memeorandum: Rape controversies return to haunt GOP (Sarah Wheaton/Politico)

11:55 AM ET, January 23, 2015

Top Items:

A Republic of Disrespect — America's partisan divisions spread to international relations. — It's odd in Washington now. There's a lot of claiming of authority and no taking of responsibility. — The president gave his State of the Union address, and of course the TV ratings were bad …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Haaretz:

Obama to Netanyahu: Stop pushing Congress toward new sanctions on Iran - Diplomacy and Defense — Obama, Biden and Kerry would shun Israeli prime minister during his visit to Washington on March; ‘Netanyahu spat in our face. There will be a price,’ U.S. official says.

Discussion: Hot Air, Wall Street Journal, Patterico's Pontifications, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice, Israel Matzav, National Review and Telegraph

Reuters:
U.S. pulls more staff from Yemen embassy amid deepening crisis

Discussion: Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and CBS News

The Times of Israel:
Netanyahu ‘spat in our face,’ White House officials say

Discussion: Truth Revolt and The PJ Tatler

Julie Pace / ABC News:
Obama to Pass on Meeting Netanyahu During Washington Visit

Discussion: The Hill

New York Times:

King Abdullah, a Shrewd Force Who Reshaped Saudi Arabia, Dies at 90 — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who came to the throne in old age and earned a reputation as a cautious reformer even as the Arab Spring revolts toppled heads of state and Islamic State militants threatened the Muslim establishment …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, Guardian, Politico, The White House, NPR, The Intercept, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway and Business Insider

Wall Street Journal:

Saudi King's Death Clouds Already Tense Relationship With U.S. — Decision-Making in Riyadh Could Become More Cautious, Collective — U.S. officials worry that the death of Saudi King Abdullah ushers in a period of new uncertainty in a key relationship that already was tense.

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News, “The Lid” and NPR

Associated Press:
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah dead at 90

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, CANNONFIRE and FOX News Radio

Washington Post:
Saudi King Abdullah's death sets up complex succession process

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Business Insider, The Dish, Gawker, Guardian, The Huffington Post and The Daily Caller

Angus McDowall / Reuters:
Saudi King Abdullah dies, new ruler is Salman

Discussion: The Great Debate, Business Insider and The PJ Tatler

Jonathan Karl / ABC News:

EXCLUSIVE: Marco Rubio Moves Toward 2016 Presidential Bid … Sen. Marco Rubio has begun taking concrete steps toward launching a presidential bid, asking his top advisors to prepare for a campaign, signing on a leading Republican fundraiser, and planning extensive travel to early-voting states in the coming weeks, ABC News has learned.

Discussion: Business Insider, Christian Science Monitor, Naked Politics, Israel Matzav, The PJ Tatler, OnPolitics, Booman Tribune, Associated Press, Hot Air and Shakesville

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
Three GOP Presidential Hopefuls to Appear on Panel Moderated by ABC's Jonathan Karl

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Times, Hot Air and ABC News

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:

GOP strategist with Iowa ties joins Team Scott Walker — The team that is building Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's political organization for a possible presidential campaign has brought on a GOP strategist with Iowa ties: David Polyansky. — Polyansky, a Texan who played senior roles …

Discussion: The Hill, National Review, JSOnline, Fox News, Political Wire and Prairie Weather

James Hohmann / Politico:

Steve King for a day — Democrats seize on an event being hosted by immigration lightning rod Steve King. — Democrats are looking to turn a weekend event in Iowa being hosted by immigration lightning rod Steve King into a spectacle that sets the GOP further back with Latinos ahead of the 2016 campaign.

New York Times:
Conservative Gathering in Iowa Offers Platform to Several Possible 2016 Contenders

Discussion: National Review and The Hugh Hewitt Show

New York Times:

A Scorsese Documentary on Bill Clinton Is Stalled — Martin Scorsese has tackled the mob, the Dalai Lama and the real-life Wolf of Wall Street. — But Mr. Scorsese appears to have met his match in Bill Clinton. — The filmmaker's partly finished documentary about Mr. Clinton …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Dish, Washington Times, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon and National Journal, more at Mediagazer »

Nick Bryant / Gawker:

Flight Logs Put Clinton, Dershowitz on Pedophile Billionaire's Sex Jet — Bill Clinton took repeated trips on the “Lolita Express”—the private passenger jet owned by billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—with an actress in softcore porn movies whose name appears in Epstein's address book under an entry for …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Gateway Pundit, iotwreport.com, Raw Story and CBS Philly

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

People Are Talking About Michael Bloomberg Buying the New York Times, Including Michael Bloomberg — If the former mayor tries, it won't be without its challenges. — Shares — For years now, it has been speculated in media circles that Mike Bloomberg could be a white knight and save the New York Times.

Discussion: Gawker, Weekly Standard and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Hemingway / Weekly Standard:

The ‘American Sniper’ Freakout — Why the left can't tolerate this movie. — “So-called ‘sand movies,’ the term Hollywood sometimes uses for films set in Afghanistan and Iraq, have a terrible box office track record,” noted the New York Times. Or rather, they had a terrible box office track record.

Sarah Wheaton / Politico:

Rape controversies return to haunt GOP — Party still struggles over abortion language. — “I believe our heart is in the right place, and we're standing up for what is right. But I think in order to be able to have that conversation with the American people, we have always got …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Post

Tracy Walsh / Talking Points Memo:

Glenn Beck To Pope Francis: I Need To Teach You About Capitalism — Conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck said Thursday that he wants to give Pope Francis a lesson in free-market economics. — Speaking on “The Glenn Beck Program” on his own network The Blaze, Beck said the pope's experiences …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jason Howerton / TheBlaze.com:

Sarah Palin on New GOP Majority: 'It's Not Just the New England Patriots Who Are Dealing with Deflated Balls' — Editor's Note: — TheBlaze's coverage of the SHOT Show is sponsored by CDNN Sports and the U.S. Concealed Carry Association. — LAS VEGAS — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declined …

Discussion: Truth Revolt, Addicting Info, TPNN and Mediaite

Nicky Woolf / Guardian:

Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months for ‘merely linking to hacked material’ — The journalist and former Anonymous member is also ordered to pay nearly $900,000 in what he calls a ‘dangerous precedent’ for indicting hacktivists — In a rebuke to a legion of online supporters …

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, The Other McCain, Ghosts of Tom Joad, Boing Boing, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Gawker, Hit & Run and The Agonist, more at Mediagazer »

5NEWSOnline.com:

Cedarville 2nd Graders Shown Racial Slur-Laced Martin Luther King Video … CEDARVILLE (KFSM) - Cedarville school administrators say they are trying to figure out what to do after second-graders were shown an inappropriate video about Martin Luther King, Jr., that includes several instances of racial slurs and inappropriate language.

Discussion: Raw Story, FreakOutNation and Addicting Info

Russell Berman / The Atlantic Online:

Will Democrats Spoil Obama's Trade Initiatives? — There's at least one big piece of President Obama's agenda where Republicans aren't his problem—Democrats are. — For years, GOP leaders have practically begged the president to make an aggressive push for new trade deals …

Discussion: msnbc.com

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

The Daily Show Asks When There'll Be a Huge Rally for Boko Haram Victims — Tonight Jon Stewart and Daily Show correspondent Trevor Noah reminded everyone that Boko Haram still, unfortunately, exists, and should maybe get at least a fraction of the global reaction the Paris terrorists who attacked Charlie Hebdo got.

Discussion: FOX News Radio