:
Snap Out of It — If this judge doesn't buy the legal basis …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Atlantic Online, American Prospect, Hit & Run, Western Free Press, New York Times, The Dish, Politico, BillMoyers.com, The Volokh Conspiracy and Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:
A Powerful Rebuke of Mass Surveillance

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, NYT Bits, Vox Popoli, No More Mister Nice Blog, Poynter, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather, Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire, Firedoglake and Freedom Outpost

Rep. Jim Matheson / Facebook:

When I launched my first campaign in 1999, I knew that the arc of my public service would have many chapters. It has been a tremendous privilege to serve the people of Utah during my time in the United States House of Representatives, but my time in the House should not be the sum total of my service.

Discussion: Hot Air, Post Politics, Roll Call, Power Line, The Rothenberg Political …, Rothenblog, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard, First Read, The Lonely Conservative and The Gateway Pundit

Sherry Jacobson / Dallas Morning News:

Texas congressmen take aim at Affordable Care Act's navigators — Dozens of Obamacare supporters attended Monday's congressional hearing at the Eisemann Center in Richardson. Luis Veloz, 20, of Dallas told the crowd that he and his family do not have health insurance.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Mediaite and NewsBusters

Steve Benen / msnbc.com:
Issa's road trip reaches Texas

Discussion: Daily Kos and Dallas Morning News

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Issa To Texas Health Official: ‘You Need To Watch More Fox News’

Discussion: Daily Kos, Paul Krugman and Dallas Morning News

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

White House to tap Microsoft exec to fix HealthCare.gov — The White House is tapping the private sector for its next point man to oversee the troubled Obamacare website. — The administration is set to announce that Kurt DelBene, a former executive at Microsoft, will succeed Jeff Zients …

Discussion: Twitchy, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, TheBlaze.com, Mediaite, Ed Driscoll, CNN and Gigaom

Kathleen Sebelius / HHS.gov:
Former Microsoft Executive Kurt DelBene To Replace Jeff Zients

Discussion: CNN, Wonkblog, The Verge, Business Insider, “The Lid”, Post Politics and Talking Points Memo

Kckatzman / CBS Boston:

Harvard Student Charged In Bomb Hoax — BOSTON (CBS) — A Harvard student has been charged in connection with Monday's bomb threats which shut down four Harvard buildings and canceled finals for many students. — The U.S. Attorney's office says Eldo Kim, 20, of Cambridge …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Gawker, Business Insider and The Gateway Pundit

David Martosko / Daily Mail:

Obama ‘hijacks’ tech executive meeting to make ‘PR pitch’ on Obamacare website fix instead of dealing with NSA surveillance — The White House telegraphed in advance that the president wanted to talk up his efforts to fix healthcare.gov, but no one in the room was interested

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler and AMERICAN DIGEST

Jorge Saenz / Associated Press:

Francis Dumps U.S. Cardinal Who Is Outspoken Critic Of Abortion, Gay Marriage — ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pope Francis announced changes in the influential Vatican office that evaluates and nominates candidates for bishop around the world. — Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington was appointed Monday to the Congregation for Bishops.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Occupy DemocratsOccupy … and Booman Tribune

New York Times:
Pope Replaces Conservative U.S. Cardinal on Influential Vatican Committee

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Los Angeles Times, NBCNews, National Review, The Dish, Liberaland and Mediaite

KASW-TV:

Brewer weighs in on ‘white’ Santa controversy — PHOENIX — Governor Jan Brewer got caught up in the controversy surrounding the ethnicity of Santa Claus on Tuesday. — Watch the video above to hear her response when asked by 3TV Political Editor Dennis Welch if she believes Santa Clause is white.

Discussion: Politico and Talking Points Memo

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
Bill O'Reilly: Megyn Kelly right about Santa

Discussion: The Week, The Raw Story and Global Grind

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Exclusive: Inside Steve Stockman's Disgusting, Condemned Campaign Office (PHOTOS) — Those looking for dirt on Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) need look no further. TPM has obtained photographs taken by the local officials who recently shut down Stockman's campaign office in Webster, Texas.

Discussion: Mediaite

S.A. Miller / New York Post:

Duck penis studies, lifecoaches for Senate staff: $30B in government spending questioned — WASHINGTON - While the White House and Congress griped this year about the pain of automatic budget cuts, the federal government still managed to spend billions of dollars on seemingly frivolous projects …

Discussion: Liberaland and Weasel Zippers

Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma:
Coburn Releases Annual Wastebook Highlighting Most Egregious Spending of 2013

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Michelle Malkin and Hot Air

Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times:

Jerry Brown, urged to run for president, won't rule out 2016 bid — Some are urging California Gov. Jerry Brown to run a fourth time for president, in part to stop the front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images / May 23, 2013) — If he weren't the nation's oldest governor …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:

‘This Is the End of the Presidency’ — Tracking the same horrible second-term path as Bush, can Obama learn from the past? — Claiming a mandate he never had, the newly reelected president foisted a bold agenda upon Congress and the public, then watched it collapse within months …

Discussion: The Dish, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, ABC News and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

Edward Snowden / folha.uol.com.br:

An Open Letter to the People of Brazil — Atualizado em 17/12/2013 às 08h11. — Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government's National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist's camera. — Espionage Whistleblower Edward Snowden to Seek Asylum in Brazil

Discussion: Guardian, Associated Press, New York Times, Techdirt, The Hinterland Gazette, Mashable, BuzzFeed, WorldViews, Firedoglake, USA Today, Gawker, The PJ Tatler, Business Insider, World News, KTOO, Little Green Footballs and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

kff.org:

The Impact of the Coverage Gap in States not Expanding Medicaid by Race and Ethnicity — One of the major vehicles in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to increase health insurance coverage is an expansion of Medicaid to adults with incomes at or below 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL).

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The Morning Plum: The consequences of GOP opposition to Obamacare

Discussion: kff.org, Weasel Zippers, Talking Points Memo, The Lonely Conservative and Prairie Weather

Bloomberg:

Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion — Sheldon Adelson makes no secret of his disdain for the estate tax. — “How many times do you have to pay taxes on money?” the casino magnate asks, leaning on a blue cane on the cobblestones of Wall Street on a crisp October morning.

Discussion: Gawker, The Raw Story and ThinkProgress

Wesley Pruden / Washington Times:

The global warming scam that will not die — We were all supposed to be dead by now, fried to a toasty potatolike chip. Or doomed to die with the polar bears. It was to be a soggy end for the most beautiful planet in the cosmos and for all the passengers riding on it.