memeorandum: Mia Love Is Clear Front-Runner for Matheson Seat (Kyle Trygstad/Roll Call)

9:00 AM ET, December 19, 2013

Top Items:

'Duck Dynasty's' Phil Robertson on Indefinite Hiatus Following Anti-Gay Remarks — UPDATED: The news comes after the reality star compared being gay to bestiality, drawing ire from LGBT groups including GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign. — Phil Robertson

Discussion: BizPac Review, Scared Monkeys, Vox Popoli, The Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, Inside TV, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Drew Magary / GQ Magazine Online:

What the Duck? — How in the world did a family of squirrel-eating, Bible-thumping, catchphrase-spouting duck hunters become the biggest TV stars in America? And what will they do now that they have 14 million fervent disciples? Our Drew Magary toured the Louisiana backwater with Phil Robertson and the Duck Dynasty gang to find out

Tal Kopan / Reuters:

Sarah Palin defends Duck Dynasty star — Sarah Palin says the suspension of one of the stars of the show “Duck Dynasty” over recent anti-gay comments he made is an attack on free speech. — Palin re-posted a picture of her meeting with the stars of the A&E show on her Facebook page Wednesday night …

Discussion: Liberaland

Rossmurray / GLAAD:

Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson uses vile stereotypes to tell GQ his thoughts on LGBT people — The Robertsons, the family whose duck hunting products have made them a fortune, are breakout stars featured in A&E's Duck Dynasty. GQ Magazine's profile of Phil Robertson included some of the vilest …

Discussion: Good As You, CBS Houston, ABC News, Equality Matters, Towleroad News #gay, Back2Stonewall and The Gateway Pundit

Politico:

W.H. to nominate Sen. Max Baucus as next ambassador to China — Sen. Max Baucus, the veteran Montana Democrat who has served in the Senate since 1978, is expected to be nominated by the White House to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to China, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: AEIdeas, Business Insider, Real Clear Politics, Daily Kos and CNN

The Hill:
Baucus chosen for ambassador to China

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Baucus, Conflicted Architect of Health Overhaul, Is Obama's Pick for China

Discussion: Post Politics, The Fix, Josh Blackman's Blog, CNN and The Reaction

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Report: White House To Tap Max Baucus As Ambassador To China

Discussion: Business Insider

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Barack Obama's NSA fine-print problem — An independent panel's call for major changes to the nation's surveillance programs ups the pressure on President Barack Obama to back serious reforms. — But the big changes the committee is calling for may be less vexing for Obama than one painful …

Discussion: Hot Air

Dana Davidsen / CNN:
Rand Paul: Intelligence director should resign

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Politico

Josh Gerstein / Politico: NSA spying report released

Washington Post:
Tech executives to Obama: NSA spying revelations are hurting business

Discussion: emptywheel, The Verge, New York Magazine and New York Times

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Chris Christie dresses down ‘Pajama boy’ — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie co-opted the lampooned “Pajama Boy” image promoting Obamacare in order to send his own message about volunteering. — Christie tweeted a parody of the image Wednesday featuring him volunteering in an apron with a dig at the group.

Discussion: CNN

Rich Lowry / Politico:

Pajama Boy, An Insufferable Man-Child — He is the face of a web ad that is the latest effort by the Obama team to leverage the holidays for conversation about Obamacare. “Wear pajamas,” the ad reads. “Drink hot chocolate. Talk about getting health insurance. #GetTalking.”

Discussion: Betsy's Page, alicublog, Washington Free Beacon, Twitchy and The Federalist

Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:
Twitter gold! The Obama #PajamaBoy selfie and other must-see mash-ups and memes [Photoshops]

Discussion: Post Politics

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Biden ‘dead meat’ in Iowa, governor says — Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden, widely assumed to be plotting a third presidential bid in 2016, shouldn't bother booking any flights to Des Moines, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said. — “Biden is dead meat out here,” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Politico

Peter Hamby / CNN:
In Iowa, Schweitzer takes aim at Clinton's Iraq vote

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

New York Times:

Uninsured Skeptical of Health Care Law in Poll — WASHINGTON — Americans who lack medical coverage disapprove of President Obama's health care law at roughly the same rate as the insured, even though most say they struggle to pay for basic care, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Discussion: Pirate's Cove, naked capitalism, Democratic Strategist, Weasel Zippers, Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire and Marginal Revolution

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Rep. Jack Kingston Proposes That Poor Students Sweep Floors In Exchange For Lunch — WASHINGTON — Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) wants kids to learn early in life that there's no such thing as a free lunch. To make sure they absorb that lesson, he's proposing that low-income children …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

David / crooksandliars.com/user/7:
Rep. Kingston: We Will ‘gain As A Society’ By Forcing Hungry Kids To Sweep Floors To Eat

Discussion: Liberaland

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Obama's extreme use of executive discretion — “To contend that the obligation imposed on the president to see the laws faithfully executed implies a power to forbid their execution is a novel construction of the Constitution, and is entirely inadmissible.” — U.S. Supreme Court, 1838

Discussion: Power Line

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The GOP Repeal Trap

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Fix and Washington Monthly

Lauren Effron / ABC News:

Hillary Clinton on 2016 Presidential Run: I'll ‘Make That Decision Sometime Next Year’ … Hillary Clinton is Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating Person of 2013. — Although speculation and rumors have been swirling for months over whether Clinton will make another run for the White House in 2016, she said she hasn't decided yet.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Wire, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Taylor Marsh

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Record High in U.S. Say Big Government Greatest Threat — Now 72% say it is greater threat than big business or big labor — PRINCETON, NJ — Seventy-two percent of Americans say big government is a greater threat to the U.S. in the future than is big business or big labor …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Week, GraniteGrok, ParaPundit, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Reuters, Weasel Zippers, Hit & Run, The PJ Tatler, No More Mister Nice Blog and American Power

Andy Newman / New York Times:

Al Goldstein, Pioneering Pornographer, Dies at 77 — Al Goldstein, the scabrous publisher whose Screw magazine pushed hard-core pornography into the cultural mainstream, died early Thursday in Brooklyn. He was 77. — The cause was believed to be renal failure, said his lawyer, Charles C. DeStefano.

Discussion: Liberaland and Althouse

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

Harry Reid: Redskins should change name — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that the Washington Redskins should change their name. — In an interview with The Hill, Reid said, “I think [Washington Redskins owner Dan] Snyder is so short-sighted on this.”

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

In probe of Va. Gov. McDonnell, prosecutors agreed to delay decision on charges — View Photo Gallery — McDonnell's time in office comes to a close: Gov. Robert F. McDonnell was supposed to be in the thick of the race to succeed him. Instead, the Republican found himself relegated …

Discussion: Politico

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

If Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Replaced By A Republican, Here Is What Happens To The Law — At a forum in Reston, Virginia on Tuesday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg threw her most recent bucket of cold water on Courtwatchers urging her to retire while President Obama is still in the White House.

Discussion: Liberaland

Fox News:

Non-citizens caught voting in 2012 presidential election in key swing state — Oct. 2, 2012: Voters cast their ballots at a Franklin County polling location on the first day of in-person absentee voting in Columbus, Ohio.Reuters — Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced Wednesday …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Los Angeles Times and The PJ Tatler

James Hohmann / Politico:

Wyoming Senate race 2014: Liz Cheney husband Phil Perry on vote rolls in 2 states — Liz Cheney's husband has been registered to vote in both Virginia and Wyoming for the past nine months, even though he signed a document in Wyoming saying he was not registered elsewhere.

Discussion: Liberaland