memeorandum: Ark. campaign manager's cat slaughtered (David Catanese/The Politico)

5:05 PM ET, January 23, 2012

Top Items:

Newt Surges to Lead in Fla., Romney Trails by 8 Points — More ways to share... Mixx — Stumbled — LinkedIn — Vine — Buzzflash — Newstrust — Technocrati — Forward Article — Newt Gingrich has now surged to a significant lead over Mitt Romney in Florida …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Wire, Mediaite, Washington Post, CBS Dallas, Real Clear Politics, Wake up America, The PJ Tatler, Indecision Forever, Donklephant, ProfessorBainbridge.com, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, American Power, iOwnTheWorld.com and The Political Carnival

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:

Mitt Romney tells ‘interrupters’ at rally to ‘take a hike’ — Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at Allstar Building Materials in Ormond Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak / January 22, 2012) — Mitt Romney opened an aggressive new phase …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Politico, The Caucus, Booman Tribune, Riehl World View, The PJ Tatler, Shakesville, Connecting.the.Dots, Wake up America, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Caller and The Raw Story

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:

FLORIDA FAMILIES — While Florida families struggled during the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in while working for Freddie Mac. After being sanctioned for ethics violations and resigning in disgrace, Newt Gingrich cashed in as a D.C. insider. President Obama and his campaign …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, CNN, Washington Post, The Caucus, PJ Media, The Stranger …, ABCNEWS, Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, Orlando Sentinel and Swampland

Wall Street Journal:
The Gingrich Challenge — A test for Romney, GOP officials …

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog, GOP 12 and Weekly Standard

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:
Gingrich tops 40 percent in Rasmussen Florida poll

Discussion: CNN and The Other McCain

Wallacegw / CNN:
TRENDING: Paul skipping primary night in Florida

Discussion: GOP 12, Wake up America and Orlando Sentinel

Jim Vandeheiand Mike Allen / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich: The master of disguise

Discussion: CNN, Reuters, Little Green Footballs, National Review, Hot Air, Pirate's Cove, Taylor Marsh and Towleroad News #gay

David Weigel / Slate:
Romney Campaign on Newt: “We Want to Know What Nancy Pelosi Knows”

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh and The Caucus

Michael Crowley / Swampland:
Newt Gingrich vs.the Establishment: South Carolina Sets Up Intra-GOP Conflict

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Tales from the Trail, Mad Kane's Political Madness and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Poll: Gingrich surges to lead in Florida primary

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Politico, Questions and Observations, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, GOP 12, Donklephant, Prairie Weather and The Hill

Tim Mak / The Politico:

Rand Paul detained by TSA — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was detained Monday by the Transportation Security Administration in Nashville, Tenn., after refusing a full body pat-down, POLITICO has confirmed. — “I spoke with him five minutes ago and he was being detained indefinitely,” Paul spokesperson Moira Bagley said.

Discussion: tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Little Green Footballs, Wonkette, ABCNEWS, Campaign 2012 and Indecision Forever

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Sen. Rand Paul ‘detained’ by TSA in Nashville, TSA denies — Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul's press secretary Moira Bagley tweeted on Monday that Transportation Security Administration officials were detaining her boss in Nashville, Tenn. — “Just got a call from @senrandpaul,” Bagley tweeted at about 10 a.m. on Monday.

ABCNEWS:
Rand Paul in Pat-Down Standoff With TSA in Nashville

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Big Government, PolitickerNY and US Politics

A.Killough / CNN:
Spokeswoman: TSA turns away Sen. Rand Paul

Discussion: The Politico and National Review

Digby / Hullabaloo: @bwilliams Ask Ron Paul 2night if he thinks states (as opposed to feds) have right 2 pat down airline travelers

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Santorum To Rape Victims: ‘Make The Best Out Of A Bad Situation’ — Standing steadfast as the most socially right-wing candidate in the GOP presidential field, Rick Santorum has repeatedly touted his extreme anti-choice position, which dictates that abortion should be uniformly illegal, even in cases of rape or incest.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Santorum Promises To Outlaw Gay Civil Marriage Because It Does Not Reflect 'God's Will For Us' — Rick Santorum told CNN's Piers Morgan on Friday that he would never change his opposition to same-sex marriage because it does not reflect “God's will for us.”

