memeorandum: Why Kerry Is Scary — TEL AVIV — It is pretty clear … (Thomas L. Friedman/New York Times)

4:15 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: CNN, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, First Read and BizPac Review

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: American Prospect, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, National Review, The Mahablog, Guardian, BuzzFeed and The Lead with Jake Tapper

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, Rush Limbaugh, Outside the Beltway, Washington Wire, The Daily Caller, Shot in the Dark, Washington Post 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, National Review, Liberal Values, American Prospect, The Diplomat, The Fix, ThinkProgress, Women's Take, The PJ Tatler, AEIdeas, Gawker, The Gateway Pundit and Wonkblog

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
K Street wants less bashing of lobbyists

Discussion: Politico, The Democratic Daily and CNN

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: Firedoglake, OnPolitics, News Desk, The Daily Caller and National Review

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
Grimm Issues Statement To Apologize To Reporter For Threats

Discussion: Liberaland and The Raw Story

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

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

Kate Nocera / BuzzFeed:
New York GOP Congressman Apologizes To Reporter He Threatened To “Break In Half”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

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, Taegan Goddard's … and Washington Wire

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Army Ranger steals Obama's thunder

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ABC News and Politico

The White House:
President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address

Discussion: New York Times, News Desk, The Heritage Foundation, Campaign for America's Future, USA Today, Althouse, Facing South, The Verge, Shakesville, The Week and TaxVox

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

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Michelle Malkin, TheBlaze.com, Twitchy, National Review, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, NBCNews and nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

ANALYSIS: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers comes through for GOP in SOTU response — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) had one of the more difficult tasks in politics on Tuesday, delivering the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

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

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Mike Lee tea party response: Barack Obama at fault for inequality

Discussion: Voxxi, Washington Post, CNN, Scared Monkeys, American Power and The Reaction

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

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Taking Note, The Hill, LifeNews.com, Taylor Marsh, Religion Dispatches, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, CNN and American Power

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Huckabee up, Christie down — Following the controversy over his ‘Uncle Sugar’ speech Mike Huckabee has...taken the lead in the Republican primary race for 2016. He's at 16% to 14% for Jeb Bush, 13% for Chris Christie, 11% for Rand Paul, 8% each for Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Paul Ryan, 6% for Scott Walker, and 5% for Bobby Jindal.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Politico, The Week and National Review

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Poll: Huckabee Is Now The GOP's Top Choice For 2016 After Libido Remark

Discussion: Liberaland, Outside the Beltway and Little Green Footballs

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: Talking Points Memo, Guardian, susiemadrak.com, The Dish and NBCNews

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: Algemeiner.com, Guardian, Mondoweiss and Israel Matzav

David Gutman / Associated Press:

Marshall scientist found formaldehyde in Charleston water — CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Marshall University environmental scientist and member of the state Environmental Quality Board said today that he has found formaldehyde in local water samples and that the continued lack of data on the chemical …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, The Raw Story and NPR

Katherine Connell / National Review:

History Shows Dems Face Long Odds in Keeping Senate — Political observers were stunned on Tuesday by the “happy talk” on President Obama that came from Senator Harry Reid. The majority leader actually said Senate Democrats should invite Obama into their states to campaign for them even if he is unpopular in them.

Scott Bland / NationalJournal.com:
Obama's State Approval Ratings Spell Trouble for Senate Democrats

Discussion: Hot Air and Roll Call

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

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: Business Insider, Firedoglake, americanthinker.com and First Read

Ezekiel J. Emanuel / New York Times:

Comparing Obamacare to Its Alternative — FROM the moment the ink dried on March 23, 2010, Republicans said they intended to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. They have voted more than 40 times to wipe the law from the books. But Republicans have never gotten around to describing …

Politico:

The Case Against Early Voting — To the delight of anyone who's ever waited in line to cast a vote, a bipartisan election commission convened by President Barack Obama concluded last week that states across the country should increase their use of early voting.

Discussion: Washington Post and Democratic Strategist

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Not as Many U.S. States Lean Democratic in 2013 — Parties now about equal in state party leanings, 17 to 14 — PRINCETON, NJ — Blue states outnumbered red states in the U.S. last year, 17 to 14, according to Gallup Daily tracking of party preferences. That three-state advantage …

Discussion: Hot Air and Politico

Glenn Blain / NY Daily News:

Donald Trump: I'm Ready To Run For NY Gov, But I Want Clear Path To GOP Nomination — The drama surrounding Donald Trump's potential campaign for governor appears headed for an extended run - at least until Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino makes a fiormal announcement about running.

Discussion: Post Politics and Taegan Goddard's …