memeorandum: 10th Circuit Court denies Utah's Emergency Motion for Temporary Stay (Mark Green/FOX13Now.com)

6:10 AM ET, December 23, 2013

Top Items:

EXCLUSIVE - Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson breaks his silence: Reality show star says he's ‘a lover not a hater’ but REFUSES to back down from anti-gay comments — Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson is sticking by controversial comments he made about homosexuality to GQ magazine

Discussion: Liberaland, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, Vox Popoli, Deadline.com and Mediaite

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:

The duck and jackass dynasty — Not the biggest jackass in the story. — I got the gist of the “Duck Dynasty” thing after my first and only viewing: bunch of rural jackasses who somehow struck it rich get brought into our living rooms to be laughed at by the rest of us aristocrats. — Well, all right.

Discussion: Spectator, NY Daily News, Sociological Images, Box Turtle Bulletin, Patterico's Pontifications, Booman Tribune, Daily Mail and ThinkProgress

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Appeals Court Denies Utah Officials' Request For Emergency Halt To Same-Sex Couples' Marriages — Although the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the emergency request, the trial court in the Utah marriage case is due to hear arguments Monday on the state's request to stop marriages during the appeal of the case.

Discussion: Box Turtle Bulletin, Advocate and ThinkProgress

Mark Green / FOX13Now.com:

10th Circuit Court denies Utah's Emergency Motion for Temporary Stay — SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert filed seeking an Emergency Motion for Temporary Stay following a federal judge's ruling that struck down Utah's ban on same-sex marriage, and on Sunday the United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit denied the motion.

Discussion: Off the Kuff, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post and Little Green Footballs

New York Post:

Father drops toddler from high-rise, jumps to his death — A distraught dad tossed his toddler off the roof of a 52-story apartment building on the Upper West Side on Sunday, then jumped himself — killing them both, law enforcement sources said. — Dmitriy Kanarikov, 35 …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Gawker

ABC News:

Justine Sacco, Fired After Tweet on AIDS in Africa, Issues Apology — The communications director fired over a tweet evoking AIDS and race that was sent as she was headed to Africa has now apologized, saying she is “ashamed” for her insensitivity to the millions of people living with the virus.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Business Insider, Mediaite, Mashable and BREITBART.COM

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
The worst Twitter day of all time

Discussion: Althouse and Instapundit

Luke Salkeld / Daily Mail:

M&S faces boycott as it lets Muslim staff refuse to sell alcohol or pork — Furious M&S customers threatened to boycott the store last night for allowing Muslim checkout staff to refuse to serve customers who want to pay for alcohol or pork. — Managers at a London store told the workers …

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers

Sandra Yi / KSL-TV:

2 petitions created by opponents, supporters of Amendment 3 decision — OGDEN — Two online petitions with opposing views are gaining momentum after the federal judge's ruling that Utah's Amendment 3 was unconstitutional. — Hundreds of people lined up at the Weber County clerk's office today …

Washington Post:

Covert action in Colombia — U.S. intelligence, GPS bomb kits help Latin American nation cripple rebel forces — The 50-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), once considered the best-funded insurgency in the world, is at its smallest and most vulnerable state in decades …

Discussion: TalkLeft

Dana Davidsen / CNN:

Democratic senator: Obama's lack of congressional friendships hurts policy efforts — (CNN) - The President's failure to build friendships with lawmakers has damaged his chances of finding bipartisan support for legislation, a senator from his own party said Sunday.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys

Ginger Gibson / Politico:
Manchin sees gun control passage still ‘difficult’ in 2014

Discussion: Hot Air and CNN

Isaac Chotiner / The New Republic:

The Atheist's Guide to Christmas — With the Yuletide season upon us, America is once again engaged in the standard asinine debates about the holiday: Is Santa white? Is that decorated green perennial at the mall supposed to be called a “holiday treet”? If you neglect to say the word …

Discussion: Hot Air and Maggie's Farm

Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times:

Tom Steyer may be liberals' answer to the Koch brothers — The California billionaire is building a vast political network and inserting himself into elections nationwide, with a focus on fossil fuels and global warming. — Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, is spending some of his fortune …