memeorandum: Kerry says U.S. will help Iraq against al-Qaeda but won't send troops back in (Washington Post)

3:45 PM ET, January 6, 2014

Top Items:

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Court stops Utah gay marriages (UPDATED) — UPDATE 1:16 p.m. State officials said on Monday that they are evaluating the legal fate of Utah same-sex couples who already have been married. A total of 950 marriage licenses have been issued in the state to gay and lesbian couples …

Discussion: Power Line, ABC News, National Review, The Week, Washington Post, Law Blog, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, The Right Scoop, The Volokh Conspiracy and Althouse

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Justices Block Gay Marriage in Utah During Appeal of Case — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday blocked further same-sex marriages in Utah while state officials appeal a decision allowing such unions. — The terse order, from the full court, issued a stay “pending final disposition” …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Liberaland, AMERICAblog News, Outside the Beltway, BillMoyers.com, The Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:

No Surprise: Supreme Court Stays Utah Gay Marriage Ruling: What It Means — As I've been predicting, the Supreme Court unanimously put the Utah same sex marriage ruling on hold this morning, pending disposition of the issue in the Tenth Circuit. — This is no surprise.

Discussion: ABC News, Law Blog and BuzzFeed

Irin Carmon / msnbc.com:
Court reviews Texas abortion restrictions

Discussion: Al Jazeera America and Daily Kos

Floyd Abrams / Wall Street Journal:
Abortion Rights as a Free-Speech Flashpoint

Discussion: Law Blog and The Volokh Conspiracy

Linda Greenhouse / New York Times: Crack Cocaine Limbo

Salt Lake Tribune:
Supreme Court halts gay marriage in Utah

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Hot Air

CNN:

First on CNN: Liz Cheney to abandon Senate bid — New York (CNN) — Liz Cheney, whose upstart bid to unseat Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi sparked a round of warfare in the Republican Party and even within her own family, is dropping out of the Senate primary, sources told CNN late Sunday.

Politico:

Liz Cheney: ‘I have decided to discontinue my campaign’ — Liz Cheney is ending her campaign for Senate in Wyoming, the Republican announced in a statement early Monday morning. — Citing health concerns in her family, Cheney said the issues arising prompted her to end her GOP primary challenge to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, American Prospect, Esquire, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly, The Raw Story, Washington Wire and Casper Star-Tribune

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Liz Cheney Quits Wyoming Senate Race

Discussion: Politico, Advocate, OpenSecrets.org, Daily Kos, The Week and First Read

Fox News:
Liz Cheney dropping out of Wyoming Senate race

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, PennLive.com, Taylor Marsh and Sister Toldjah

Jeff Zeleny / ABC News:
Liz Cheney Abandons Uphill Fight in Wyoming Senate Race, Citing Family Health Problems

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

The Agony of Frank Luntz — Frank Luntz does not want the buffet. We are on the top floor of the Capitol Hill Club, the members-only Republican hangout a block from the Capitol, where a meaty smell is emanating from steam trays. Today's main course is ham, and Luntz shakes his head.

Discussion: ABC News, neo-neocon, The Impolitic, Booman Tribune, Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, Talking Points Memo and Roger Ailes

Eliana Johnson / National Review:

Rachel's Show — MSNBC, the left-leaning cable-news network, has settled on one solution to its recent problems. It now has an executive reviewing scripts before they go on the air. The role, which has fallen to Rich Stockwell, a former executive producer of The Ed Show and Countdown …

Discussion: NewsBusters, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Ed Driscoll, LifeNews.com, Taylor Marsh, The Hugh Hewitt Show, TVNewser, Washington Free Beacon, TheBlaze.com and alicublog, more at Mediagazer »

Ron Johnson / Wall Street Journal:

I'm Suing Over ObamaCare Exemptions for Congress — If the president wants to change the health-care law, he must ask Congress to do it. — On Monday, Jan. 6, I am filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to make Congress live by the letter of the health-care law it imposed on the rest of America.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Plum Line, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, Liberaland, CNN, Business Insider, The PJ Tatler, The World's Greatest …, Right Wing News, Sister Toldjah, Betsy's Page, CBS DC, American Spectator, National Review, The Volokh Conspiracy and VodkaPundit

Sam Baker / NationalJournal.com:

Obamacare Can't Fail ... ... because the White House won't stop watering down its definition of success. — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has moved the goalposts on the Obamacare playing field. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) — The standard of success for the Affordable Care Act keeps getting weaker.

