memeorandum: Pat Harrington Jr., ‘Schneider’ of TV's ‘One Day at a Time,’ dies at 86 (Adam Bernstein/Washington Post)

3:30 PM ET, January 7, 2016

Top Items:

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

John McCain: “I Don't Know” If Cruz Is Eligible For Presidency With Canadian Birth — McCain, the Republican nominee in 2008, was born in the Panama Canal Zone when it was a U.S. territory. — Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images — w.soundcloud.com — Arizona Sen. John McCain …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Vox, New York Times, American Spectator, Washington Post, NBC News, addictinginfo.org, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, CNN, Instapundit and Daily Kos

Rich Lowry / Politico:

Ted Cruz Is Nixon, Not Goldwater — The lazy conventional wisdom is that Ted Cruz is the new Barry Goldwater doomed to suffer an electoral landslide defeat should he win the Republican nomination. — Not only is this wrong about Cruz's general-election chances, it may compare Cruz to the wrong 20th-century Republican forebear.

Discussion: The Hill, Political Wire, Rush Limbaugh, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Resurgent and New York Times

Andrew McCarthy / National Review:
Ted Cruz, Natural Born Citizen

Discussion: Breitbart, Mother Jones, Associated Press, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Power Line, CNN, The Hill and Talking Points Memo

CBS News:
John McCain: Ted Cruz's citizenship is “worth looking into”

Discussion: BuzzFeed, PoliticusUSA, Taylor Marsh, RedState, The Resurgent, Trail Blazers Blog and MichelleMalkin.com

Jennifer Hansler / ABC News:
Donald Trump Wants Ted Cruz to ‘Go Before a Judge’ About His Citizenship

Discussion: Associated Press, Yahoo Politics, Politico, addictinginfo.org, abc13.com, neo-neocon, Hot Air, The Hill and Daily Mail

A.B. Stoddard / The Hill: Cruz's path to victory

Reid J. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:
Ethanol Backers Mobilize Against Ted Cruz in Iowa Republican Race

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Hot Air and Des Moines Register

The Hill:

Bill Clinton rape accuser: Hillary ‘tried to silence’ me — A woman who publicly accused former President Bill Clinton of raping her in 1978 is resurrecting her claims on social media. — “I was 35 years old when Bill Clinton, Ark. Attorney General raped me,” Juanita Broaddrick tweeted Wednesday.

Discussion: Politico, Progressives Today, ABC News, The Daily Caller, American Spectator, Vox, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and BizPac Review

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

The Bill Clinton scandal machine revs back up and takes aim at his wife — The ghosts of the 1990s have returned to confront Hillary Clinton, released from the vault by Donald Trump and revved up by a 21st-century version of the scandal machine that almost destroyed her husband's presidency.

Discussion: RedState, Washington Free Beacon, Althouse and USA Today

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
From Whitewater to Benghazi: A Clinton Scandal Primer

Discussion: RedState, USA Today, Associated Press, National Review and Salon

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:
Christie: If Rubio were nominee, Hillary would ‘cut his heart out’

Discussion: Washington Post

Justin Huggler / Telegraph:

Suspects in Cologne sex attacks ‘claimed to be Syrian refugees’ — Leaked police report claims senior police officers feared fatalities and that one of those involved in attacks told officers: “I am Syrian. You have to treat me kindly. Mrs Merkel invited me”

Discussion: The Atlantic, neo-neocon, BBC, Breitbart, National Review, Power Line, Guardian, Hot Air, Spectator, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Instapundit and Daily Mail

Spiegel Online:

Police Report Outlines ‘Chaotic and Shameful’ New Year's Eve — An internal police protocol has revealed the full extent of the violence in Cologne on New Year's Eve. According to the report, which SPIEGEL has seen, officials were overwhelmed and powerless to help some people calling for help.

Discussion: RT, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Jihad Watch

BBC:

Cologne sex attacks ‘require police rethink’ — Police in Germany will have to rethink their tactics following attacks on women in the city of Cologne on New Year's Eve, a senior official has said. — Ralf Jaeger, interior minister for North Rhine-Westphalia, said police had to “adjust” …

Discussion: Mediaite, Above the Law, Truth Revolt and The Daily Caller

Molly Ball / The Atlantic:

The Pugnacious, Relentless Progressive Party That Wants to Remake America … At a recent private dinner in Manhattan, a small group of leftists plotted to take over America. — The group, a dozen community organizers and activists from all over the country, had convened at a sushi restaurant …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Theodore Schleifer / CNN:

First on CNN: Megadonor Dick Uihlein gives $1 million to Ted Cruz's Super PAC — (CNN)Dick Uilhlein, one of the top Republican megadonors nationwide, has decided to back Ted Cruz's presidential campaign and has donated $1 million to his super PAC. — Uilhlein committed on Wednesday evening …

