memeorandum: House Republicans pivot in search of a positive message (Russell Berman/The Hill)

8:10 AM ET, February 3, 2014

Top Items:

Pervaiz Shallwani / Wall Street Journal:

Award-winning Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead in Manhattan Apartment, Law-Enforcement Official Said — The New York Police Department is investigating, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine exact cause of death

Bruce Weber / New York Times:

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Actor of Depth, Dies at 46 — Philip Seymour Hoffman, perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation, who gave three-dimensional nuance to a wide range of sidekicks, villains and leading men on screen and embraced some of the theater's …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, All Content, Sydney Morning Herald, Macleans.ca, Hollywood Reporter, The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, Daily Mail, The Daily Banter, Gawker, The Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and Balloon Juice

New York Post:

Philip Seymour Hoffman found dead with needle in arm: cops — Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead of an apparent drug overdose — in the bathroom with a hypodermic needle still in his arm — inside a Greenwich Village home on Sunday morning, cops said.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway, Yahoo! News, Riehl World News, Gothamist, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller and The Raw Story

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Delusions of Failure — The Republican response to the State of the Union was delivered by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican representative from Washington — and it was remarkable for its lack of content. A bit of uplifting personal biography, a check list of good things her party wants …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Moderate Voice

New York Times:

What G.O.P.-Style Reform Looks Like — Three Republican senators — Orrin Hatch of Utah, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Richard Burr of North Carolina — have issued an alternative to the health care reforms that they deride as Obamacare. Conservative analysts have hailed their proposals as …

Discussion: American Spectator

Russell Berman / The Hill:

House Republicans pivot in search of a positive message — CAMBRIDGE, Md. - House Republicans are at a turning point. — A majority of them, having spent five years in opposition to President Obama — inviting Democrats to tag them as obstructive — are now intent on shaping a positive identity as the …

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

The G.O.P.'s Immigration Delusion — THE debate over immigration reform, rekindled last week by House Republican leaders, bears a superficial resemblance to last fall's debate over the government shutdown. — Again, you have establishment Republicans transparently eager to cut a deal …

Discussion: Right Turn, National Review, Hot Air, The Caucus, Daily Kos, Power Line, TIME and Washington Post

John King / CNN: Obama at odds with himself on immigration

Elizabeth Titus / Politico:

Subpoenaed Christie staffer Christina Renna resigns — A Chris Christie aide who was subpoenaed in a growing New Jersey traffic scandal resigned Friday, the aide's lawyer confirmed to POLITICO. — Christina Renna becomes the second person to leave the Republican governor's office since the scandal escalated in January.

Discussion: Liberaland and The Raw Story

Mike Allen / Politico:
Exclusive: Chris Christie attacks N.Y. Times, David Wildstein

Dylan Farrow / Nicholas Kristof:

An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow — (A note from Nicholas Kristof: In 1993, accusations that Woody Allen had abused his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, filled the headlines, part of a sensational story about the celebrity split between Allen and his girlfriend, Mia Farrow.

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Woody Allen — Nick Kristof runs an open leter from Dylan Farow …

Discussion: Guardian

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
Dylan Farrow's Story

Discussion: Guardian, NBCNews, The Daily Banter, The Other McCain, Mashable, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Gawker and Gothamist

Politico:

Bill Kristol joins ABC News — Bill Kristol, the editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard, has joined ABC News as a contributor, “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos announced on Sunday. — A source familiar with the negotiations says the former Fox News commentator has landed …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Weekly Standard, Mediaite and Scared Monkeys

Andrew Cohen / The Atlantic Online:

Missouri Executed This Man While His Appeal Was Pending in Court — Herbert Smulls was pronounced dead four minutes before the justices in Washington denied his final stay. Did Missouri officials breach their ethical duties by permitting this to happen? — It is 2014, not 1964 or 1914 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

Jewish / The Jewish Press:

Scholar and Columnist Professor Barry Rubin Passed Away at 64 — Barry Rubin's was a rare voices of clarity in the Israeli academia and in Jewish media. He was one of the good guys. — Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet: Professor Barry Rubin, one of the great intellectual defenders of Israel, passed away Monday morning.

Discussion: Israel Matzav