memeorandum: Obama declares Iraq war over with all US troops home at year's end (Sam Youngman/The Hill)

2:50 PM ET, October 21, 2011

Top Items:

Florida banker's wife left family to join Wall Street protesters — A married mother of four from Florida ditched her family to become part of the raggedy mob in Zuccotti Park — keeping the park clean by day and keeping herself warm at night with the help of a young waiter from Brooklyn.

Discussion: Althouse, The Jawa Report, Gawker, Pundit & Pundette, National Review, JammieWearingFool, New York Magazine and Dealbreaker

Josh Saul / New York Post:

Angry Manhattan residents lambast Zuccotti Park protesters — Infuriated lower Manhattan residents went ballistic on Zuccotti Park protesters at a chaotic Community Board 1 meeting tonight while blasting politicians for allowing the siege to continue without any end in sight.

Discussion: The Politico, Questions and Observations, NBC New York, RedState, Right Wing News, Outside the Beltway, Big Government, iOwnTheWorld.com, Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, americanthinker.com, New York Magazine, JammieWearingFool and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Tim Mak / The Politico:
New Yorkers rage over ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protestors

Discussion: New York Post, myfoxny.com and NY1.com

San Francisco Chronicle:
Oakland orders Occupy protesters to leave plaza

Discussion: Hot Air, Shakesville, ThinkProgress and JammieWearingFool

Tiffany Gabbay / TheBlaze.com:
CAIR JOINS OCCUPY WALL STREET, WILL HOLD FRIDAY PRAYERS IN ZUCCOTTI PARK

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The Gateway Pundit, Pat Dollard, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Moonbattery and Weasel Zippers

Washington Post:

All U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011 — The Obama administration has decided to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year after failing to reach an agreement with the Iraqi government that would have left several thousand troops there for special operations and training.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, BBC, The Moderate Voice, Pajamas Media and US Politics

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

BREAKING — President Obama Will Announce Today Complete Drawdown of US Troops in Iraq to Zero By End of Year — Sources tell ABC News that the president will announce today that US troops in Iraq will draw down to zero by the end of the year. — A White House official …

Discussion: This Just In, The Gateway Pundit, msnbc.com, New York Magazine and Outside the Beltway

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama declares Iraq war over with all US troops home at year's end

Discussion: The Politico and CNN

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Obama Announces Complete Drawdown of U.S. Troops From Iraq by Year's End

Discussion: Firedoglake and Gothamist

Kevin Drum / Political Mojo:

Climate Skeptics Take Another Hit — Physicists are notorious for believing that other scientists are mathematically incompetent. And University of California-Berkeley physicist Richard Muller is notorious for believing that conventional wisdom is often wrong. For example, the conventional wisdom about climate change.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Economist, Green, ThinkProgress, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Questions and Observations and Watts Up With That?

Richard Black / BBC:
Global warming ‘confirmed’ by independent study

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, Climate Etc., Pajamas Media, InsideClimate News, Guardian, Biased BBC and New York Times

James Pindell / WMUR Political Scoop:

EXCLUSIVE: All Bachmann NH Staffers Quit — All paid New Hampshire staff for Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign have quit over deep frustration with the campaign's lack of commitment to New Hampshire. ...

Discussion: CNN, GOP 12, Wonkette, The Blotter, Outside the Beltway, The Page, USA Today, Swampland, Iowa Caucuses and Business Insider

Daniel Strauss / Ballot Box:

Report: Bachmann's New Hampshire staff resigns en masse — The paid New Hampshire staff for Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) presidential campaign have all quit. — Jeff Chidester, Nicole Yurek, Matthew LeDuc, Caroline Gigler, and Tom Lukacz have all quit the campaign, according to New Hampshire's WMUR.

Russell Goldman / ABCNEWS: Bachmann's New Hampshire Staff Quits, Latest in String of Campaign Departures

The Huffington Post:

Steve Jobs Biography Reveals He Told Obama, 'You're Headed For A One-Term Presidency' … In one of the most hotly-anticipated biographies of the year, “Steve Jobs,” author Walter Isaacson reveals that the Apple CEO offered to design political ads for President Obama's 2012 campaign despite …

Mj Lee / The Politico:

Gov. Brewer: Obama ‘lectured me’ — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer skewers President Barack Obama in a new book, saying the president was “patronizing” and “condescending” when she met him at the White House last summer. — “We sat down and started with some chitchat,” she writes in her autobiography, according to the Arizona Republic.

Discussion: Arizona Republic and Weasel Zippers

Tim Mak / The Politico:
Did Steve Jobs warn Obama?

