memeorandum: Former Guantanamo detainee implicated in Benghazi attack (Adam Goldman/Washington Post)

1:10 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 …

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

Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Top Christie Staff Sought Lane Closings as Revenge

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Week and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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, 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’

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Lisa Demer / Anchorage Daily News:

GOP targets Begich over Affordable Care Act - with ad that airs just once — ldemer@adn.comJanuary 7, 2014 Updated 51 minutes ago — The Republican National Committee announced Tuesday a fresh round in an expected torrent of campaign ads targeting Sen. Mark Begich and other Democrats for their part in the …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

ThinkProgress:
West Virginia Lawmaker Wants To Make It A Felony To Enforce Obamacare

Discussion: Liberaland and Martinsburg Journa

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: CNN, Hot Air 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, Power Line and Politico

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

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

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

Discussion: Mashable and Liberaland

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 »

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 and Talking Points Memo

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

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: Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

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

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Immigration reform's narrow window for survival — Immigration reform backers see a narrow window in late spring to push a sweeping overhaul through the House — a goal that eluded them in 2013. — The politics of immigration in the Republican-controlled chamber is still tough …

Discussion: CNN

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

Drama roils race to replace Rep. Bill Young — The GOP race to replace the late Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) has become a political soap opera that could jeopardize Republicans' hold on the seat. — It has all the makings of a daytime drama: a widow disavowing her son due to opposing primary allegiances …

Matt Higgins / CBS DC:

Obama To Announce 5 ‘Promise Zones’ In Effort To Focus On Income Inequality — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will announce five “Promise Zones” this week as part of his effort to focus on income inequality in the lead-up to his State of the Union address.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers and National Review