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg.com and Chicago

Beth Reinhard / Wall Street Journal:
Hank Greenberg Gives $10 Million to Super PAC Backing Jeb Bush

Discussion: Bloomberg Business and Politico

Zach Despart / Burlington Free Press:

Burlington raises concerns over Trump event — Vermonters who plan to see Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speak on Thursday should prepare for “airport-like” security and sizable crowds after the campaign issued tickets for more than 10 times the number of available seats, the Flynn Center's executive director says.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Mediaite and NBC News

Nik DeCosta-Klipa / Boston Globe:
Watch: Donald Trump supporters tear up 'America's Already Great' sign at Lowell rally

Discussion: Raw Story, addictinginfo.org, Hartford Courant and alan.com

Lindsay Gibbs / ThinkProgress:

After Horrific Rape Charges, Tennessee High School Cancels Basketball Season — Three basketball players at Ooltewah High School in Tennessee have been charged with the aggravated rape and assault of a 15-year-old freshman teammate on December 21. — Now, as the investigation …

Discussion: timesfreepress.com, Raw Story and all

Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:

A Dejected Mike Huckabee Is Now Just Burning Bridges With The Religious Right — Mike Huckabee has made no secret of his disappointment in fact that Religious Right leaders have failed to rally around his presidential campaign, with many of them instead backing Ted Cruz.

Discussion: Raw Story, Fox News, addictinginfo.org and Joe.My.God.

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Alabama Governor's Office Sues Obama Administration Over Refugee Resettlement — President Obama shakes hands with Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley upon arrival in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 26, 2015. — Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images — Alabama officials entered the legal fray …

CNN:

Man with cleaver killed by Paris police on anniversary of Charlie Hebdo attacks — Deadly shooting outside Paris police station — Police kill man with cleaver after he tried to enter a northern Paris police station, officials say — (CNN)Police shot and killed a man wielding …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, The Week, American Spectator and Scared Monkeys

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Veepstakes cloud Senate GOP hopes of preserving majority — The Republican imperative to put together a strong White House ticket is butting up against the party's dream of preserving the Senate GOP majority. — Republican strategists say Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte …

Discussion: The Week

Eliza Collins / Politico:

Rubio mocks media coverage of his boots: ‘This is craziness’ — Marco Rubio thinks the media frenzy over his trendy high-heeled boots is a troubling example of “where we are as a country,” but that doesn't mean he's taking them off the trail for good. — “Let me get this right.

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times and Washington Post

Sarah Pulliam Bailey / Washington Post:

New charges allege religious leader, who has ties to the Duggars, sexually abused women — Ten women on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Bill Gothard, who for decades was a major force in the conservative Christian homeschooling movement, charging him and leaders in his ministry with sexual abuse, harassment and cover-up.

Discussion: Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Gawker and Homeschoolers Anonymous

Science:

The 5300-year-old Helicobacter pylori genome of the Iceman — 1Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC), Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy. — 2Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, Schittenhelmstrasse 12, 24105 Kiel, Germany.

Discussion: The Verge, Bloomberg View, Washington Post and STAT

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

Email Shows CNN's Invite Only Gun Control “Town Hall” With Obama is a Total Sham — Following his executive actions this week, President Obama will participate in what CNN is calling a “town hall” style discussion about gun control at George Mason University tomorrow night.

Discussion: Bearing Arms

Timothy B. Lee / Vox:

Cellphone plans are getting cheaper — thanks, Obama! (and T-Mobile) — Next time you go shopping for a new cellphone plan, you're likely to find that the options are a lot better than they were a couple of years ago. Prices are lower. You don't have to sign up for one of those annoying two-year contracts.

Discussion: Mother Jones

Marco Rubio / USA Today:

Convention can restore limited government — Our republic is under siege by the Washington establishment in both parties. — America was built on the revolutionary idea that our rights come from God, not from government. To protect those rights, our founders created a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Slate, Washington Monthly, Washington Post and American Prospect

Associated Press:

17 miners rescued from salt mine near Ithaca — LANSING, N.Y. (AP) — Seventeen miners stuck 900 feet underground at the deepest salt mine in the Western Hemisphere were rescued Thursday morning, ending an ordeal that officials said began about 10 hours earlier when an elevator got stuck on its way to the mine's floor.

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press and The Week

Numbers / Pew Research Center:

Can Likely Voter Models Be Improved? — Evidence from the 2014 U.S. House elections — In recent years, polling has missed the mark in several high-profile elections, drawing particular attention to the difficulties inherent in using surveys to predict election outcomes.

Discussion: Washington Post and New York Times