memeorandum: Why Cruz decided to take on Trump (Katie Glueck/Politico)

9:25 PM ET, January 13, 2016

Top Items:

Nikki Haley Dismisses SOTU Response Backlash: ‘I Stand By What I Believe’ — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said Wednesday that she stands by her GOP response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, in response to criticism from real estate mogul Donald Trump and some conservative pundits.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Mashable

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:

Nikki Haley: Donald Trump has contributed to ‘irresponsible talk’ — South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley defended her response to Tuesday's State of the Union, confirming to TODAY's Matt Lauer she was referring to Donald Trump as one of the “angriest voices” she mentioned.

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Politico, US News, The Hill, The National Interest, New York Times, Yahoo Politics, NPR, Real Clear Politics, Washington Times, NBC News, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Mashable and Speaker.gov

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Why Cruz decided to take on Trump — DORCHESTER, S.C.—For months, Ted Cruz has laughed off Donald Trump's barbs, berated reporters who mentioned him and gone to near-comic lengths to publicly express enthusiasm for the real estate mogul's rival candidacy. — Cruz isn't laughing anymore.

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, RedState, addictinginfo.org, BizPac Review, Business Insider, Betsy's Page and Real Clear Politics

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Nikki Haley: Damn right I was criticizing Trump in my SOTU rebuttal last night

Discussion: The Great Debate, RedState, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Last Refuge, Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller, Politico and NBC News

Esther Yu-Hsi Lee / ThinkProgress:
The English And Spanish Versions Of The GOP SOTU Response Were The Same, Except On Immigration

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, Naked Politics, Daily Kos and Vox

NPR:
Transcript: Gov. Nikki Haley's Republican Address To The Nation

Discussion: Breitbart, Mediaite, USA Today, ATTN, Washington Post, New York Times, RedState, The Resurgent, Florida Politics, Informed Comment, addictinginfo.org, The Last Refuge, The Gateway Pundit and Overlawyered

Jordyn Phelps / ABC News:
Nikki Haley Tells Trump 'You Shouldn't Take These Things Personally'

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Carly Fiorina Slams Nikki Haley's Speech: “It Was The Wrong Note”

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, The Resurgent and Washington Post

Julia Hahn / Breitbart:
Republican Party Uses State of the Union Response to Attack Donald Trump

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, WREG-TV, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and RedState

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
Rep. Steve King: Haley can be face of GOP because she's ‘beautiful’

Discussion: Politico

Caitlin Cruz / Talking Points Memo:
Steve King: Nikki Haley Could Be ‘Face’ Of GOP Because 'She's Beautiful'

Discussion: New York Times and AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …

John Nolte / Breitbart:
Nikki Haley Confirms She Targeted Donald Trump In SOTU Response; GOP Leaders Approved

Discussion: The Last Refuge, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Vox Popoli

Joe Pompeo / Politico:

Al Jazeera America shutting down — Al Jazeera, which made a massive investment in covering the United States less than three years ago, is slamming the brakes on its American operation. — Al Jazeera America, a cable news channel that debuted in August 2013, is shutting down.

Discussion: Al Jazeera English, RedState, Hot Air, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Truth Revolt, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

John Koblin / New York Times:

Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April — The cable news channel Al Jazeera America, which debuted in 2013 to great fanfare when it promised to cover American news soberly and seriously, is shutting down at the end of April. The move was announced at a companywide meeting on Wednesday.

Discussion: USA Today, ProFootballTalk, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Verge, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Pamela Geller and Althouse

Al Jazeera America:
Al Jazeera America to close down

Discussion: Washington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, Associated Press and CBSSports.com, more at Mediagazer »

CNNMoney:
Al Jazeera America to shut down in April

Discussion: RT, Instapundit and American Spectator, more at Mediagazer »

Mike McIntire / New York Times:

Ted Cruz Didn't Disclose Loan From Goldman Sachs for His First Senate Campaign — As Ted Cruz tells it, the story of how he financed his upstart campaign for the United States Senate four years ago is an endearing example of loyalty and shared sacrifice between a married couple.

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, Politico, Washington Post, Trail Blazers Blog, NBC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Daily Kos

David French / National Review:

Iran's Propaganda Victory in One Illegal Image — Here it is: — This photograph violates international law. Article 13 of the Geneva Convention (III), governing the treatment of prisoners of war, requires Iran to protect prisoners against “insults and public curiosity.”

