memeorandum: Merkel speaks softly, Obama holds a stick (Jon Sopel/BBC)

8:20 AM ET, February 10, 2015

Top Items:

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

New Jeb Bush Chief Technology Officer Deleting Old Tweets About “Sluts” — Ethan Czahor's tweets began disappearing today after news broke that he had been hired by Jeb Bush. A spokesperson for Bush told BuzzFeed News: “Governor Bush believes the comments were inappropriate.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Washington Post, OnPolitics and Talking Points Memo

Michael C Bender / Bloomberg Business:

How Long Will Jeb Bush Hold His Fire on His Republican Rivals? — Jeb Bush has been compared to the pale pastels on the colorwheel and the last three Republican presidential losers. He's was mocked with a fake phone call that made it appear he was conspiring with Hillary Clinton.

James Hohmann / Politico:

Bobby Jindal vs. the world — He says elites can't stand the idea of an Ivy-League-educated pure conservative. — AP Photo — In the past few weeks, Bobby Jindal has been attacked for insisting that Europe allows Muslims to control special “no-go zones,” belittled by the Weekly Standard for offering a …

Discussion: Mediaite, The American Conservative, RedState and Daily Kos

Zeke J Miller / TIME:

Jeb Bush Hires Co-Founder of Hipster.com … Right to Rise PAC

Discussion: Gawker, New York Times, OnPolitics, PoliticusUSA, The Hill, Politico, Washington Post and Business Insider

Travis J. Tritten / Stars & Stripes:

In his words: Brian Williams' interview with Stars and Stripes — WASHINGTON — NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams on Sunday scuttled what would have been his first public appearance to explain his situation when he canceled a planned appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Discussion: New York Times, CBS DC, The Federalist, New York Magazine, Business Insider, Mediaite, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, TVNewser, Page Six, Poynter and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Rasmussen Reports:

Should NBC's Brian Williams Stay or Go? — NBC News has the highest rated evening news program, and anchor Brian Williams is a popular fixture on the program. But now that Williams has been caught in a lie, Americans tend to think he hurts NBC's credibility and needs to go.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Fox News, Mediaite, NY Daily News, The Huffington Post and Daily Mail, more at Mediagazer »

Claire Atkinson / Page Six:
Former NBCUniversal boss comes to the defense of Brian Williams

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools and TVNewser

Josh Feldman / Mediaite: Here's the Full Audio of Brian Williams' Apologetic Stars and Stripes Interview

Brian Williams / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
NBC anchor Brian Williams' Katrina account challenged by ex-French Quarter hotel manager

Discussion: Page Six, Los Angeles Times, Poynter and The Huffington Post

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

David Brock resigns from Hillary Clinton PAC — David Brock on Monday abruptly resigned from the board of the super PAC Priorities USA Action, revealing rifts that threaten the big-money juggernaut being built to support Hillary Clinton's expected presidential campaign.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite, US News, New York Times, Washington Post, Moe Lane, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg Business, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News and Jammie Wearing Fools

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
RNC launching 'Hillary's hiding' campaign

Discussion: New York Magazine

Julie Pace / ABC News: Democratic Wise Man Splits Loyalties Between Obama, Clinton

Kristina Wong / The Hill: Aides: War powers request this week

Zeke J Miller / TIME:

Axelrod: Obama Misled Nation When He Opposed Gay Marriage In 2008 — A striking admission of political dishonesty from the keeper of the Obama flame — Barack Obama misled Americans for his own political benefit when he claimed in the 2008 election to oppose same sex marriage for religious reasons …

Discussion: Mediaite

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Marriage Equality Is Coming To America This June

Discussion: al.com, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg View, Salon and New York Times

Richard Wolf / Associated Press:
First Take: Handwriting on the wall for gay marriage

Discussion: Hit & Run, National Review, Washington Post, BuzzFeed and al.com

New York Times:
Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts

The Hill:

Dem boycott of Netanyahu address to Congress grows — More than a dozen congressional Democrats say they plan to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of Congress amid conflicting signals over whether he will pull out from the March 3 address.

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
WHIP LIST: Dems skipping Netanyahu speech

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Israel Matzav, The Daily Caller, TPNN, Yahoo! News, TheBlaze.com and PoliticusUSA

Luke Baker / Reuters:
Netanyahu considering changes to Congress speech after criticism

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, The Times of Israel, Tablet Magazine, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler, PoliticusUSA and Haaretz

Richard Kirsch / The Hill:

Under GOP plan, pay more for junk insurance, leave more uninsured — In the hope that they will give cover to the Supreme Court gutting a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), three prominent Republican members of Congress revealed a plan to replace the ACA last week.

Discussion: Daily Kos and American Spectator

Stephanie Mencimer / Mother Jones:
Meet the Unusual Plaintiffs Behind the Supreme Court Case That Could Destroy Obamacare

Discussion: Daily Kos and Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality

Ali Elkin / Bloomberg Business:

The Media Guide to Covering Donald Trump — Ain't journalism grand? — Donald Trump is back in the political spotlight, delivering major speeches at Republican events, and dropping rhetorical bombs on talk radio on the hot-button issues of the day, like last week's debate on vaccination.

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Des Moines Register

Sapna Maheshwari / BuzzFeed:

Staples Threatens To Fire Staff For Working More Than 25 Hours A Week — In 2015, an Affordable Care Act provision requiring large employers to offer health insurance to staff working more than 30 hours a week kicked into effect. Now, some part-time staff at Staples say management has become extra vigilant about limiting their hours.

Discussion: Business Insider

Elisabeth Rosenthal / New York Times:
Insured, but Not Covered — WHEN Karen Pineman of Manhattan …

Discussion: RedState and VodkaPundit

Roger Cohen / New York Times:

Western Illusions Over Ukraine — MUNICH — The most difficult thing for a communist, it has been observed, is to predict the past. I was reminded of this as I listened to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in full Soviet mode at the Munich Security Conference, suggesting …

Discussion: The American Conservative

Edward C. Baig / USA Today:

Apple Pay takes to the skies via JetBlue — Video by Eli Blumenthal Full story: http://usat.ly/1DdPOYy — NEW YORK — Apple Pay is poised to take off — quite literally. — Starting next week, passengers on select JetBlue Airways flights can use Apple Pay on their iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets …

Discussion: 9to5Mac, The Verge and Mashable

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Democrats suffering from Clinton fatigue say they're ready for Warren — AMES, Iowa — Thirteen Iowa Democrats wearily took their seats here this weekend and discussed among themselves the source of their angst: Hillary Rodham Clinton. — “I'm utterly tired, tired of the Clintons …

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools and Washington Examiner

Jonathan Jones / The Charlotte Observer:

Where was Nicole Holder? Snowmobiling in Colorado, then off to New York City — Where in the world is Nicole Holder? — It's the question that has rankled district attorney Andrew Murray since November. Law enforcement interviewed relatives, talked to her former employer …

Discussion: Sporting News Feed RSS and ProFootballTalk