memeorandum: Study: Water a key factor in Oso slide damage (Chris Winters/Herald)

12:25 AM ET, January 14, 2015

Top Items:

WCPO:

EXCLUSIVE: FBI says John Boehner's West Chester bartender planned to poison him — Feds: Man said he was Jesus, Boehner was the devil — DEER PARK, Ohio - Ebola, evil voices and the devil. — Those are just a few of the things a Butler County bartender cited as reasons …

Discussion: Liberaland, CNN, Addicting Info, Mediaite, Scared Monkeys, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Stranger …, The Daily Caller, TPNN, The Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs and Arsalan Iftikhar

ABC News:

Ohio Bartender Charged With Threatening to Murder John Boehner … An Ohio man has been indicted on charges of threatening to murder House Speaker John Boehner, ABC News has learned. — Michael Robert Hoyt was indicted Jan. 7 on charges of threatening to murder Boehner last October shortly …

Discussion: Politico

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Rand Paul announces campaign manager for likely 2016 campaign — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday announced the hiring of a campaign manager for his likely 2016 presidential bid, part of an aggressive effort to build a national political team as the race for the White House heats up.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Politico, Hot Air, OnPolitics and Bloomberg Politics

John Dickerson / Slate:

Why Romney Wants to Run — He genuinely believes the third time could be the charm. — When Jeb Bush formed his leadership PAC, he said he wanted it to encourage other like-minded candidates. It worked. He encouraged Mitt Romney. The two-time presidential candidate is now seriously considering another run.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Race 4 2016, Hot Air, RealClearPolitics Videos, PoliticusUSA, The Atlantic Online, Yahoo! News, New York Magazine and Hit & Run

Manu Raju / Politico:

Rand Paul looks to steal 2016 spotlight — The potential 2016 presidential hopeful appears eager to return to his role as a conservative firebrand. — M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO — Jeb Bush is “a Big Government Republican.” Mitt Romney “had his chance.”

Discussion: Bloomberg Politics

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Romney And The GOP's Five-Ring Circus — There have been rumors for months that Mitt Romney might run for president again in 2016. On Monday afternoon, though, The Washington Post's Robert Costa, Philip Rucker and Karen Tumulty — three top-notch journalists — reported that Romney …

Discussion: Salon, Washington Post, Hot Air, Daily Signal, FOX News Radio, The Daily Caller, The Dish, Race 4 2016, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg View and National Review

Neil W. McCabe / Gravis:
Iowa poll: Romney leads nascent Iowa field with 21%, Bush at 14%, Walker 10%

Discussion: Townhall.com and Political Wire

Frank Bruni / New York Times: The Overcrowded Race for the 2016 Republican Nomination

Congressman Randy Weber:

Representative Randy Weber Issues Statement on Paris Tweet — Washington, D.C. - Representative Randy Weber (R-Friendswood) released the following statement in reference to a tweet sent out last night: — “I need to first apologize to all those offended by my tweet.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics, FreakOutNation, Associated Press, Fusion, Joe. My. God., The Huffington Post and Mediaite

Susie Madrak / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

You Know Who Else Went To Paris? Hitler — Not even two weeks into the new year and only a couple of days into the new Congress, and already a Republican is comparing Obama to Hitler! The people who voted for this jackweed must be so proud:

Discussion: Truth Revolt

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Republican apologizes for Hitler tweet

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog and Politico

Laura Barron-Lopez / The Hill:

Senate to vote on whether climate change is happening — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he will allow the Senate to vote on an amendment asking if they agree that climate change is impacting the planet. — At his weekly press briefing, McConnell said …

Discussion: Politico, Booman Tribune, Little Green Footballs, TheBlaze.com, ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Ed Rogers / Washington Post:
The Insiders: Five things to watch as the 2016 campaigns develop

Discussion: Adweek

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell threatens midnight session over Keystone XL pipeline

Discussion: Politico, TheBlaze.com and Daily Kos

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

How Reince Priebus Reinvented The Political Party — In 1972, the year Reince Priebus was born, the political writer David Broder published The Party's Over. Since then, political writers, me included, have been declaring the death of political parties nonstop.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Post

Wall Street Journal:
White House Adviser John Podesta to Join Emerging Hillary Clinton Campaign

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico and Bloomberg Politics

Reid J. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:
Elizabeth Warren, in the Future Tense, Says ‘No’ to 2016 White House Bid

Discussion: Vox, Bloomberg Politics, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Washington Post, susiemadrak.com, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite, American Spectator, Business Insider, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller and Liberal Values

Andrew Desiderio / Mediaite:
RNC Chairman: Bill Clinton's Personal Activities ‘Fair Game’ for 2016

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Brendan James / Talking Points Memo:

Lawyer Thanks Don Lemon: Your ‘Racist Dumb-Ass Question’ Made Me Famous — Muslim human rights lawyer Arsalan Iftikhar, who was recently asked by CNN anchor Don Lemon whether he supported the Islamic State terrorist group, published an ironic open letter on Monday thanking Lemon for the “patently offensive racist dumb-ass question.”

