memeorandum: Expanding the Climate Change Conversation (The White House)

12:45 PM ET, January 12, 2013

Top Items:

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

David Gregory and wife knew D.C. Attorney General — District of Columbia Attorney General Irvin Nathan issued a lengthy letter today explaining the decision not to prosecute David Gregory “despite the clarity of the violation of this important law,” despite rejecting NBC's claims …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Weasel Zippers, Althouse, EconLog and Washington Times

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

David Gregory will not be prosecuted — Just released by D.C. Attorney General there will be no prosecution of David Gregory despite a finding that there was a clear violation of the law (emphasis mine): … D.C. Attorney General Letter Declining to Prosecute David Gregory

Discussion: American Power, Outside the Beltway, Erik Wemple, NewsBusters.org, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Power Line

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

No gun magazine charges for David Gregory — NBC's David Gregory is off the hook for showing a high-capacity gun magazine on “Meet the Press” and will not be prosecuted, D.C.'s attorney general announced on Friday. — D.C. attorney general Irvin Nathan on Friday said he would decline …

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Althouse and The Other McCain, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Hermann / Washington Post:
NBC's Gregory won't be charged for displaying ammunition clip on TV

Discussion: Deadline.com, TalkLeft, Post Politics and Poynter

Emily Miller / Washington Times:
David Gregory gets off scot free

Discussion: Hot Air and Power Line

Anne Cai / MIT's Student Newspaper:

Aaron Swartz commits suicide — Computer activist Aaron H. Swartz committed suicide in New York City yesterday, Jan. 11, according to his uncle, Michael Wolf, in a comment to The Tech. Swartz was 26. — “The tragic and heartbreaking information you received is, regrettably, true,” …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Mashable!, Gawker, The Verge, VentureBeat, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:

RIP, Aaron Swartz — My friend Aaron Swartz committed suicide yesterday, Jan 11. He was 26. I got woken up with the news about an hour ago. I'm still digesting it — I suspect I'll be digesting it for a long time — but I thought it was important to put something public up so that we could talk about it.

Discussion: Crooked Timber and TechCrunch

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Major report warns climate change could raise temperatures by 10 degrees — The third National Climate Assessment, released Friday, said there's “unambiguous evidence” that earth is warming, and that climate change over the past 50 years is driven primarily by human activity, especially from burning fossil fuels.

Discussion: The Agonist, Mother Jones and Wonkblog

The White House:
Expanding the Climate Change Conversation

Discussion: Guardian

Michael O'Brien / First Read:

Dems urge Obama to raise debt limit without Congress, if necessary — Senate Democratic leaders urged President Barack Obama to act to increase the nation's debt limit, even without congressional approval, in order to avoid a standoff with Republicans over the nation's borrowing authority.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Politico:
Reid to Obama: OK to skip Congress on debt ceiling

Discussion: White House Dossier, Weasel Zippers, Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal and Hot Air

Rep. Jerrold Nadler / Economy & Budget:
The debt ceiling must go

Discussion: CNN, PostPartisan, Washington Examiner and National Republican …

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Top Senate Dems to White House: If you unilaterally raise debt ceiling, we've got your back

Discussion: NRSC, Hullabaloo, Townhall.com, Paul Krugman, The Maddow Blog, Business Insider and Eschaton

Brian Thompson / nbcnewyork.com:

Lautenberg Has Decided Not to Run Again: Sources — The news comes the same week that Newark Mayor Cory Booker has filed papers allowing him to raise money for a U.S. Senate run in New Jersey. News 4 s Brian Thompson spoke exclusively with Mayor Booker about that decision.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Philly.com, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Politico, The Hill, Ballot Box and The Daily Caller

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:

Makers of Violent Video Games Marshal Support to Fend Off Regulation — WASHINGTON — With the Newtown, Conn., massacre spurring concern over violent video games, makers of popular games like Call of Duty and Mortal Kombat are rallying Congressional support to try to fend off their biggest regulatory threat in two decades.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Matthew Kaminski / Wall Street Journal:

Marco Rubio: Riding to the Immigration Rescue — Marco Rubio, Florida's GOP senator, unveils his reform ideas to ‘modernize’ the system and put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. — Coral Gables, Fla. — Marco Rubio—41-year-old son of working-class Cuban exiles—has lived the upwardly mobile immigrant experience.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Frank Luntz / Washington Post:

Why Republicans should watch their language — Frank Luntz, a pollster, is the author of “Win: The Key Principles to Take Your Business From Ordinary to Extraordinary.” — This coming week, House Republicans will gather in Williamsburg, Va., to discuss what went wrong in 2012.

Discussion: p m carpenter's commentary, Applesauce and Daily Kos

Jason Lange / Reuters:

Americans feel austerity's bite as payroll taxes rise — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are beginning to feel the pinch from Washington's decision to embrace austerity measures aimed at bringing down the nation's budget deficit. — Paychecks across the country have shrunk over the last week due …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

James Joyner / The Atlantic Online:

No Longer the ‘Party of Eisenhower and Reagan’ — Republican opposition to defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel reveals just how far the party's thinking has drifted on foreign policy. — Jason Reed/Reuters — With exit polls showing that the country trusted him more to conduct U.S. foreign policy …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Agonist, Power Line and Washington Post

Max Fisher / Washington Post:

The anti-Americanism of Jackie Chan — Jackie Chan, shown here at a comedy show in San Diego, disparaged the United States on a Chinese TV show. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images) — Americans know Jackie Chan best for his cheery, acrobatic performances in action movies such as “Rumble in the Bronx” …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Gawker

Cindy Adams / New York Post:

Patti Davis rips ‘1600 Penn’ ‘stupidity’ — “1600 Penn” - NBC's new sitcom about a dysfunctional First Family - gets a thumbs-down from Patti Davis, who was there for eight years when her father Ronald Reagan was president. — Davis — who tried to sell a similar TV show last year titled …

Discussion: Associated Press

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

MSNBC Hosts In ‘Really Deep’ Segment On Need To Call Him ‘President Barack Obama’ In Every Single Reference — On Friday, MSNBC's The Cycle investigated the outrage directed at cohost Steve Kornacki, as well as other journalists, for referring to President Barack Obama simply as “Obama” after the first reference.

Discussion: Hot Air

Jill Lawrence / NationalJournal.com:

Obama Has Already Cemented His Legacy, Like It or Not — Ron Fournier says Obama's legacy hinges on Term Two. But that disregards a couple of game-changers from Term One. — What does a president have to do these days to get his face carved into a mountainside?

Discussion: American Power, Washington Free Beacon, Weasel Zippers and National Review