memeorandum: Last Slide — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday that the issue … (Des Moines Register)

5:50 PM ET, January 11, 2016

Top Items:

New Republic Owner Chris Hughes Puts Magazine Up For Sale — Facebook co-founder, who purchased the title in 2012, says magazine needs a new business model — The New Republic, the century-old magazine that was rocked a year ago by the mass exodus of its staff following an effort by its owner …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Scripting News, Business Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Politico, National Review, The Week and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

Chris Hughes / Medium:

The New Republic's Next Chapter — I sent the letter below to the The New Republic staff this morning on the next chapter for our institution. I've reposted it in full here. — To the staff of The New Republic, — I have some difficult news today: I have decided to put The New Republic up for sale.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Bloomberg Business, RT, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, Mashable and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Ira Stoll / New York Sun:

Sale of the New Republic Spells a Political Story Of Democrats' Demise — News that the New Republic, the 101-year-old political and cultural magazine, is for sale is a press business story, but the more newsworthy aspect of it is the political story. — The press business story is that small …

Discussion: The Atlantic

Jon Pareles / New York Times:

David Bowie, the Legendary Musician, Has Died at 69 — David Bowie, the infinitely changeable, fiercely forward-looking songwriter who taught generations of musicians about the power of drama, images and personae, died Sunday, two days after his 69th birthday, according to his publicist.

Steve M. / No More Mister Nice Blog:

DAVID BROOKS, YOU SAY TED CRUZ IS “SATANIC” AS IF THAT'S A BAD THING — From Politico, I see that David Brooks thinks Ted Cruz's rhetoric is excessively gloomy: … Brooks thinks that's a recipe for failure. He thinks Marco Rubio has a much better approach, although he worries that Rubio is mimicking Cruz.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, National Review and Politico

Ryan Struyk / ABC News:
New Iowa Poll Shows Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in Tight Battle

Discussion: Bloomberg.com, Politico, RedState and 6abc.com

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump soars, Bush sinks in latest N.H. poll

Discussion: ABC News

USA Today:

USA TODAY/Rock the Vote poll: Millennials' agenda for the next president — WASHINGTON — Millennials have a message for the next president. — Get serious about converting to renewable energy, the under-35 generation says by an overwhelming margin, and require every gun buyer to undergo a background check.

Discussion: Grist and Mashable

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: Bernie Sanders In Striking Distance

Discussion: Hit & Run, Los Angeles Times, Booman Tribune, Front Page Magazine and 6abc.com

Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg Business:
Clinton Tax Plan Would Place 4% Surcharge on Incomes Over $5 Million

Discussion: Politico

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump pleads with FBI to go after Clinton for email scandal

Discussion: Bloomberg.com

Ben Jacobs / Guardian:

Harvard scholar: Ted Cruz's citizenship, eligibility for president ‘unsettled’ — Liberal law professor Laurence Tribe cited by Donald Trump in his ‘natural-born’ citizenship attacks has questioned Cruz's own constitutional positions — The legal and constitutional issues around qualification …

Discussion: Breitbart, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Constitution Daily, The Last Tradition, Observer, Washington Post and Arizona Republic

Des Moines Register:

Last Slide — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday that the issue of whether U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is legally eligible to run for the presidency because he was born in Canada is “fair game” on the Republican campaign trail. — “When you run for president of the United States, any question is fair game.

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire and Bloomberg.com

Zeke J Miller / TIME:
Exclusive: Republican Party Chairman Says Donald Trump Is Among ‘Varsity’ Candidates

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, RedState and Daily Kos

Fox News:

FBI's Clinton probe expands to public corruption track — Jan. 10, 2015: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addresses an audience during an event in Hooksett, N.H. (AP) — EXCLUSIVE: The FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of private email as secretary of state …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Progressives Today, The Last Tradition, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, Business Insider, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Right Scoop, Hit & Run, Washington Post, Hot Air, National Review, Power Line, Instapundit, The Resurgent and Jammie Wearing Fools

Ashe Schow / New York Post:

Europe is enabling a rape culture — In the wake of horrifying tales of sexual assault perpetrated by potentially up to 1,000 men on New Year's Eve, German officials have made two stunning decisions. — The first, from Cologne, Germany — where the attacks took place …

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

DNC chief: Nikki Haley rebutting Obama because of GOP's ‘diversity problem’ — The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Monday slammed the Republican Party's selection of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for its State of the Union response, calling it “appalling,” according to a Post and Courier report.

Discussion: LifeNews.com

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Wasserman Schultz: Nikki Haley chosen because the GOP has a ‘diversity problem’

Discussion: Mediaite

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Angry white women — Who knew white women had become so angry? — The anger animating the divide between the GOP establishment and the GOP grassroots is always presented in terms of angry white men. — It is impossible to ignore, as The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin noted last week …

Reuters:

U.S. may send more strategic weapons to Korean peninsula: South Korea — The United States and its ally South Korea were discussing on Monday sending more strategic U.S. weapons to the Korean peninsula, a day after a U.S. B-52 bomber flew over South Korea in response to North Korea's nuclear test last week.

Discussion: The National Interest, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, CNN and New York Times

CNN:
Exclusive: North Korea reveals alleged U.S. prisoner to CNN in Pyongyang

Discussion: Mashable, The Daily Caller and Front Page Magazine

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Seems Poised to Deal Unions a Major Setback — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed poised on Monday to deliver a severe blow to organized labor. — The justices appeared divided along familiar lines during an extended argument over whether government workers who choose …

Discussion: USA Today, Mother Jones, Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Campaign for America's Future, SCOTUSblog, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Los Angeles Times, Hit & Run, Guardian, The Columbus Dispatch and Politico

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Democratic, Republican Identification Near Historical Lows — PRINCETON, N.J. — In 2015, for the fifth consecutive year, at least four in 10 U.S. adults identified as political independents. The 42% identifying as independents in 2015 was down slightly from the record 43% in 2014.

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, RedState, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and Althouse

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Powerball's $1.3 Billion Swindle Of Americans — If you want to go to the corner store this week to pick up a gallon of milk, be prepared to wait. America has been gripped by lottery fever and lines are snaking out the doors of convenience stores across the county.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, addictinginfo.org, USA Today and ABC News

Christopher Massie / BuzzFeed:

Trump On Sean Penn's El Chapo Interview: “Sort Of Amazing The Way He Got In There” — “I guess we have bigger problems in this country, but I guess it was a little amazing that he was able to get an interview with a guy that everybody else was looking for, right?” — Scott Eisen / Getty Images

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Bloomberg Business, Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal and Jammie Wearing Fools, more at Mediagazer »

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

My Right to Die: Assisted Suicide, My Family, and Me — Every story has a beginning. This one starts in late 2001, when my father-in-law fractured three of his ribs. Harry was a retired physician, and after a thorough workup that he insisted on, it turned out that his bone density …

Joshua Miller / The White House:

We're on Snapchat: Add WhiteHouse — Summary: The White House launches an “Official Story” on Snapchat to provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Administration. — At the White House, our digital strategy centers around meeting people where they are.

Discussion: Medium, Wall Street Journal, Politico, BuzzFeed, Business Insider, FishbowlDC, Wired, Bloomberg.com and Yahoo Politics

Jack Jenkins / ThinkProgress:

Catholic Diocese Rejects Texas' Open Carry Law — A Catholic diocese in Texas is taking a stand against the state's new open carry laws by banning guns in churches — even if they are publicly displayed — and putting up “no guns” signs on religious buildings.

Discussion: Raw Story and KFOX-TV