Discussion: Raw Story and Hinterland Gazette

Arsalan Iftikhar / The Islamic Monthly:
Dear Don Lemon: Thanks for Making Me Famous

Discussion: Raw Story, Addicting Info and Mediaite

Lindsay Cohen / KOMO News:

Seattle dog's rush hour ride: on the bus, by herself, weekly — SEATTLE — Public transit in Seattle has gone to the dogs. — Commuters in Belltown report seeing a Black Labrador riding the bus alone in recent weeks. The 2-year old has been spotted roaming the aisles …

Discussion: The Stranger …, KTLA, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, NPR and Associated Press

Scott Soshnick / Bloomberg:

Prokhorov Exploring Sale of Brooklyn Nets — The Brooklyn Nets are for sale. — Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov retained Evercore Partners to sell the National Basketball Association team he bought in 2010, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Discussion: NetsDaily, Bloomberg View, SBNation.com, Gothamist, Gawker, New York Magazine, CBS New York and ABC News

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Romney Face Tattoo Guy Says He's Not Supporting Romney In 2016 — “You are waiting for him to shoot himself in the foot. It's going to look real good and then — bam something else — he screws it up,” Eric Hartsburg said in an interview with BuzzFeed News. — Eric Hartsburg Facebook

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Hot Air

Emily Smith / Page Six:

‘Unhappy’ Ann Curry finally leaves NBC — Ann Curry's tearful exit from “Today” opposite Matt Lauer. — Ann Curry is finally leaving NBC over two and a half years after her excruciating departure from “Today,” Page Six can exclusively reveal. — NBC is expected to imminently announce …

Discussion: Mediaite, Adweek, Jezebel, The Huffington Post and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Neil Munro / The Daily Caller:

White House: Obama Will Fight Media To Stop Anti-Jihad Articles — President Barack Obama has a moral responsibility to push back on the nation's journalism community when it is planning to publish anti-jihadi articles that might cause a jihadi attack against the nation's defenses forces, the White House's press secretary said Jan. 12.

Discussion: Chicago Boyz and Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:

Huckabee slams Obama for letting daughters listen to Beyoncé — DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has accused President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, of double standards in parenting, saying in an interview published Tuesday that the first family shelters …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Race 4 2016 and New York Magazine

Keith Laing / The Hill:

DC Metro passenger killed in smoke incident — A passenger on the Washington, D.C., Metrorail subway system was killed on Monday in an incident involving heavy smoke in a train tunnel. — A train on Metro's Yellow Line that was heading toward northern Virginia was filled with smoke …

Discussion: National Review, Washington Post and Daily Mail

Ronald Brownstein / National Journal:

White-Out: Where Democrats Lost the House — In 2009, 76 Democrats represented primarily white working-class congressional districts. Just 15 of them are still in the House today. — Republicans have surged to their largest majority in the House of Representatives since before the Great Depression …

Discussion: RedState

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

At 78, McCain Savors a New Dream Job in the Senate — WASHINGTON — One by one, Senator John McCain's fellow prisoners from the Vietnam War have been dying, and at 78, he said, he is aware more than ever that his time will come, too. “Every single day,” he mused in an interview …

Scott Wong / The Hill:

Scalise voted against apology for slavery — Six years before he spoke to a white supremacist group, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) voted as a state lawmaker against a resolution apologizing for slavery, according to a 1996 article from the Times-Picayune.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, PoliticusUSA, Bloomberg Politics, Political Wire and Prairie Weather

Jenna Garrett / Wired:

What It's Like Living in the Coldest Town on Earth — It got down to -24 degrees Fahrenheit in Oymyakon, Russia, over the weekend. As frigid as that seems, it's typical for this town, long known as the coldest inhabited place on Earth. If that kind of number is hard to wrap your brain around …

Daniel Newhauser / National Journal:

Conservative Revolt Splits House GOP Group — Key members of the RSC plan on starting a competing organization that they see as a real conservative caucus. — House conservatives are plotting a mass exodus from the Republican Study Committee as soon as next week over simmering dissatisfaction with the group's direction.

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg View and Hot Air