memeorandum: Armed activists in Oregon challenge government over federal control of public land (Los Angeles Times)

8:00 PM ET, January 4, 2016

Top Items:

Will Kraus / Politifact.com Truth-O-Meter rulings …:

Donald Trump: A Trump television ad shows Mexicans swarming over “our southern border.” — The Truth-o-Meter says: Pants on Fire! Donald Trump's first TV ad shows migrants ‘at the southern border,’ but they're actually in Morocco — In a new television ad — his campaign's first …

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Raw Story, Hit & Run, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Politico, Business Insider and Naked Politics, more at Mediagazer »

ABC News:

Bill Clinton Brushes Off Trump Attacks — We're exactly four weeks away from the Iowa caucuses — and the 2016 presidential race is switching into high gear. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is holding a rally in Massachusetts tonight after releasing his first television ad of his 2016 campaign …

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Bloomberg Business and RedState

NBC News:

Trump Ad Fact Checked for Border Footage, Campaign Says ‘No Sh—’ — LOWELL, Mass. - Donald Trump may have some explaining to do about footage used in his new campaign advertisement. — Released Monday, the much-anticipated TV ad shows migrants on what the narrator claims is the southern border, scattering.

Discussion: New York Times, Mediaite and Business Insider

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 …

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
THE BIG IDEA: —Mitt Romney says concern about Jeb Bush's …

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Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Clinton: Aliens may have visited us already

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Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
Hillary Clinton Promises She'll Investigate Area 51, UFOs

Discussion: alan.com and Washington Free Beacon

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Donald Trump's new TV ad: Make America great by keeping the darkies out

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Dara Lind / Vox:
Donald Trump's first TV ad is a greatest hits of his campaign's most controversial ideas

Discussion: CBS News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

White House calls Oregon standoff a ‘local law enforcement matter’ — The White House on Monday referred to an armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon as a “local law enforcement matter.” — Spokesman Josh Earnest's comments come even though the Federal Bureau of Investigation …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Hit & Run, New York Times, Moe Lane and Politico

Washington Post:

Armed men, led by Bundy brothers, take over federal building in rural Oregon — BURNS, Ore. — A group of armed anti-government activists remained encamped at a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon on Sunday evening, vowing to occupy the outpost for years to protest the federal government's treatment …

NBC News:

Ted Cruz Calls for Oregon Armed Protesters to ‘Stand Down’ — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Monday called for armed protesters who occupied a federal building in Oregon to “stand down peaceably.” — “Every one of us has a constitutional right to protest, to speak our minds,” Cruz told reporters in Iowa.

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Vox

Jacob Sullum / Hit & Run:
The Absurdly Harsh Penalties That Sparked the Oregon Rancher Protest

Discussion: Vox, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, American Power, addictinginfo.org and Patterico's Pontifications

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Marco Rubio On Oregon Standoff: “You Can't Be Lawless”

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Washington Post

Mary Ann Georgantopoulos / BuzzFeed:
Bizarre Lawsuit Claims Without Evidence That Cliven Bundy Accused Obama Of Threatening Donald Trump

Discussion: Fox News, Hullabaloo, NBC News, USA Today, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Federalist and Vox

Los Angeles Times:
Armed activists in Oregon challenge government over federal control of public land

Discussion: Guardian, addictinginfo.org, KQED News, KTLA, theGrio, Raw Story, Oregonian, OPB and NPR

Les Zaitz / Oregonian:
Watch: Oregon militants post new video from refuge, plead for help to ‘prevent bloodshed’

Discussion: CNN and Talking Points Memo

Timothy Cama / The Hill:
Cruz urges armed protesters in Oregon to ‘stand down’

Discussion: ABC News, New Republic, Hot Air, Right Wing Watch, BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress and Washington Post

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:

Obama moves to require background checks for more gun sales — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama moved Monday to require all gun sellers to register as dealers — even those who sell at gun shows and online — and to run background checks on all prospective purchasers …

