memeorandum: Solved: Nathan Deal's mysterious overseas adventure (Greg Bluestein/Political Insider blog)

4:40 PM ET, January 21, 2015

Top Items:

The White House / Medium:

President Obama's State of the Union Address—Remarks As Prepared for Delivery — There is a ritual on State of the Union night in Washington. A little before the address, the White House sends out an embargoed copy of the President's speech to the press (embargoed means that the press can see the speech …

Discussion: Slate, The Atlantic Online, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, White House.gov Blog, BREITBART.COM, The New Republic, theGrio, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Advocate, RedState, Guardian, TPNN, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, Mashable, US News, Yahoo! News, Taylor Marsh, Poynter, Hot Air, Mondoweiss, The Week, Shakesville, Bloomberg View, RH Reality Check, The Huffington Post, Outside the Beltway, Climate Etc., Bloomberg Politics, ThinkProgress, Crux, Firedoglake, USA Today, The Daily Caller, The Glittering Eye, Scared Monkeys, Wall Street Journal, Feministing, BuzzFeed, ImmigrationProf Blog, Addicting Info, Engadget, Daily Signal, The Verge, Politico, Gigaom, NBC News, Bold Nebraska, BillMoyers.com, Gawker, Power Line, Hinterland Gazette, Esquire, Washington Monthly, Weekly Standard and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

Ezra Klein / Vox:

The most important sentence in Obama's 2015 State of the Union — 1) The most striking sentence in President Obama's 2015 State of the Union came near the start: “Tonight, we turn the page.” — 2) It is the seventh year of Obama's presidency. But it's the first in which the economy is no longer in crisis.

Discussion: Hit & Run and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Barack Obama's disconnected, out-of-touch, in-denial State of the Union

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly and Bloomberg Politics

Brent Scher / Washington Free Beacon:
Woman Showcased by Obama in SOTU is a Former Democratic Campaign Staffer

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

The White House:
Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address | January 20, 2015

Discussion: Inside Higher Ed, Washington Post, Bloomberg View, Hit & Run, USA Today, The Huffington Post, Power Line, Colorlines and Just Security

John Podhoretz / New York Post: A fantasy for tweens: Obama's State of the Union Address

CNN:
CNN/ORC Poll: SOTU more popular than last year

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post and The Week

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
On terrorism, the State of the Union is strangely quiet

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Gallup, Reuters and New York Times

Washington Post:
Transcript: Obama's State of the Union address 2015

Discussion: Power Line and Informed Comment

Emily Atkin / ThinkProgress:

Republicans Post Doctored Version Of State Of The Union, Censor Facts On Climate Change — House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). — CREDIT: AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File — The official website for House Republicans has posted on YouTube a version of President Obama's State of the Union address …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Raw Story, Daily Kos and The Week

Jake Sherman / Politico:

John Boehner's Bibi invite sets up showdown with White House — The speaker didn't consult with the administration before inviting Netanyahu to address Congress about Iran. — House Speaker John Boehner is setting up his most dramatic foreign policy confrontation with President Barack Obama to date …

Discussion: National Journal, Associated Press, Washington Monthly, The Hill, ABC News, The Week, Truth Revolt, The Daily Banter, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Guardian

Donna Cassata / Associated Press:

Rebuffing President Barack Obama on Iran, House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday he had invited Israel's prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress next month about the threats from Tehran and radical Islam. — The Republican leader released a letter extending the invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu for Feb. 11.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Hot Air, The Hill, ABC News, ThinkProgress and Balloon Juice

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

The Megyn Kelly Moment — On a gray Wednesday in November, the Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and four producers gathered around a conference table on the 17th floor of the News Corporation building in Manhattan. They were there to plan the 281st episode of “The Kelly File,” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, TVNewser, Politico, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine and Jezebel, more at Mediagazer »

Chris Mortensen / ESPN:

11 of 12 Pats footballs underinflated — The NFL has found that 11 of the New England Patriots' 12 game balls were inflated significantly below the NFL's requirements, league sources involved and familiar with the investigation of Sunday's AFC Championship Game told ESPN.

Discussion: New York Times, Mashable, ProFootballTalk, USA Today, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, Bloomberg View, Althouse, BostonGlobe.com, New York Post, U-T San Diego stories, WISH-TV and WTVR-TV

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

CNN to Produce Political Game Show — First on TVNewser: CNN is producing a political game show, TVNewser has learned. The blocking and testing of the show is happening this week at CNN's New York studios. — Insiders tell us the show will be hosted by Anderson Cooper and will air on Presidents' Day, Feb. 16.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico and Mediaite

Greg Bluestein / Political Insider blog:

Solved: Nathan Deal's mysterious overseas adventure — Gov. Nathan Deal skipped town over the weekend for an economic development trip. Just where he went is being treated like a state secret. — Gov. Nathan Deal/AJC file — His office won't disclose where the state's top elected official journeyed or whom he visited.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, New York Times, Mediaite, Gawker, Bloomberg Politics and Hinterland Gazette

The Huffington Post:

GOP Plans To Give Explosive Document Back To CIA — WASHINGTON — The new GOP chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee intends to give back to the CIA an explosive, secret document that has been at the center of a years-long struggle between Congress and the executive branch.

