memeorandum: Shares — Washington has been abuzz this past week … (CBS News)

10:05 PM ET, January 12, 2014

Top Items:

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Why Bridgegate made headlines but Obama's IRS scandal didn't — Most government scandals involve the manipulation of the system in obscure ways by people no one has ever heard of. That is why George Washington Bridgegate is nearly a perfect scandal — because it is comprehensible and …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Ed Driscoll and Outside the Beltway

Keith Laing / The Hill:

Christie scandal: 5 things we don't know — Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) may have exhausted reporters' inquiries into his administration's involvement in the closing of lanes on the country's most heavily-traveled bridge, but there are still many unanswered questions in the unfolding political saga.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Taylor Marsh, The Reaction and New York Times

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

Karl Rove: Bridge scandal proves Christie is ‘what we want’ in a president — Republican strategist Karl Rove asserted on Sunday that New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie's (R) handling of the George Washington Bridge Scandal showed he had the right qualities to be president of the United States.

Discussion: Associated Press, ThinkProgress, The Hill, The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, Weasel Zippers, Washington Monthly, Liberaland, Mediaite and Hullabaloo

New York Times:

Thunder Road — WASHINGTON — I HAVE learned two things covering politics. — One, first impressions are often right. John Edwards is slick. Hillary Clinton is expedient. W. was in over his head. Barack Obama is too much in his head. Chris Christie can be a bully.

Discussion: Althouse, Connecting.the.Dots, Daily Kos and Riehl World News

Benjamin Bell / ABC News:

Rudy Giuliani: Chris Christie's Career ‘Completely at Risk’ If He Isn't Telling the Truth — Today on “This Week,” former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, but warned that the Garden State governor is putting his political future in jeopardy …

Discussion: ABC News

Maggie Haberman / Politico: The unanswered ‘Bridgegate’ questions

Seung Min Kim / Politico: Giuliani defends Christie in bridge scandal

Michael Isikoff / NBCNews:
Democrat heading bridge probe says Christie could be impeached if he knew of closures

Discussion: Gothamist, Mediaite, Liberaland and Post Politics

CBS News:

Shares — Washington has been abuzz this past week over the new memoir by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Now Secretary Gates speaks for himself in his first television interview about his book. Our Cover Story is reported by Rita Braver: — Robert Gates doesn't pull …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Hot Air, CNN and Mediaite

Robert M. Gates / Wall Street Journal:
The Wars of Robert Gates

Discussion: Moe Lane

Ashley Killough / CNN:
McCain: Send Petraeus back to Iraq

Discussion: Politico

msnbc.com:

Important new developments in New Jersey's ‘bridgegate’ scandal — Steve Kornacki shares new information about why the “bridgegate” scandal in New Jersey is much bigger than a traffic jam. He explains how the political and...

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Raw Story

Andrew J. Bacevich / Los Angeles Times:

The misuse of American might, and the price it pays — The United States no longer knows how to win wars, but it continues to start them. — “These days the United States absolves itself of any responsibility to finish wars that it starts,” writes Andrew J. Bacevich. (Edel Rodriguez / For The Times / January 11, 2014)

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Associated Press:

Health Care Website Frustrates Spanish Speakers — Mirroring problems with the federal health care website, people around the nation attempting to navigate the Spanish version have discovered their own set of difficulties. — The site, CuidadoDeSalud.gov, launched more than two months late.

Discussion: Moe Lane, Hot Air and Hit & Run

Washington Post:

Maryland officials were warned for a year of problems with online health-insurance site — More than a year before Maryland launched its health insurance exchange, senior state officials failed to heed warnings that no one was ultimately accountable for the $170 million project …

Discussion: Right Wing News, CBS DC, Hot Air, Post Politics, Moe Lane and Weasel Zippers

Steven Yaccino / New York Times:

Keeping Public Buildings Free of Guns Proves Too Costly for Kansas Towns — WICHITA, Kan. — Reasoning that more guns mean greater safety, Kansas lawmakers voted last year to require cities and counties to make public buildings accessible to people legally carrying concealed weapons.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Robert H. Frank / New York Times:

The Vicious Circle of Income Inequality — Almost every culture has some variation on the saying, “rags to rags in three generations.” Whether it's “clogs to clogs” or “rice paddy to rice paddy,” the message is essentially the same: Starting with nothing, the first generation builds …

Discussion: EconLog