Discussion: Power Line, Reuters, Hot Air, The Federalist, Associated Press, Commentary Magazine, Washington Free Beacon, USA Today, Washington Times, Instapundit, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, alicublog, Wall Street Journal and neo-neocon

Daniel W. Drezner / Washington Post:

Anatomy of a moment in macho foreign policy posturing — In thinking about U.S. foreign policy, it's always best to count to 10 slowly before speaking. — An ongoing theme of Spoiler Alerts' foreign policy coverage is that a lot of allegedly smart people don't say terribly smart things when a foreign policy crisis is occurring.

Discussion: Navy.mil The Official Website …, Politico, Vox, Breitbart, War on the Rocks, USNI News, WAVY-TV, The Gateway Pundit and American Spectator

New York Times:
Iran's Swift Release of U.S. Sailors Hailed as a Sign of Warmer Relations

CNN:
10 U.S. sailors detained by Iran freed

Discussion: BBC, The Resurgent, Politico, Farsnews, Right Wing Watch, Consortiumnews.com, The Daily Caller, Progressives Today, Hullabaloo, Little Green Footballs, The Last Tradition, WTVR-TV, Pamela Geller, The Right Scoop and Power Line

Streiff / RedState:

Ted Cruz Is Breaking Through the Establishment Firewall — Several times on RedState we've commented on how the GOP establishment seems to be poised to support and accept a Donald Trump candidacy if the alternative is Ted Cruz (here | here). What we are hearing comes mostly from the consultant/bottomfeeder class.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times and Washington Post

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:
Iowa Poll: Cruz holds 3-point lead as Trump attacks

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Politico, ABC News, Bloomberg Business, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Mother Jones, NBC News, Mediaite, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg.com, The Resurgent, The Week and The Hill

Dara Doyle / Bloomberg Business:
Trump New Favorite to Take Republican Nomination, Betfair Says

Discussion: Politico, The Resurgent and The Week

CNN:

Bernie Sanders may break health care pledge — Keene, New Hampshire (CNN)Bernie Sanders could break his pledge to release details on how he would pay for his health care plan before the Iowa caucuses, according to a top aide. — His campaign released details Wednesday of how Sanders …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Bloomberg Business, New York Times, TaxVox and RedState

ABC News:
The Note: When Chelsea Attacks

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico, Associated Press, Bloomberg.com, Truth Revolt, The Hill, Bernie Sanders, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

OPB:

Militants Use Government Computers To Create Own Website — Editor's note: This story contains offensive language. — Among the militant members who have accessed government computers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, one is an Islamic State sympathizer and Adolph Hitler acolyte.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Oregonian, Daily Kos, addictinginfo.org, Raw Story, NPR and ATTN

Les Zaitz / Oregonian:
‘Every gun in house is loaded’ — scare tactics rattle residents near Oregon occupation

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Betsy Hammond / Oregonian:
Self-appointed ‘judge’ arrives in Burns to ask local residents to charge government officials with crimes

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Melinda Henneberger / Roll Call:

Pelosi: I'm Not for Abortion on Demand — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sees the recent Republican attempt to defund Planned Parenthood as an “insult to the intelligence and judgment of women.” — Asked if she had watched any of the undercover sting videos of Planned Parenthood …

Discussion: RedState, LifeNews.com, ABC News and National Review

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
NARAL dings Pelosi on abortion rhetoric

Discussion: National Review, LifeNews.com and Hullabaloo

Ezra Klein / Vox:

This is what makes Republicans and Democrats so different — MSNBC asked Benjy Sarlin, its reporter on the Republican race, and Alex Seitz-Wald, its reporter on the Democratic race, to flip jobs for a week and write up what they learned. Their conversation is worth reading in full, but something Sarlin wrote caught my eye:

Discussion: MSNBC and The Moderate Voice

Michael Quander / WREG-TV:

Employees caught doing hair in Waffle House kitchen — FORREST CITY, Ark. — A couple of Forrest City Waffle House customers said they got more than expected with their meals early Friday morning. — “He was just coughing. Cough. Cough. Making noises like that,” Antonio Robinson said.

Discussion: theGrio and FOX31 Denver

Jonathan Swan / The Hill:

Upset Republican donors: Have we wasted our money? — Major GOP donors and fundraisers are wondering whether they're wasting their money on super-PACs. — They say they're not ready to abandon the super-PACs, but they're starting to look for ways to make them more effective during …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Mediaite, ABC News, RedState and Daily Kos

Luke Hammill / Oregonian:

Rancher: 'I didn't know anything' about Bundy entering property, destroying fence — “They didn't have my permission to do anything.” - rancher Tim Puckett, referring to Ammon Bundy's group. — BURNS — Tim Puckett, the rancher whose cattle graze private rangeland adjoining …

Discussion: Guardian, Talking Points Memo and Associated Press