Discussion: Raw Story and Common Dreams

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times: C.I.A. Report Found Value of Brutal Interrogation Was Inflated

Brendan James / Talking Points Memo:

Santorum: The Pope Is ‘Difficult To Listen To’ Sometimes — Ex-senator and onetime GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum has nearly reached his wits end after yet another statement by Pope Francis that has rankled conservatives. — In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday …

WTKR-TV:

“Putting 'em in a coffin” prank causes outrage in Hampton Roads … Chesapeake, Va. - “Putting 'em in a coffin.” — It's a phrase describing a prank in which kids jump back-first onto cars, trying to emulate a coffin. — A viewer emailed NewsChannel 3, telling us it happened to him on Monday night.

Discussion: WTVR-TV and fox4kc.com

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Republicans Irked By Obama Zinger In State Of The Union Address — Republicans were irked by President Barack Obama's caustic reminder in his State of the Union speech that he defeated them twice. — “I've run my last campaign,” Obama said toward the end of the nationally televised address.

Discussion: The Daily Banter, Hullabaloo and Mediaite

Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal:

Obama Snubs Calls for Campaign Finance Curbs — In the State of the Union on Tuesday, President Barack Obama snubbed activists who had been pushing him to take bold new action to curb the influence of big money and big donors in politics. — The Obama administration had been under mounting pressure …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Daily Beast

Adam B. Lerner / Politico:
Rep. Steve King decries ‘deportable’ in Michelle Obama's balcony

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill and Religion News Service

Michael Falcone / ABC News:

Joe Biden Reveals ‘There Is A Chance’ He Would Challenge Hillary Clinton … With the 2016 presidential election season heating up and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton considered the presumptive front-runner for the Democratic nomination if she decides to jump into the race …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Hot Air, The Huffington Post and New York Times

Rex Hall Jr / MLive.com:

Puppy killed when used as weapon by man in beating of girlfriend in Kalamazoo — KALAMAZOO, MI - In November, Timothy Tucker punched his girlfriend in the face and then pummeled her with the couple's two-week-old puppy to the point that the small animal defecated on the woman and died.

Discussion: KTLA, Raw Story and Addicting Info

Kate Connolly / Guardian:

Photograph of Germany's Pegida leader styled as Adolf Hitler goes viral — Lutz Bachmann, said by German intelligence services to be a target for Islamist terrorists, posted the picture on Facebook — A photograph of the leader of a growing “anti-Islamisation” movement in Germany styled …

Discussion: New York Times, New York Magazine and The Dish

Mark Walsh / SCOTUSblog:

View from the Courtroom: Disruption from the gallery on 5th anniversary of Citizens United (Updated: 4:00 p.m.) — UPDATE (4:00): Kathleen L. Arberg, the Court's public information officer, said eight individuals were arrested in Wednesday's disturbance. Seven have been charged with violating …

Discussion: Politico and Right Now

Emily DeVoe / WECT-TV:

Veteran slammed with nasty note for parking in reserved spot — When Mary Claire Caine walked outside after finishing her routine grocery trip to Harris Teeter Friday, she couldn't believe what she found plastered to the front window of her car. — As a veteran of the Air Force who served …

Discussion: Telegraph, Raw Story and Addicting Info

Emily Heil / Washington Post:

Another SOTU, another nap for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to buy colleagues Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy some drinks — or maybe a cup of coffee, spiked with Red Bull. — The pair sat flanking the 81-year-old justice during President Obama's State …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, American Spectator, RedState and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Patrick Caldwell / Mother Jones:

GOP Speech Pushes Immigration Reform—in Spanish Version Only — What was the party's official response to Obama's State of the Union address? Depends on the audience. — On Tuesday night, freshman Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida delivered the Republicans' Spanish-language response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

Discussion: Colorlines, Politico, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Jezebel, Naked Politics, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, BREITBART.COM and Fusion

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

A Tale of Two Pegs — I'm still in Hong Kong, and there's a curious discussion here about the upward collapse of Switzerland's peg to the euro. You see, by the numbers Switzerland's monetary situation pre-collapse and Hong Kong's now look remarkably similar.

Discussion: Marginal REVOLUTION

Joan Walsh / Salon:

Obama trolls the GOP: How a not-so-lame-duck president left them bumbling — With his modest tax proposals Obama is neither Piketty nor Robin Hood — but here's why his SOTU riled up the right — President Obama delivered his second to last State of the Union address with an epic combination …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, CNN, Slate and Politico