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2:25 PM ET, January 21, 2015

Top Items:

The White House / Medium:

President Obama's State of the Union Address—Remarks As Prepared for Delivery — There is a ritual on State of the Union night in Washington. A little before the address, the White House sends out an embargoed copy of the President's speech to the press (embargoed means that the press can see the speech …

Ezra Klein / Vox:

The most important sentence in Obama's 2015 State of the Union — 1) The most striking sentence in President Obama's 2015 State of the Union came near the start: “Tonight, we turn the page.” — 2) It is the seventh year of Obama's presidency. But it's the first in which the economy is no longer in crisis.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Barack Obama's disconnected, out-of-touch, in-denial State of the Union — Perhaps the most striking thing about the 2015 State of the Union address was not the president at the podium but the audience in the seats. The joint session of Congress listening to President Obama Tuesday night …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Hot Air and Bloomberg Politics

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

A fantasy for tweens: Obama's State of the Union Address — Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union. — “We turn the page,” said President Obama last night in citing all the good news he could about the current state of the union. “The shadow of crisis has passed and the state of the union is strong.”

CNN:
CNN/ORC Poll: SOTU more popular than last year

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post and The Week

The White House:
Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address | January 20, 2015

Discussion: Inside Higher Ed, Hit & Run, USA Today, The Huffington Post, Power Line, Colorlines and Just Security

Washington Post:
Transcript: Obama's State of the Union address 2015

Discussion: Power Line and Informed Comment

New York Times:
At the State of the Union, a President Outgunned in Congress Is Still Combative

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Firedoglake and The Week

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

The Megyn Kelly Moment — On a gray Wednesday in November, the Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and four producers gathered around a conference table on the 17th floor of the News Corporation building in Manhattan. They were there to plan the 281st episode of “The Kelly File,” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Mediaite, TVNewser, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine and Jezebel, more at Mediagazer »

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Boehner invites Netanyahu to speak to Congress — The speaker says he didn't consult with the White House. — Speaker John Boehner has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress about Iran next month, a move sure to inflame the Obama administration …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Associated Press, National Journal, The Daily Banter, The Week, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Truth Revolt and Guardian

Donna Cassata / Associated Press:

Rebuffing President Barack Obama on Iran, House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday he had invited Israel's prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress next month about the threats from Tehran and radical Islam. — The Republican leader released a letter extending the invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu for Feb. 11.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, ABC News and Hot Air

Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal:
Obama Snubs Calls for Campaign Finance Curbs

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Daily Beast

Chris Mortensen / ESPN:

11 of 12 Pats footballs underinflated — The NFL has found that 11 of the New England Patriots' 12 game balls were inflated significantly below the NFL's requirements, league sources involved and familiar with the investigation of Sunday's AFC Championship Game told ESPN.

Discussion: USA Today, Mashable, ProFootballTalk, Bloomberg View, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, Althouse, BostonGlobe.com, New York Post, U-T San Diego stories, WISH-TV and WTVR-TV

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Full Text of Republican Response to State of the Union — The office of House speaker John Boehner has posted the full text of the Republican response to the State of the Union (breaking its own self-imposed embargo), to be delivered by Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa: — “Good evening. — “I'm Joni Ernst.

Discussion: Vox, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, FreakOutNation, Raw Story, Twitchy, Fusion, Mediaite and Scared Monkeys

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
Joni Ernst goes folksy in GOP response

Discussion: Des Moines Register, US News, ABC News and Politico

Emily Atkin / ThinkProgress:

Republicans Post Doctored Version Of State Of The Union, Censor Facts On Climate Change — House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). — CREDIT: AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File — The official website for House Republicans has posted on YouTube a doctored version of President Obama's State …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Greg Bluestein / Political Insider blog:

Nathan Deal's mysterious overseas adventure — Gov. Nathan Deal skipped town over the weekend for an economic development trip. Just where he went is being treated like a state secret. — Gov. Nathan Deal/AJC file — His office won't disclose where the state's top elected official journeyed or whom he visited.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico and Hinterland Gazette

Rex Hall Jr / MLive.com:

Puppy killed when used as weapon by man in beating of girlfriend in Kalamazoo — KALAMAZOO, MI - In November, Timothy Tucker punched his girlfriend in the face and then pummeled her with the couple's two-week-old puppy to the point that the small animal defecated on the woman and died.