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

KIRO-TV:
Wash. has enough votes to legalize gay marriage

Discussion: ThinkProgress, NOM Blog and Towleroad News #gay

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Washington's Anti-Gay Pastor To Marriage Supporters: You Think ‘You Know Better Than God’

Discussion: pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com, Good As You and Towleroad News #gay

David Kravets / Threat Level:

Supreme Court Court Rejects Willy-nilly GPS Tracking — The Supreme Court said Monday that law enforcement authorities might need a probable-cause warrant from a judge to affix a GPS device to a vehicle and monitor its every move — but the justices did not say that a warrant was needed in all cases.

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Hit & Run, Above the Law, Gizmodo and Gov 2.0, more at Techmeme »

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Police Use of G.P.S. Is Ruled Unconstitutional — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that the police violated the Constitution when they placed a Global Positioning System tracking device on a suspect's car and tracked its movements for 28 days.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, SCOTUSblog, The Agitator, emptywheel, Cato @ Liberty, ACS Blog and Outside the Beltway

Jennifer Haberkorn / The Politico:
Supreme Court says no to debate over Elena Kagan health care role

Discussion: CNN and Hit & Run

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court: Warrants needed in GPS tracking

Discussion: ABCNEWS, USA Today, The Politico, TalkLeft and SCOTUSblog

Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:

THE OBAMA MEMOS … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - TABLE OF CONTENTS - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE

Discussion: Politics, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, DealBook, News Desk, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, The New Republic, Washington Post, ThinkProgress and Paul Krugman

Chicago Tribune:

Sen. Mark Kirk undergoes surgery after suffering stroke — U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk underwent surgery today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after suffering a stroke, his office said. — “On Saturday, Senator Kirk checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital, where doctors discovered …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, Israel Matzav and The Gateway Pundit

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
GOP Sen. Mark Kirk suffers stroke

Discussion: The Politico

David Catanese / The Politico:

Ark. campaign manager's cat slaughtered — The campaign manager for an Arkansas House Democratic candidate found his cat slaughtered with the word “liberal” painted on its corpse. — Ken Aden's congressional campaign said Monday that Jacob Burris arrived home Sunday evening with his family …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
Arkansas Democratic Campaign Manager Comes Home To Find Child's Cat Murdered, ‘LIBERAL’ Written On Dead Body

Discussion: Gawker

Ken Aden For Congress:
Democratic Congressional Campaign Manager's Family Pet Killed

Discussion: The Political Carnival and The Raw Story

Mark Steyn / National Review:

The Man Who Gave Us Newt — The nature of this peculiar primary season - the reason it seems at odds with both the 2009-2010 political narrative and the seriousness of the times - was determined by Mitt Romney. Even if you don't mind RomneyCare, or the abortion flip-flop, or any of the rest …

Discussion: Ross Douthat, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, Rod Dreher, Jay Bookman, Betsy's Page, Campaign 2012, GOP 12, Ricochet Conversations Feed and News Desk

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Romney: U.S. economy ‘getting better’ under Obama — Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit StumbleUpon Delicious — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” yesterday and argued that President Obama's policies “have actually made our economy worse.” Then he said it again.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Fred Lucas / CNSNews:

Obama Defends Roe v. Wade As Way for ‘Our Daughters’ to Have Same Chance As Sons to ‘Fulfill Their Dreams’ — (CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama says the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is the chance to recognize the “fundamental constitutional right” to abortion and to …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Rick Santorum / Wall Street Journal:
My Fight for Life — The other Republican candidates simply check the pro-life box.

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Politico, LifeNews.com, New York Magazine, The Hill, Campaign 2012 and The Huffington Post

David Frum / CNN:

Editor's note: David Frum, a CNN contributor, was a special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002. He is the author of six books, including “Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again.” — (CNN) — “Why liberals oppose a strong American presence in space.”

Discussion: This Just In