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12:15 PM ET, January 23, 2014

Top Items:

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Watchdog Report Says N.S.A. Program Is Illegal and Should End — WASHINGTON — An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency's program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only “minimal” benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut down.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hit & Run, Hullabaloo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, Right Wing News, Engadget, Boing Boing, Washington Post and Balloon Juice

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Independent review board says NSA phone data program is illegal and should end — An independent executive branch board has concluded that the National Security Agency's long-running program to collect billions of Americans' phone records is illegal and should end.

Discussion: Mashable, Guardian, emptywheel and The Verge

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Mark Herring explains gay marriage shift — New Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring says his decision to challenge his state's ban on gay marriage, rather than defend it on behalf of the state, is part of an evolution in his views on the subject. — Herring announced his decision to side …

Discussion: CNN, The Agonist, Mediaite and Towleroad News #gay

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Virginia to fight same-sex marriage ban — Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring will announce Thursday that he believes the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that Virginia will join two same-sex couples in asking a federal court to strike it down …

Discussion: The Fix, BillMoyers.com, Washington Blade, Taegan Goddard's … and NBCNews

Eyder Peralta / NPR:

Virginia's New Attorney General Will Not Defend Gay-Marriage Ban … Virginia's new attorney general has decided to switch sides in an important case that is challenging the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage. — In an interview with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press, The Dish, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Guardian and The Reaction

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Schumer seeks to poison Tea Party — Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the Senate Democrats' political guru, has a plan to poison the Tea Party by driving a wedge between its rich funders and its blue-collar rank and file. — Schumer, one of the Democrats' most influential strategists …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The Plum Line, Hot Air, Eschaton and Taegan Goddard's …

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:
Cochran's Tea Party challenger raises $500K in 10 weeks

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Clarion-Ledger Blogs

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

Biggest Liberal ‘Super PAC’ to Fund Possible Clinton Bid — The largest liberal “super PAC” in the country has begun raising money to elect Hillary Rodham Clinton president, formally aligning itself with Mrs. Clinton's undeclared presidential ambitions more than two years away from the election.

Discussion: Liberaland and Balloon Juice

James A. Barnes / The Atlantic Online:

Can Anyone Stop Hillary? Absolutely — Time magazine's cover this week asks, “Can Anyone Stop Hillary?” The answer to that question is yes, but you'd never know it judging by the overwhelming belief among Democratic insiders that the party's 2016 presidential nomination is simply Hillary Clinton's for the asking.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Kristen Soltis Anderson / The Daily Beast: It's 1,000 Days Too Early to Talk Hillary vs. Christie for President

MiamiHerald.com:

Justin Bieber arrested in Miami Beach over DUI, drag-racing — After allegedly smoking pot all day, drinking beer and popping anti-depressants, bad-boy pop star Justin Bieber went on a wild pre-dawn drag race in Miami Beach that landed him in jail Thursday morning, police said.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Riptide 2.0, New Jersey Online, Radio.com News, USA Today and Hinterland Gazette

Alan Duke / CNN:
Justin Bieber arrested on drunken driving, resisting arrest charges

Discussion: KFOR-TV, Taylor Marsh and Gawker

TMZ.com:
Drag Racing and Resisting Arrest

Discussion: Gawker, The Daily Caller, Fox News Insider, Riptide 2.0, Hinterland Gazette, Independent Journal Review and The Other McCain

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

The Heritage Foundation Might Be Shedding Some Of Its Crazy Soon — 2013 wasn't exactly been a banner year for the Heritage Foundation, Washington's most well-known and influential conservative think tank. — In its first year under former senator and tea party godfather Jim DeMint …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Moderate Voice

New York Times:

Leaning Right in Hollywood, Under a Lens — LOS ANGELES — In a famously left-leaning Hollywood, where Democratic fund-raisers fill the social calendar, Friends of Abe stands out as a conservative group that bucks the prevailing political winds. — A collection of perhaps 1,500 right-leaning players …

Gregory N. Hicks / Wall Street Journal:

Gregory Hicks: Benghazi and the Smearing of Chris Stevens — Shifting blame to our dead ambassador is wrong on the facts. I know—I was there. — Last week the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence issued its report on the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Betsy's Page and Patterico's Pontifications

The Hill:

Obama State of the Union to focus on income inequality — President Obama will try to pump some vitality into a lackluster second term on Tuesday when he delivers his State of the Union address. — The address will include a “healthy dose” of the income inequality message the White House …

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Backstage SOTU peek on Instagram

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and White House.gov Blog

ThinkProgress:

Shell's Arctic Offshore Drilling Ambitions Stymied In Appeals Court — Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island. — CREDIT: U.S. Coast Guard — Shell's ambitions to drill for oil off the coast of Alaska received another blow Wednesday …

Discussion: Audubon

Steve Quinn / Reuters: U.S. appeals court throws Arctic drilling into further doubt

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

GOP House Candidate Says God Created Autism, Dementia And Tornadoes To Punish Gays — An Illinois Republican running for Congress believes God unleashed debilitating disorders and destructive natural disorders because he is so upset with the growing support for same-sex rights marriage.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Daily Herald, Towleroad News #gay and Taegan Goddard's …

William K. Rashbaum / New York Times:

Hoboken Mayor Is Said to Have Told of Threat — Federal authorities in New Jersey have interviewed several witnesses who said the mayor of Hoboken told them in May about a state official's threat to withhold hurricane recovery funds if the mayor did not support a development project favored by the governor …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Cotton outraises Pryor in 4th quarter — Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has edged Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) in his fourth-quarter fundraising totals, bringing in $1.2 million to Pryor's $1.1 million. — Pryor has more money in the bank, with $4.2 million to Cotton's $2.2 million.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

ThinkProgress:

Congressman: ‘The Wife Is To Voluntarily Submit’ To Her Husband — Republican lawmakers can't seem to stop offending women, in spite of the GOP's stated goal to attract women voters. Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) explains in his recent memoir that it is the wife's role to “voluntarily submit …

Discussion: Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo and Althouse

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Poll Shows Most Republicans Think People Are Poor Because They Don't Work Hard Enough — Whether you're rich or poor, Republicans believe that's on you. — New findings released Thursday by Pew showed that most Republicans think rich people are largely responsible for their socioeconomic status.

Discussion: susiemadrak.com

Nick Swartsell / Trail Blazers Blog:

Hannity to attend State of the Union with Rep. Gohmert, may run for office in Texas — Sean Hannity on Fox News, Jan. 21, 2014 — WASHINGTON — The guest list for President Obama's upcoming State of the Union address just got more interesting. — Yesterday, Sean Hannity said he'd be attending as a guest of Rep. Louie Gohmert.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Fox News Insider, BOR and The Gateway Pundit

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Antiabortion movement faces a cold reality — James Dobson's Focus on the Family asked Christians to pray for rain to fall on Barack Obama in 2008 when he accepted the presidential nomination. Various religious conservatives have said that hurricanes, earthquakes and other meteorological phenomena …

Discussion: Hot Air, She The People, American Spectator and The Heritage Foundation

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Upward Mobility Has Not Declined, Study Says — The odds of moving up — or down — the income ladder in the United States have not changed appreciably in the last 20 years, according to a large new academic study that contradicts politicians in both parties who have claimed that income mobility is falling.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Washington Post, Hit & Run and The Heritage Foundation

USA Today:

Poll: United we stand on wealth gap — INCOME INEQUALITY AND THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE — A USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll explores attitudes toward income inequality and poverty in the United States. — RICH GETTING RICHER? HOW AMERICA WORKS GOVERNMENT ROLE — POVERTY — RICH VS. POOR

Discussion: Pew Research Center …

Jerusalem Post:

‘US perceives Israel as encouraging anti-Obama backlash among Jews’ — Israeli diplomats tell Israel Radio: Netanyahu government seen by Obama, Kerry as encouraging US Jewish leaders to criticize White House. — A US official close to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Israel Matzav