memeorandum: Gingrich's College Records Show a Professor Hatching Big Plans (Elizabeth Williamson/Wall Street Journal)

8:15 PM ET, January 18, 2012

Top Items:

Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline — The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm's application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Grist, Michelle Malkin, Opinion L.A., Wake up America, Weasel Zippers, Questions and Observations, Sunlight Foundation Blog, Booman Tribune, Conservatives4Palin, Hot Air, St. Louis Activist Hub and Mediaite

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:

Obama's jobs council report says ‘drill’ — President Obama's jobs council called Tuesday for an “all-in approach” to energy policy that includes expanded oil-and-gas drilling as well as expediting energy projects like pipelines. — “[W]e should allow more access to oil …

Discussion: CNN, Reuters, Washington Post, Crooks and Liars, The Heritage Foundation, Hullabaloo, The 1600 Report, Hot Air, Wake up America, Grist, JustOneMinute, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Questions and Observations and Betsy's Page

Darren Goode / Reuters:

Keystone XL pipeline rejected by Obama administration — President Barack Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline on Wednesday, saying it would not “serve the national interest” to grant a permit on the 60-day timeline that Congress imposed at Republicans' insistence in December.

Discussion: The Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNN, Grist, The Heritage Foundation, Mediaite, Heritage Action for America, Political Mojo, The Daily Dish, Angry Black Lady Chronicles and Pirate's Cove

Brad Johnson / ThinkProgress:
President Obama: ‘Rushed And Arbitrary Deadline’ Of GOP Forced Me To Reject Keystone XL

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
AFL-CIO's Trumka slams Obama's jobs council

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and CNN

John Parkinson / ABCNEWS:
Keystone Pipeline Delay Sparks Outrage on Capitol Hill

Discussion: Fox News Insider and nation.foxnews.com

The White House: Statement by the President on the Keystone XL Pipeline

James Crugnale / Mediaite:
Boehner Blasts Obama Over Approving Solyndra But Rejecting Keystone XL Pipeline

Discussion: Pat Dollard and ThinkProgress

New York Times:
State Dept. Delays Oil Pipeline, Officials Say

Discussion: Campaign 2012, News Desk, Outside the Beltway and Daily Kos

Wallacegw / CNN:

CNN/Time Poll: Race for South Carolina tightening — Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - With three days to go until the first-in-the south primary, Mitt Romney remains in the lead in the Palmetto State, but according to a new poll, his advantage over Newt Gingrich is rapidly shrinking.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, American Power, Los Angeles Times, Trail Blazers Blog, The Situation Room …, Campaign 2012, Taegan Goddard's …, The Politico, Campaign Stops and Washington Examiner

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Rick Perry's Final Act: King Maker? — “Rick Perry's campaign has come to an end. But he could leave on an unexpected high note — helping conservatives unite around one not-Romney” — Barring a miracle, this is Rick Perry's final act in the 2012 elections. On Saturday, he will come in last in South Carolina.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, Ballot Box, Los Angeles Times, Hot Air, CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Democratic Daily

ABCNEWS:
New Orwellian-Themed Santorum Ad Takes Aim At ‘Establishment’ and Romney

Discussion: Hot Air and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Jimmy Carter Tells Piers Morgan That Newt Gingrich ‘Has That Subtlety Of Racism’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Israel Matzav

The Politico:
Anxious Mitt Romney lights into Newt Gingrich

Discussion: CNN

ABCNEWS:
Romney Staff Denies He's Citing Woman Who Got Cash Handout

Discussion: Mediaite and Colorlines

Jennifer Martinez / The Politico:

SOPA blackout leads co-sponsors to defect — Amid online protests that include major websites like Wikipedia blacking out their sites, a few co-sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act in Congress are defecting. — Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), originally a co-sponsor of the bill, pulled his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post, Threat Level, Guardian, Omaha World-Herald, PC World, TechCrunch, Mashable!, The Gateway Pundit, Techdirt, The Political Carnival, Balloon Juice, Liberal Values and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Megan Slack / White House.gov Blog:

By the Numbers: 103,785 — A total of 103,785 people signed We the People petitions asking the Obama Administration to protect an open and innovative internet. A petition asking President Obama to veto the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) got 51,689 signatures, while 52,096 people signed the “Stop the E-PARSITE Act” petition.

Discussion: CNN, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Blog of Rights, Scientific American and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Support for Web Bill Wanes as Protests Spread

Discussion: Firedoglake, Media Decoder, Bits, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, News Desk, Wired Campus, Gawker, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Campaign 2012, Wonkette and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Jim Puzzanghera / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
SOPA blackout: Bills lose three co-sponsors amid protests

Discussion: nytm.org, Bits, Company Town, GigaOM, Heritage Action for America, THEROOT.COM and Runnin' Scared, more at Techmeme »

Drudge Report:

NEWT EX-WIFE UNLOADS ON CAMERA; NETWORK DEBATES ‘ETHICS’ OF AIRING BEFORE SC PRIMARY — Marianne Gingrich has said she could end her ex-husband's career with a single interview. — Earlier this week, she sat before ABCNEWS cameras, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Big Journalism, TVNewser, Ricochet Conversations Feed and The Stranger …

Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:

Morning Jay: What to Make of Obama's Approval Bounce? — You might have noticed recently that Barack Obama's job approval has ticked up slightly in the last few weeks. What to make of this? — Here is the RealClearPolitics average: — Two months ago, the president's job approval was 43.7 percent.

Marjorie Connelly / The Caucus:

G.O.P. in Congress Gets Blame for Gridlock — The public is not assigning blame equally between President Obama and Republicans in Congress for the partisan gridlock over key legislation. — In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, 60 percent say Mr. Obama is attempting to work …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Dish

Michelle Malkin:

Editor's Note of the Day — This was attached to the end of a nauseating Boston Globe article celebrating the amorous relations between Occupy protesters: … Oops. — The Boston Herald called out the Globe for its lazy vetting: … Bias? What bias? Congrats, Boston Globe.

Discussion: Hot Air

Jessica Heslam / Boston Herald:
Key fact fails to occupy Globe story

Discussion: Poynter and The Daily Caller

Elizabeth Williamson / Wall Street Journal:

Gingrich's College Records Show a Professor Hatching Big Plans — A year into his first full-time teaching job, Newt Gingrich applied to be college president, submitting with his application a paper titled “Some Projections on West Georgia College's Next Thirty Years.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Political Carnival, Wonkette, FishbowlDC and Swampland

Esquire:

Bill Clinton: Someone We Can All Agree On — Even his staunchest enemies now regard his presidency as the good old days. He has become the rare consensus figure in a country that has lost all sense of consensus. So we talked to him about where it went, and how we might get it back.

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:
Bill Clinton: MSNBC is ‘our version of Fox’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Paul Polls / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Unpopular Nationally, Romney Holds Solid GOP Lead — OVERVIEW — Days ahead of the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney maintains a substantial lead nationally in the race for the GOP nomination. Yet his image among all voters has slipped since November and he runs no better …

Discussion: Firedoglake, American Prospect, Indecision Forever, The Political Carnival and Weekly Standard

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

When polished meets clumsy — When compared against his Republican rivals, Mitt Romney is extremely slick. After nearly 18 years as a politician, and more than five years as a near-constant presidential candidate, the former governor is clearly smoother and better prepared than his GOP opponents.

Discussion: Paul Krugman, A plain blog about politics, The Reaction, Washington Post and The Caucus

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Romney Caricatures Himself

Discussion: American Prospect, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, Jared Bernstein and Public Policy Polling

ABCNEWS:

Romney Parks Millions in Cayman Islands — Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven. — A spokesperson for the Romney campaign …

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Guardian

Kari Huus / msnbc.com:

Prosecutors aim new weapon at Occupy activists: lynching allegation — Screen grab from youtube video showing the arrest of Occupy LA activist Sergio Ballesteros on Thursday, Jan. 12. Ballesteros, 30, was released on $50,000 bail early Tuesday. He is charged with “lynching” …

Discussion: Don Surber and Weasel Zippers

Rolling Stone:

Julian Assange: The Rolling Stone Interview — Under house arrest in England, the WikiLeaks founder opens up about his battle with the ‘Times,’ his stint in solitary and the future of journalism — It's a few days before Christmas, and Julian Assange has just finished moving to a new hide-out deep in the English countryside.

Discussion: Pat Dollard and Weasel Zippers, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

3rd Annual TV News Trust Poll — PPP's 3rd annual TV news trust poll (2011 version here, 2010 version here) finds that Fox News tops the list for both the source Americans trust the most and the one they trust the least. — Fox is the most trusted TV news source for 34% of voters …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Firedoglake and Hot Air