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, abc13.com, KRQE-TV and CNN

Nick Gass / Politico:

Obama rolls out gun control strategy — The White House unveiled President Barack Obama's executive actions on gun violence on Monday as part of a multi-day rollout meant to contain the political fallout and to cast Obama as the voice of common sense in a raging culture war.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Washington Post, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post

Speaker.gov:

Statement on Potential Executive Action to Restrict 2nd Amendment Rights — Speaker Ryan Press Office — WASHINGTON—House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) released the following statement in response to reports that the president intends to take executive action to restrict gun ownership in America:

Discussion: RealClearPolitics and The Daily Signal

New York Times:
Obama to Expand Gun Background Checks and Tighten Enforcement

Discussion: CNN and Business Insider

Eric Raymond / Armed and Dangerous:
Why I joined the NRA — After 20 years of evading joining the NRA …

Discussion: Hot Air

Arlette Saenz / ABC News:
President Obama Claims Executive Action on Gun Control Within His Authority

Discussion: The Agonist

Elianayjohnson / National Review:

Exclusive: Rubio PAC to Hit Christie in New Hampshire — Marco Rubio has his eyes on Chris Christie, who is increasingly viewed as the dark horse who could, with an impressive showing — even a victory — in New Hampshire, become the GOP's surprise establishment favorite.

Discussion: RedState and Hot Air

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
Pro-Rubio super PAC aims attack ads at Christie

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, ABC News, Bloomberg.com news and Washington Post

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Rubio: Obama has ‘deliberately weakened America’

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Terrence Dopp / Bloomberg.com news: Christie in New Hampshire Lays Out His Theory of His Case

Jessica Diehl / Vanity Fair:

Blowhards Beware: Megyn Kelly Will Slay You Now — The brightest star at Fox News, Megyn Kelly is a newly minted role model for women who sees her gender as irrelevant, and a conservative champion who transcends politics with her skillful skewering of windbags of both parties, most notably Donald Trump.

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Mediaite, FishbowlDC, addictinginfo.org, Daily Mail, BizPac Review, Deadline, The Daily Caller, Politico and Washington Post

Matt Adams / Fox 59:

Indianapolis bar's response to customer's complaint about ‘ruined’ New Year's Eve goes viral — Missing Attachment Missing Attachment — INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Jan. 4, 2015) - A woman suffered a heart attack during a New Year's Eve celebration at a downtown Indianapolis bar …

Discussion: WTKR-TV, The Daily Caller and KFOR-TV

BBC:

Saudi Arabia's allies Bahrain, Sudan and UAE act against Iran — A number of Saudi Arabia's allies have joined diplomatic action against Iran after the Saudi embassy in Tehran was attacked amid a row over the execution of a Shia Muslim cleric. — Bahrain and Sudan have both severed relations with Iran …

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Caller, NPR, Washington Free Beacon and The Gateway Pundit

David P. Goldman / Asia Times:
Saudi Arabia stews in policy hell: Spengler

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Power Line

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Jeb Bush Has “Mistaken And Conflated” Story About Receiving NRA Award, Campaign Admits — Bush has repeatedly claimed that he received the NRA's “statesman of the year” award. — A spokesman for Jeb Bush's campaign told BuzzFeed News on Monday that Bush had “mistaken and conflated” …

Discussion: Washington Post and alan.com

The Huffington Post:

Thinking Harder about Political Correctness — Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican presidential pack have had a field day disparaging political correctness as an affliction of liberals that is resented by regular Americans. Some liberal commentators have suggested that political correctness …

Discussion: Power Line

Tom Nichols / The Daily Beast:
How the P.C. Police Propelled Donald Trump

Discussion: Mother Jones

Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:

Every year, I take on a personal challenge to learn new things and grow outside my work at Facebook. My challenges in recent years have been to read two books every month, learn Mandarin and meet a new person every day. — My personal challenge for 2016 is to build a simple AI to run my home and help me with my work.