memeorandum: Utah Marriages Of Same-Sex Couples “On Hold” Pending Appeal, Governor's Office Says (Chris Geidner/BuzzFeed)

1:30 PM ET, January 8, 2014

Top Items:

Emails link top Christie aide to GWB lane-closing controversy — Private messages between Governor's Christie's deputy chief of staff and two of his top executives at the Port Authority reveal a vindictive effort to create “traffic problems in Fort Lee” by shutting lanes to the George Washington Bridge …

Kate Zernike / New York Times:

Top Christie Staff Sought Lane Closings as Revenge — A series of newly obtained emails and text messages shows that Gov. Chris Christie's office was closely involved with lane closings on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge in September, and that officials closed the lanes …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Wall Street Journal:

CONNECT — A top aide to Gov. Chris Christie told an executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey it was “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” before the authority closed lanes onto the George Washington Bridge in September, triggering a week of massive traffic jams, documents show.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and CNN

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:

Christie Aide: ‘Time For Some Traffic Problems In Fort Lee’ — One of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) closest aides was involved in the discussion about the order to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge in September, snarling traffic in the town of Fort Lee.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Big Trouble — As I've written several times, this Christie …

Discussion: New Jersey Online and No More Mister Nice Blog

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Record-High 42% of Americans Identify as Independents — Republican identification lowest in at least 25 years — PRINCETON, NJ — Forty-two percent of Americans, on average, identified as political independents in 2013, the highest Gallup has measured since it began conducting interviews by telephone 25 years ago.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Firedoglake, ABC News, Hit & Run, Taylor Marsh, PoliticusUSA, CNN, Hot Air, Democracy in America, Business Insider, Real Clear Politics, Outside the Beltway, Politico, CBS DC and New York Times

Ruth Rosen / In These Times: Republicans (Still) Have a ‘Female Problem’

ThinkProgress:

West Virginia Lawmaker Wants To Make It A Felony To Enforce Obamacare — Nullificationist Senator John C. Calhoun — CREDIT: (AP Photo/National Portrait Gallery) — At least 82,000 West Virginia residents are signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion alone.

Discussion: Liberaland and Martinsburg Journa

Lisa Demer / Anchorage Daily News:
GOP targets Begich over Affordable Care Act - with ad that airs just once

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:
RNC spends little on ObamaCare attacks

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:
At Democrats' Request, Even Mike Bloomberg Is Giving up on Gun Control

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN and Politico

Robert M. Gates / Wall Street Journal:

The Quiet Fury of Robert Gates — Bush and Obama's secretary of defense had to wage war in Iraq, Afghanistan—and today's Washington … All too often during my 4½ years as secretary of defense, when I found myself sitting yet again at that witness table at yet another congressional hearing …

Kristina Wong / The Hill:
White House rejects criticisms in Gates' memoir

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CNN, Washington Post, Power Line and Politico

Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
Book review: ‘Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War’ by Robert M. Gates

Discussion: The Fix, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Daily Caller, The Heritage Foundation, WorldViews, Salon, The Huffington Post, The Hinterland Gazette, NO QUARTER USA NET, Post Politics, BuzzFeed, Weasel Zippers, The Week, The New Republic and Close Read

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Obama Quit In Afghanistan

Discussion: American Prospect, crooksandliars.com/user/91, Firedoglake and The Moderate Voice

Gabrielle Giffords / New York Times:

The Lessons of Physical Therapy — TODAY, the anniversary of the shooting in Tucson that put a bullet through my head and killed six of my constituents, is when I make my annual resolutions. — Many may look at me and see mostly what I have lost. I struggle to speak, my eyesight's not great …

Discussion: Political Capital, CNN, Business Insider, Guardian, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Meena Duerson / Today:
TODAY exclusive: Gabby Giffords will sky-dive to mark shooting anniversary

Discussion: Mashable and Liberaland

Keith Edwards / Portland Press-Herald:

LePage says children should have work option — Not allowing children to work is ‘causing damage to our economy,’ the governor says. — AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage told attendees of the 73rd annual Maine Agricultural Trades Show on Tuesday that 12-year-olds should be allowed to work in Maine.

Discussion: Shakesville, Talking Points Memo and The Reaction

New York Times:

Biography Casts Critical Light on Fox News Chief — Roger Ailes was so eager to influence national politics that in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, he told fellow Fox News executives point-blank: “I want to elect the next president.” — In the corporate thicket of News Corporation …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, Random House, Mediaite, Yahoo! News, Althouse, Capital New York, Riehl World News, Business Insider and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Mey / Autostraddle:

Trans Women Carmen Carrera and Laverne Cox Respond Flawlessly To Katie Couric's Invasive Questions — On Monday, transgender model Carmen Carrera and Orange is the New Black actress Laverne Cox made a daytime TV talk show appearance on the ABC show Katie hosted by Katie Couric.

Discussion: NewsBusters and Towleroad News #gay

Jamie Stiehm / US News:

The Catholic Supreme Court's War on Women — Et tu, Justice Sonia Sotomayor? Really, we can't trust you on women's health and human rights? The lady from the Bronx just dropped the ball on American women and girls as surely as she did the sparkling ball at midnight on New Year's Eve in Times Square.

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air and Mirror of Justice

Robert Costa / Post Politics:

House GOP leaders coach rank-and-file on discussing unemployment — House Republican leaders sent a memo this week to the entire GOP conference with talking points designed to help rank-and-file Republicans show compassion for the unemployed and explain the Republican position on unemployment benefits.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, susiemadrak.com, Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, The Plum Line, News Desk, Hot Air, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, The Fix, Speaker.gov and Wonkblog

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Memo Coaches Members To Show Empathy Toward Unemployed

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post, Liberaland and The Plum Line

Paul Krugman:

On Fighting the Last War (On Poverty) — Sorry about radio silence — I've been on the road, and busy. And I still am. — I wanted, however, to say something about the 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. — By 1980 or so, as the linked CBPP piece says, there was widespread consensus that the WoP had failed.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:

‘Oh COME ON’: The Guardian's description of pro-abort Wendy Davis is beyond absurd; Update: Guardian issues correction — Here's how the sane see abortion booster Wendy Davis: … And here's The Guardian's description of the Texas Dem, courtesy of National Review fellow Betsy Woodruff:

Discussion: TheBlaze.com and Weasel Zippers

Adam Goldman / Washington Post:

Former Guantanamo detainee implicated in Benghazi attack — U.S. officials suspect that a former Guantanamo Bay detainee played a role in the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, and are planning to designate the group he leads as a foreign terrorist organization …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, National Review, The Long War Journal, Mediaite, Weekly Standard, Jihad Watch, Hot Air, CANNONFIRE, Power Line, Business Insider and Weasel Zippers

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Utah Marriages Of Same-Sex Couples “On Hold” Pending Appeal, Governor's Office Says — “Based on counsel from the Attorney General's Office regarding the Supreme Court decision, state recognition of same-sex marital status is ON HOLD until further notice.” — Jax Collins, left …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo