memeorandum: Illinois Considers Allowing Recall Attempts of Chicago Mayor (Associated Press)

7:10 AM ET, January 4, 2016

Top Items:

Amelia Templeton OPB / OPB:

Militia Occupying Federal Land: ‘We Are Not Hurting Anybody’ — Protesters in Burns, Oregon march toward the home of Dwight Hammond, a local rancher convicted of arson on federal land. The Jan. 2 protest was peaceful, but ended with a group of militiamen occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Discussion: Oregonian, Washington Post, Bundy Ranch, ThinkProgress, NPR and KOIN-TV

Les Zaitz / Oregonian:

Militants continue occupation of Oregon refuge, police keep low profile — BURNS - Law enforcement agencies are remaining mum about plans to end militiamen's occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters. — A splinter group of militia in town to support a local ranching family took …

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, Mashable, Balloon Juice and Maxim

Katie Zezima / Washington Post:

Republican candidates stay quiet on Oregon standoff — Republican presidential candidates are staying mum as an armed group has taken over part of a national wildlife refuge in rural Oregon — even those who supported the father of at least one of its leaders, who had his own standoff …

Melissa Cronin / Gawker:

Sons of Noted Racist Vigilante Are ‘Willing To Kill’ In Standoff at a Federal Building in Oregon — A group of militiamen who have taken over a national wildlife refuge in Oregon have been joined by the notable Bundy family, a group of anti-government ranchers headed by a racist patriarch.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Oregonian, Slantpoint, ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Washington Post

Sundance / The Last Refuge:
Full Story on What's Going on In Oregon …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, protein wisdom, Vox Popoli and Jeff Goldstein

David Atkins / Washington Monthly:
The Armed Domestic Terrorists in Oregon Should Be Treated Just as ISIS Terrorists Would Be

Discussion: Mother Jones and Raw Story

CBS News:
Oregon ranchers reject Cliven Bundy family occupation

Discussion: Washington Post, euronews, Slantpoint, Occupy Democrats, Raw Story, addictinginfo.org, KOIN-TV, alan.com, Hit & Run, Mashable, Oregonian, The Gateway Pundit and USA Today

Aaron Mesh / Willamette Week:
Anti-government militia member releases video pledging to drive to Oregon: “I want to die a free man.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Indian Country Today …, Occupy Democrats, American Power, Slantpoint, Little Green Footballs, addictinginfo.org, ThinkProgress and No More Mister Nice Blog

CNN:
Armed group's leader in federal building: ‘We will be here as long as it takes’

Discussion: Guardian, KUTV-TV, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Reality-Based Community, PoliticusUSA, Bearing Arms, Raw Story, NBC News, Hot Air, Slate, Fox News, Washington Post, Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Arkansas Online and Politico

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:

Heckler disrupts Hillary Clinton town hall over Bill Clinton's sexual history — DERRY, N.H. — One day before former president Bill Clinton arrives in New Hampshire to campaign for his wife, Hillary Clinton, she was confronted with questions about allegations involving his sexual history at a town hall meeting in the state on Sunday.

Discussion: alan.com, The Last Refuge, Slantpoint and Slate

Liz Sly / Washington Post:

Iran warns of ‘divine vengeance’ for Saudi Arabia's execution of cleric … BEIRUT — Iran's Supreme Leader warned on Sunday that there would be divine retribution for Saudi Arabia's rulers after the execution of a renowned Shiite cleric, sustaining the soaring regional tensions that erupted in the wake of the killing.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, National Review and Booman Tribune

CNN:

Trump: Clinton, Obama ‘created ISIS’ — Biloxi, Mississippi (CNN)Donald Trump on Saturday said the policies of President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “created ISIS,” the furthest the GOP front-runner has gone in tying the Obama administration's policies to the rise of the terror group.

Discussion: Algemeiner.com, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Maxim

Nick Gass / Politico:

Trump: Clinton has ruined the world — Donald Trump pointed to Hillary Clinton as the cause of “so many” of the world's current problems in an interview to air Sunday, attacking, among other decisions, the then-New York senator's vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq in 2002.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, CBS News, Guardian, Raw Story, ABC News and Yahoo Politics

New York Times:
Saudi Arabia Cuts Ties With Iran Amid Fallout From Cleric's Execution

Discussion: Arab News, Quartz, Foreign Policy, Spectator, RT, NPR, BBC, Business Insider, Althouse, The Moderate Voice and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Tim Devaney / The Hill: Rand Paul: Hillary will ‘take us back to war’

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:
Trump dares Bill Clinton to talk about women's issues

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Donald Trump's provocative first TV ad raises the temperature of GOP race — NEW YORK — Donald Trump's ad begins with a shot of President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Then comes a U.S. battleship launching a cruise-missile strike. From there it moves swiftly through an explosive montage …

Discussion: Daily Mail and Mother Jones

Caitlin Yilek / The Hill:

Trump: I will veto Obama actions on guns — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump told supporters Saturday that he will veto President Obama's actions on guns if elected to the White House. — “The Second Amendment, it's so great to me,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Biloxi, Miss.

Discussion: ABC News and Mediaite

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:
Trump: Iran deal was so bad it's suspicious

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Associated Press: Vacation Over, Obama Looking at Ways to Reduce Gun Violence

Eugene Scott / CNN:
CNN to host Obama town hall on guns in America

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite, Scared Monkeys, New York Times, American Spectator, Bearing Arms, Deadline, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Associated Press:

Illinois Considers Allowing Recall Attempts of Chicago Mayor — The furor over recent Chicago police shootings has legislators considering whether voters should be allowed to recall Mayor Rahm Emanuel or future officials who hold his post. — Illinois state law currently addresses …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

William Wan / Washington Post:
In Chicago, distrust toward mayor has turned ‘personal’

Discussion: Power Line, Chicago Tribune and MichelleMalkin.com

Martin Evans / Telegraph:

Islamic State video shows murder of five ‘British spies’ — Terror group publishes execution video as it threatens UK with new terror attacks and call David Cameron an ‘imbecile’ — Intelligence agencies were hunting a new ‘Jihadi John’ after an Islamic extremist with a British accent murdered five men accused of spying for the UK.

Discussion: Jihad Watch