Bernie Becker / The Hill:
Johnson to sue over O-Care contributions

Discussion: thenorthwestern.com and National Review

Brittany Foster / PoliticsPA:

Breaking: Rep. Gerlach Will Not Seek Reelection — PA-6 Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-Chester) will not seek reelection in 2014. — “Nearing the end of my sixth term in the House and following 12 years of public service in the Pennsylvania House and Senate, it is simply time for me to move …

Discussion: Roll Call, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Taegan Goddard's … and NBCNews

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
GOP's Jim Gerlach not running in 2014

Discussion: CNN

Max Boot / Wall Street Journal:

How Al Qaeda Terrorized Its Way Back in Iraq — As the country edges closer to civil war, much of the blame goes to Prime Minister Maliki—and the White House.

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Instapundit

Washington Post:
Kerry says U.S. will help Iraq against al-Qaeda but won't send troops back in

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Lawfare, Hot Air, First Read, Guardian and New York Times

Daniel Byman / Lawfare:
The Foreign Policy Essay: “2013 - The Year We Lost Iraq?”

Discussion: The Dish

United States Senator John McCain:
McCAIN & GRAHAM ON REPORTED AL-QAEDA TAKEOVER IN FALLUJAH, IRAQ

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Guardian and First Read

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

How Obamacare Actually Paves the Way Toward Single Payer — Last week the liberal documentary-maker Michael Moore prompted indigestion across the progressive wonk community by pronouncing Obamacare “awful.” In a New York Times op-ed, he bemoaned the way the president's law preserved …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Questions and Observations and National Review

Eric Holthaus / Quartz:

How global warming can make cold snaps even worse — The cold air pushing toward America's heartland is of a duration and magnitude rarely seen since record-keeping began in the 1870s. In Minneapolis, forecasters warned that all-time wind chill records could be broken, with a stunning -65ºF predicted for Monday morning.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Wonkblog, Weasel Zippers, Pirate's Cove, Real Science and Climate Depot

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

HILLARY CLINTON'S SHADOW CAMPAIGN — Early last summer in her Georgian-style home near Washington's Embassy Row, Hillary Clinton met with a handful of aides for a detailed presentation on preparing for a 2016 presidential campaign. — Three officials from the Democratic consulting firm …

Discussion: TIME, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Yahoo! News, Taylor Marsh, CNN, The Week and TalkLeft

James M. Odato / Albany Times Union:

Ready ... aim ... point ... talk — Handgun used as laser pointer by state official reportedly rattles foreign delegates — Jerome M. Hauer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's director of homeland security, took out his handgun and used the laser sighting device attached to the barrel as a pointer …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Gawker and The Raw Story

Michael Wolff / USA Today:

The unbeatable Roger Ailes — The Fox News chief continues to crush his cable news competitors. — Why would you work in the cable news business? Does anybody look their best in cable news? The people in front of the camera look extreme, demented, desperate or vapid.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, TVNewser, Capital New York and TheBlaze.com, more at Mediagazer »

Sam Webb / Daily Mail:

Feeling glum? Well it is Blue Monday: Rain, debt and divorce make it worst day of the year — You've finished all the mince pies, the weather is terrible, Christmas ended up being horribly expensive and most of us are back to the daily grind. — So it wouldn't come as a surprise if you had started to feel down in the dumps.

Discussion: Gothamist, The Daily Caller and The PJ Tatler