memeorandum: Melissa Harris-Perry and the Contrition Complex (Jelani Cobb/News Desk)

11:15 AM ET, January 8, 2014

Top Items:

Emails link top Christie aide to GWB lane-closing controversy — Private messages between Governor's Christie's deputy chief of staff and two of his top executives at the Port Authority reveal a vindictive effort to create “traffic problems in Fort Lee” by shutting lanes to the George Washington Bridge …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, National Review, Business Insider, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog, First Read, Mediaite, Riehl World News, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

Bob Woodward / Washington Post:

Robert Gates, former defense secretary, offers harsh critique of Obama's leadership in ‘Duty’ — In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama's leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 …

Robert M. Gates / Wall Street Journal:

The Quiet Fury of Robert Gates — Bush and Obama's secretary of defense had to wage war in Iraq, Afghanistan—and today's Washington … All too often during my 4½ years as secretary of defense, when I found myself sitting yet again at that witness table at yet another congressional hearing …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Wire, The Gateway Pundit, BillMoyers.com, Weasel Zippers, Althouse and CNN

Thom Shanker / New York Times:

In His New Memoir, Robert M. Gates, the Former Defense Secretary, Offers a Critique of the President — WASHINGTON — President Obama eventually lost faith in the troop increase he ordered in Afghanistan, his doubts fed by top White House civilian advisers opposed to the strategy …

Kristina Wong / The Hill:
White House rejects criticisms in Gates' memoir

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Obama Quit In Afghanistan

Discussion: Post Politics, The Fix and Weasel Zippers

Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
Book review: ‘Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War’ by Robert M. Gates

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Daily Caller and NO QUARTER USA NET

TIME:
Gates Slams Biden in Memoir, Reveals He Nearly Quit

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Post Politics, Power Line, Hot Air and Balloon Juice

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Record-High 42% of Americans Identify as Independents — Republican identification lowest in at least 25 years — PRINCETON, NJ — Forty-two percent of Americans, on average, identified as political independents in 2013, the highest Gallup has measured since it began conducting interviews by telephone 25 years ago.

Discussion: ABC News, Hit & Run, Business Insider, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Real Clear Politics, CBS DC and Politico

Ruth Rosen / In These Times:

Republicans (Still) Have a ‘Female Problem’ — Now that it's 2014, American political analysts, strategists, and operatives are revving up for the November midterm elections. High on the Republican agenda is the goal of convincing women to counter President Obama and vote for their congressional and gubernatorial candidates.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Robert Costa / Post Politics:

House GOP leaders coach rank-and-file on discussing unemployment — House Republican leaders sent a memo this week to the entire GOP conference with talking points designed to help rank-and-file Republicans show compassion for the unemployed and explain the Republican position on unemployment benefits.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Booman Tribune, Hot Air, Mediaite, The Plum Line and The Fix

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Memo Coaches Members To Show Empathy Toward Unemployed

Discussion: New York Magazine and Liberaland

Patricia Murphy / The Daily Beast:
The Senate's Last Compassionate Conservative Tries to Help the Jobless

Discussion: NewsBusters

Washington Post:
Senate moves ahead with measure to extend long-term unemployment benefits

Discussion: The Plum Line, News Desk, The World's Greatest …, The Fix, Balloon Juice, Speaker.gov, Wonkblog and New York Times

Gabrielle Giffords / New York Times:

The Lessons of Physical Therapy — TODAY, the anniversary of the shooting in Tucson that put a bullet through my head and killed six of my constituents, is when I make my annual resolutions. — Many may look at me and see mostly what I have lost. I struggle to speak, my eyesight's not great …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and Guardian

Meena Duerson / Today:

TODAY exclusive: Gabby Giffords will sky-dive to mark shooting anniversary — Gabby Giffords will achieve an important milestone on her road to recovery this week, sky-diving to mark three years since the Tucson, Ariz. shooting that injured her. — “Today, Gabby Giffords is going to do something …

Discussion: Liberaland and Mashable

New York Times:

Biography Casts Critical Light on Fox News Chief — Roger Ailes was so eager to influence national politics that in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, he told fellow Fox News executives point-blank: “I want to elect the next president.” — In the corporate thicket of News Corporation …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Random House, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Yahoo! News, Riehl World News, Capital New York, The Raw Story, Business Insider and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

Mey / Autostraddle:

Flawless Trans Women Carmen Carrera and Laverne Cox Respond Flawlessly To Katie Couric's Invasive Questions — On Monday, transgender model Carmen Carrera and Orange is the New Black actress Laverne Cox made a daytime TV talk show appearance on the ABC show Katie hosted by Katie Couric.

Discussion: NewsBusters and Towleroad News #gay

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

Drama roils race to replace Rep. Bill Young — The GOP race to replace the late Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) has become a political soap opera that could jeopardize Republicans' hold on the seat. — It has all the makings of a daytime drama: a widow disavowing her son due to opposing primary allegiances …

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

RNC spends little on ObamaCare attacks — Republicans aren't yet willing to put their money where their mouths are on ObamaCare attacks, it seems. — The Republican National Committee backed its new New Year's-themed radio ads with as little as $15 dollars in some districts.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Anchorage Daily News

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:
At Democrats' Request, Even Mike Bloomberg Is Giving up on Gun Control

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air and Politico

Matt Daily / Politico:

Polar freeze: It's weather, not climate — Tuesday's polar vortex has set off a new round in one of the world's most predictable disputes: Does Extreme Weather Event X prove or disprove climate change? — In short: No. — The crazy weather that plunged almost all of the U.S …

Discussion: ncdc.noaa.gov, Weasel Zippers, Guardian, Climate Central and American Spectator

Catherine Taibi / The Huffington Post:
Rush Limbaugh's Polar Vortex ‘Hoax’ Comments Knocked Down By Weatherman (VIDEO)

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Right Scoop and Riehl World News

Adam Goldman / Washington Post:

Former Guantanamo detainee implicated in Benghazi attack — U.S. officials suspect that a former Guantanamo Bay detainee played a role in the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, and are planning to designate the group he leads as a foreign terrorist organization …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Jihad Watch, National Review, Power Line, Hot Air, CANNONFIRE, Business Insider and Weasel Zippers

Keith Edwards / Portland Press-Herald:

LePage says children should have work option — Not allowing children to work is ‘causing damage to our economy,’ the governor says. — AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage told attendees of the 73rd annual Maine Agricultural Trades Show on Tuesday that 12-year-olds should be allowed to work in Maine.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Robert Rector / Wall Street Journal:

Robert Rector: How the War on Poverty Was Lost — Fifty years and $20 trillion later, LBJ's goal to help the poor become self-supporting has failed.