memeorandum: Gridlock continues as unspeakably horrible commute home stretches into second day (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

1:10 PM ET, January 29, 2014

Top Items:

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Bush speechwriter: Obama plagiarized Bush — President George W. Bush's former speech writer said that President Barack Obama plagiarized his former boss in Tuesday's State of the Union address. — Speaking to Fox News's Megyn Kelly, Marc Thiessen, the lead writer on Bush's 2007 State …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BizPac Review and Mediaite

Ted Cruz / Wall Street Journal:

Ted Cruz: The Imperial Presidency of Barack Obama — In the nation's history, there is simply no precedent for an American president so wantonly ignoring federal law. — Of all the troubling aspects of the Obama presidency, none is more dangerous than the president's persistent pattern of lawlessness …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, National Review, The Mahablog, BuzzFeed and The Lead with Jake Tapper

New York Times:

Text and Video of Obama's State of the Union Address — Following is the transcript of President Obama's State of the Union address, as transcribed by the Federal News Service. — MR. OBAMA: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much.

Todd S. Purdum / Politico:

The State of the Union: Make it stop — Blame Woodrow Wilson, who broke a century-old presidential tradition of delivering the State of the Union message only in writing. Blame Harry Truman, the first chief executive to make the address on television, or Lyndon Johnson, the first to do so in prime time.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Taegan Goddard's …

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:

Good Speech, Modest Agenda, Diminished Leader — Americans may have already tuned out Barack Obama. — Is that all there is? — In what may be his last, best chance to revive a presidency that has fallen far short of its promise, Barack Obama unveiled his 2014 agenda Tuesday night …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Wire, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Washington Post:

FULL TRANSCRIPT: Obama's 2014 State of the Union address — President Obama delivered his 2014 State of the Union address on Jan. 28, 2014, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Here is the complete transcript of his remarks — PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much.

Discussion: Hit & Run, American Prospect, Women's Take, The PJ Tatler, The Fix, AEIdeas, The Gateway Pundit and ThinkProgress

Russell Berman / The Hill:

Army Ranger steals Obama's thunder — Cory Remsburg stole the show at Tuesday's State of the Union address. — President Obama's tribute to the Army Ranger severely wounded on his 10th deployment to Afghanistan brought the entire House chamber to its feet, offering a bipartisan ovation far longer …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

First Read / firstread.nbcnews.com:
First Thoughts: On the road again

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, National Review, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and NBCNews

The Huffington Post:
State Of The Union Poll Gives Obama Positive Marks

Discussion: CBS News, Gallup and Taylor Marsh

Brett M. Decker / USA Today:
Less speech, more competence: Column

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Hardened, Obama Strikes Tough Tone for Modest Agenda

Discussion: News Desk, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Fix, Washington Post, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Gawker, Mashable, The Democratic Daily and nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Three quick State of the Union observations

Discussion: National Review

Howard Fineman / The Huffington Post:
Obama's Big-Time Small Ball

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
In State of the Union 2014, President Obama Pushes for Year of Action on Economic Opportunity

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, ABC News, Yahoo! News, The Reaction and New York Times

NY1:

Rep. Grimm Threatens NY1 Reporter Following State of the Union … Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm physically threatened NY1 political reporter Michael Scotto at the conclusion of an interview in the Capitol Rotunda following Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

NY1:

Rep. Grimm Apologizes to NY1 Reporter For On-Camera Threat … Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm has apologized to NY1 political reporter Michael Scotto a day after physically threatening him at the conclusion of an interview in the Capitol Rotunda following the president's State of the Union address.

Discussion: OnPolitics and National Review

Ashley Killough / CNN:
N.Y. congressman apologizes after threatening to throw reporter off balcony

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Mediaite, Scared Monkeys, Hinterland Gazette, Mashable and Post Politics, more at Mediagazer »

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Report: Rep. Grimm Threatens Journalist After SOTU

Discussion: The Raw Story

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Mike Lee tea party response: Barack Obama at fault for inequality — Sen. Mike Lee tried to challenge the Democrats on their own turf by discussing an “inequality crisis” in his official tea party rebuttal to the State of the Union on Tuesday, while fellow tea party darling Sen. Rand Paul struck …

Discussion: CNN, Scared Monkeys and American Power

Politico:
State of the Union GOP response: Cathy McMorris Rodgers (text, video)

Discussion: The Hill, Guardian, Taylor Marsh, Religion Dispatches, CNN, The Gateway Pundit and American Power

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
ANALYSIS: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers comes through for GOP in SOTU response

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Hot Air

Niels Lesniewski / The World's Greatest …:

Graham Says World ‘Literally About to Blow Up’ — After praising President Barack Obama on immigration, South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham blasted the foreign policy portion of the State of the Union speech. — “The world is literally about to blow up,” Graham said, saying he completely disagrees with Obama on Iran policy.

Discussion: Liberaland, Mediaite, Taegan Goddard's … and The Raw Story

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo: Lindsey Graham Says ‘The World Is Literally About To Blow Up’

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Why Kerry Is Scary — TEL AVIV — It is pretty clear now that Secretary of State John Kerry will either be Israel's diplomatic salvation or the most dangerous diplomatic fanatic Israel has ever encountered. But there isn't much room anymore for anything in between.

Discussion: Guardian, Mondoweiss and Israel Matzav

Politico:

GOP ready to surrender on debt ceiling — House Republicans are getting ready to surrender: There will be no serious fight over the debt limit. — The most senior figures in the House Republican Conference are privately acknowledging that they will almost certainly have to pass what's called …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Business Insider, americanthinker.com, The Plum Line and First Read

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

House Dems enter legal fray over ObamaCare birth-control mandate — Scores of House Democrats entered the legal fight over ObamaCare's birth-control mandate Tuesday, filing an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in defense of the contentious coverage requirement.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The World's Greatest …

Becket Fund:
Hobby Lobby Supreme Court Amicus Briefs

Discussion: National Review, LifeNews.com, Ted Cruz, The Heritage Foundation, CitizenLink and The Greenroom

New York Times:

For Christie, Politics Team Kept a Focus on Two Races — His campaign called them “the Top 100,” the swing towns that Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey wanted to win as he prepared for a re-election campaign. Capturing these towns, sometimes referred to as mini-Ohios or mini-Floridas …

Discussion: susiemadrak.com and The Dish

Richard Alleyne / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Obama's high school pot dealer who he thanked for the ‘good times’ was beaten to death with a hammer by his gay lover after fights over flatulence and drugs — Raymond Boyer was known as ‘Gay Ray’ to Obama and his marijuana smoking ‘Choom Gang’ of privately-educated kids at Hawaiian high school

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler and VodkaPundit

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Steve Stockman Says He Walked Out Of SOTU — Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) couldn't bear to watch President Barack Obama promise to abuse his constitutional powers, his office said, so Tuesday night he walked right out of the State of the Union address. — “Tonight I left early after hearing …

Discussion: Liberaland and Trail Blazers Blog

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Gridlock continues as unspeakably horrible commute home stretches into second day — Gridlock on the interstates this morning continues to frustrate drivers still trying to get home on a commute that started Tuesday. — Winds started evaporating some of the ice along metro Atlanta interstates …

Discussion: Hot Air