Public Divided on "47 Percent" Comment, Chris Stevens Feared an Attack, Jobless Claims Remain High: P.M. Links

• Media pundits quickly decided that Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comment was an unmitigated disaster, but actual voters are more divided, with some appalled and others treating the candidate's words as cold truth.

• Ambassador Chris Stevens openly fretted that he was on an al Qaeda hit list, as new evidence surfaces that the Benghazi attack wasn't exactly out of the blue.
• Last week's new claims for jobless benefits remained at high levels, while the previous week's figures were revised upward. Again. European economic indicators are even more depressing.
• More than a dozen officials have been named and shamed in the Fast and Furious report. But it was one of those scandals that was mysteriously confined to the low- and mid-level bureaucracy. Hmmm.
• Taxes become central to the marijuana-legalization debate, with some politicians salivating over a new industry to feed upon.
• Brazilian officials are less than happy about America's latest foray into quantitative easing. It seems that the country's foreign currency holdings are likely to become toilet paper, and its industries uncompetitive, as the U.S. deliberately devalues the dollar.
• In Canada, marriage appears to be losing ground among heterosexual couples even as the number of same-sex marriages soars.
• Syria's government stepped up its domestic public relations campaign, with aerial bombing of a crowded gas station. At least 30 people were killed.

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