Discussion: Pajamas Media

The Politico:

President Obama a drag on Senate Democrats — In 2008, President Barack Obama swept into the White House, and Senate Democrats eventually picked up nine seats, giving the new commander in chief the biggest Senate majority in decades. — But as Obama heads into his 2012 reelection campaign …

Discussion: Wake up America, Hot Air, Campaign 2012, Pat Dollard and The Hill

The Hill:
Senate blocks new Obama jobs bill

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Wake up America, ThinkProgress, americanthinker.com, p m carpenter's commentary, CNN and The Gateway Pundit

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
Senate blocks money for teachers, firefighters

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Political Mojo and Right Wing News

Robert Pear / New York Times:
Obama's Jobs Bill, Now Piecemeal, Nears Senate Fight Over Aid to States

Discussion: Washington Post, Firedoglake, Reuters, ThinkProgress, USA Today, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Caucus, Prairie Weather, TPMDC and Business Insider

A.Killough / CNN:

Cain: For the poor, it's ‘9-0-9’ — (CNN) - GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain clarified his much talked-about “9-9-9” tax plan Friday, saying those who fall at or beneath the poverty level would have a different plan: “9-0-9.” — Cain took heat over his proposal …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, National Review and American Spectator

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Cain clarifies 9-9-9 plan, says those under poverty line won't pay income tax

Discussion: The Politico

Richard W. Stevenson / The Caucus:

Can Obama 2012 Replicate Bush 2004? — He'll have hundreds of millions of dollars, the bully pulpit, Air Force One and high-profile supporters from Warren Buffet to Lady Gaga behind him. But President Obama's chances of re-election could come down to a single strategic question …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and No More Mister Nice Blog

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
To Emulate Bush, Obama Will Have To Become More Popular

Discussion: Political Mojo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Cantor Cancels Income Inequality Speech After Learning It Will Be Open To The Public. — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has abruptly canceled a speech planned for this afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania that was meant to lay out the GOP's plans to address income inequality.

Discussion: Philly.com and Political Mojo

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Wall Street protests force Cantor to cancel economic speech

Discussion: The Politico

Marc Caputo / Naked Politics:

Did the Washington Post embellish Marco Rubio's ‘embellishments’? — The Washington Post just released this interesting story headlined “Marco Rubio's compelling family story embellishes facts, documents show.” The paper flagged a clear inaccuracy in his official Senate biography that states …

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Marco Rubio hits back

Discussion: msnbc.com, Naked Politics, Ben Smith's Blog and National Review

Alex Klein / New York Magazine:

The Organizers vs. the Organized in Zuccotti Park — All occupiers are equal — but some occupiers are more equal than others. In wind-whipped Zuccotti Park, new divisions and hierarchies are threatening to upend Occupy Wall Street and its leaderless collective.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Moonbattery, The Mahablog, Hit & Run, Verum Serum and JammieWearingFool

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Biden's absurd claims about rising rape and murder rates — (JOSHUA ROBERTS/REUTERS) “Let's look at the facts: in 2008, when Flint had 265 sworn officers on their police force, there were 35 murders and 91 rapes in this city. In 2010, when Flint had only 144 police officers …

Discussion: National Review, Pat Dollard, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Heritage Foundation, JustOneMinute and The Huffington Post

Arthur Delaney / The Huffington Post:

Obama Has Written Personal Checks To Struggling Americans … Health Insurance , Obama , President Obama , Recession , Unemployment , 99ers , American Stories , Obama Personal Checks , Obama Writing Checks , Politics News — WASHINGTON — Got problems? Tell Barack Obama. He can help.

Discussion: The Hill, Taegan Goddard's …, Weasel Zippers, JammieWearingFool and Smartypants

Alex Alvarez / Mediaite:

Jon Stewart On GOP Reaction To Gaddafi's Death: ‘What The F*ck Is Wrong With You?’ — Thursday night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart tackled the big headline of the day: The death of Muammar Gaddafi... Specifically, the right's reaction to the former dictator's passing.

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots and The Raw Story

Neil Munro / The Daily Caller:

Progressives, Islamists huddle at Justice Department — Top Justice Department officials convened a meeting Wednesday where invited Islamic advocates lobbied them for cutbacks in anti-terror funding, changes in agents' training manuals, additional curbs on investigators and a legal declaration …

Discussion: Pat Dollard, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, National Review and Jihad Watch

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama Job Approval Average Slides to New Low in 11th Quarter — Prior low was 45% in his seventh quarter — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama's 11th quarter in office was the worst of his administration, based on his quarterly average job approval ratings.

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner, Hot Air, The Hill, The Moderate Voice and Don Surber

ABCNEWS:

Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland — Vice president Joe Biden, left, and Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive announces that the company will produce plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at the former General Motors Boxwood Plant, Oct. 27, 2009, in Wilmington, Del. (Rob Carr/AP Photo)