Discussion: Raw Story, KTLA and Addicting Info

Michael Falcone / ABC News:

Joe Biden Reveals ‘There Is A Chance’ He Would Challenge Hillary Clinton … With the 2016 presidential election season heating up and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton considered the presumptive front-runner for the Democratic nomination if she decides to jump into the race …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Washington Post, The Huffington Post and New York Times

Emily DeVoe / WECT-TV:

Veteran slammed with nasty note for parking in reserved spot — When Mary Claire Caine walked outside after finishing her routine grocery trip to Harris Teeter Friday, she couldn't believe what she found plastered to the front window of her car. — As a veteran of the Air Force who served …

Discussion: Raw Story, Telegraph and Addicting Info

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

Obama calls for civility, then immediately taunts Republicans over his two presidential wins … President Obama spent much of Tuesday's State of the Union calling for civility in politics — then taunted Republicans over his two election victories, after many of them applauded the looming end of his political career.

Discussion: alicublog, PoliticusUSA, Scared Monkeys and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:
Republicans Have One Word for President's Proposals and Veto Threats: ‘No’

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Democracy in America

Sharon Cotliar / People.com:

Chelsea Clinton Shares Her Mommy Routines with Baby Charlotte (VIDEO) — New mom Chelsea Clinton talks about bonding with her baby Charlotte - “I'm so happy being a mom” - and shares why she's so passionate about talking, reading and singing to her baby, in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE …

Discussion: Politico, OnPolitics, Washington Post and The Other McCain

Kate Connolly / Guardian:

Photograph of Germany's Pegida leader styled as Adolf Hitler goes viral — Lutz Bachmann, said by German intelligence services to be a target for Islamist terrorists, posted the picture on Facebook — A photograph of the leader of a growing “anti-Islamisation” movement in Germany styled …

Discussion: Reuters and The Dish

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

A Tale of Two Pegs — I'm still in Hong Kong, and there's a curious discussion here about the upward collapse of Switzerland's peg to the euro. You see, by the numbers Switzerland's monetary situation pre-collapse and Hong Kong's now look remarkably similar.

Discussion: Marginal REVOLUTION

Steve Deace Show:

Deace Show Podcast 01-20-15 — A State of the Union preview with Senator Ted Cruz. Can America undo Obama's mess of a legacy? We'll ask Dr. Ben Carson. Yemen becomes Obama's latest “success” story. The dumbing down of America, and why it matters. — PODCAST — 20 JAN -

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Right Wing Watch and Towleroad News #gay

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

The remarkable confidence of Barack Obama — Seventy seven days ago, Barack Obama's party lost control of Congress — largely due to his unpopularity nationwide. You'd have never known it watching the president deliver his sixth State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine and Mediaite

Adam B. Lerner / Politico:

Rep. Steve King decries ‘deportable’ in Michelle Obama's balcony — Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) railed against President Obama via Twitter only hours before this Tuesday's State of the Union speech, referring to an undocumented immigrant scheduled to sit with the first lady during the speech as “a deportable.”

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill and Religion News Service

Washington Post:

Shiite insurgents control Yemen's presidential palace and residence … SANAA, Yemen — Shiite insurgents tightened their grip on Yemen's capital Wednesday, seizing control of a missile base and keeping the president as a virtual hostage in a showdown threatening a key American ally in the fight against al-Qaeda.

Discussion: Gawker, New York Times, Vox Popoli and Agence France-Presse

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:

Obama Is Finally Having the Reagan Moment He Dreamed About for Years — These are lines President Barack Obama hoped to deliver years ago. — “The verdict is clear,” he said in Tuesday night's State of the Union address. “Middle-class economics works. Expanding opportunity works.