memeorandum: Moody's issues ‘fiscal cliff’ warning (Seung Min Kim/Politico)

3:20 PM ET, September 11, 2012

Top Items:

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

How Mitt Romney Is Losing The Debate Expectations Game — He's practicing hard, his aides say! Obama's camp pretends to panic. — Romney with Senator Rob Portman, who is playing President Barack Obama in debate prep, earlier this month. — Image by Brian Snyder / Reuters

Discussion: GOP 12 and Mediaite

Reuters:

The Kerry-ization of Mitt Romney — Mitt Romney is getting the full John Kerry treatment on national security — and some top Republicans are alarmed by what they see as his ham-handed response to it. — Romney — whose convention speech didn't include a salute to the troops or a reference to Afghanistan …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and The Daily Caller

Jim VandeHei / Reuters:

GOP to Mitt Romney: You're so vague — Leading conservatives are offering blunt advice to Mitt Romney: Quit ducking details, start engaging in a real and specific war of ideas with President Barack Obama — or lose. — Here's just a sampling of the past 24 hours:

Discussion: The Next Web and Daily Kos

BuzzFeed:

Obama's Plan To Use National Security To Beat Romney — Obama's decision to play offense on foreign policy marks a “real, significant shift” in our politics, says an Obama advisor. Just another “shiny object,” a Romneyite fires back. — One of the most aggressive parts …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Wonkette, Daily Kos, Marbury and Taylor Marsh

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Conservatives: Romney's Policy Secrecy Will Be His Downfall

Discussion: American Prospect, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Paul Krugman, The Hinterland Gazette and Slate

Brent Budowsky / Pundits Blog:
Romney's Osama bin Laden problem

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Kurt Eichenwald / New York Times:

Op-Ed Contributor: The Bush White House Was Deaf to 9/11 Warnings — IT was perhaps the most famous presidential briefing in history. — On Aug. 6, 2001, President George W. Bush received a classified review of the threats posed by Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network, Al Qaeda.

Washington Post:

Among likely voters, Obama-Romney close — Last week's Democratic National Convention helped President Obama improve his standing against Republican Mitt Romney, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, but did little to reduce voter concern about his handling of the economy.

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama Gets Three-Point Convention Bounce — Now leads Romney by six percentage points, 50% to 44% — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama got a modest bump in support immediately after last week's Democratic National Convention, with 50% of registered voters now saying they would vote …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Firedoglake, The Hinterland Gazette, Election 2012, Examiner, The Huffington Post and The Caucus

Dean Chambers / Examiner:

Mitt Romney would lead eight in unskewed data from newest CNN/ORC poll — Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shakes hands with a NASCAR fan during a rain delay before the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 8, 2012.

Discussion: his vorpal sword, Jammie Wearing Fools, Hot Air, Questions and Observations, Scared Monkeys, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

Jonathan S. Tobin / Commentary Magazine:
Poll Shows Obama Getting Lowest Jewish Support Since Carter

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wake up America, Israel Matzav and americanthinker.com

ABCNEWS:

Paul Ryan on Chicago Teachers' Strike: ‘We Stand with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’ — PORTLAND, Ore. — Paul Ryan crossed party lines and voiced support for one of President Obama's biggest backers today, saying, “We stand with Mayor Rahm Emanuel” in his fight with Chicago's teachers …

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, Progressive Change …, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Politico, Guardian, The Raw Story, naked capitalism, The Hinterland Gazette, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Lynn Sweet, The Hill and CNN

Rick Perlstein / Salon:
Stand against Rahm!

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Yahoo! News, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
In Standoff, Latest Sign of Unions Under Siege

Discussion: Economix, CBS Chicago, Taylor Marsh, Jared Bernstein, ABCNEWS and Via Meadia

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Disgusting... Chicago Teachers Union Protests Outside 9-11 Memorial

Discussion: EAGnews.org, The Jawa Report and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Charles Lane / Washington Post:
Students are victims in Chicago fight over clout

Discussion: Best of the Ed Blogs, Weekly Standard, EAGnews.org, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Illinois Review

Dylan Matthews / Washington Post:
Everything you need to know about the Chicago teachers' strike, in one post

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The American Conservative, The Daily Dish, Chicago Sun Times, Hot Air, Daily Kos, newsfeed.time.com and Belmont Club

Raphael Ahren / The Times of Israel:

In harsh rebuttal to Clinton, PM says those who don't set red lines for Iran have no right to keep Israel from attacking — Two days after secretary rules out Iran deadline, Netanyahu says: ‘The world tells Israel to wait because there is still time. And I ask: Wait for what? Until when?’

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Right Scoop and Israel Matzav

Barak Ravid / Associated Press:
Netanyahu: Those that refuse to set red lines for Iran can't give Israel red light

Discussion: Mondoweiss, The Atlantic Online and Atlas Shrugs

George Jahn / Associated Press:
AP Exclusive: New intelligence on Iran nuke work

Discussion: emptywheel and The Daily Beast

Evan Vucci / ABCNEWS:

Obama Gains a Convention Boost - But Not Among Likely Voters — Barack Obama has emerged from the nominating conventions in his best position against Mitt Romney since spring, a 50-44 percent race among registered voters in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Caucus and Mother Jones

Brad Plumer / Washington Post:
Ten takeaways from the new Post/ABC poll

Discussion: New York Magazine, Examiner and The Reality-Based Community

Jamie Weinstein / The Daily Caller:

Cheney responds to Obama's reportedly poor intelligence briefings attendance — Former Vice President Dick Cheney took a shot at President Barack Obama late Monday night after it was reported that the president has attended fewer than half of his daily intelligence briefings.

Discussion: Politico, Little Green Footballs, Wonkette, The Hill, PoliticusUSA, Rumproast, Mediaite, Scared Monkeys, The Raw Story, AEIdeas, Weasel Zippers, Government Accountability …, The Lonely Conservative, National Review, Doug Ross, “The Lid” and Israel Matzav

Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:
Cheney Smears Obama On 9/11, Claims He Took ‘Sole Credit’ For Bin Laden's Death

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Politico

Alyssa Rosenberg / ThinkProgress:

Chris Brown Tattoos An Image of a Battered Woman On His Neck — Chris Brown, having graduated from tossing chairs at windows after interviewers have the temerity to ask him about his battering of then-girlfriend Rihanna, has apparently decided that violence against women will be his new hallmark.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Hinterland Gazette, Angry Black Lady Chronicles and Feministing

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

Moody's: Congress must reach fiscal deal to avert downgrade — Moody's Investors Service warned Tuesday that Congress will need to strike a deal on the “fiscal cliff” to avoid a second downgrade to the nation's credit rating. — The rating agency said that budget negotiations in 2013 …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Moody's issues ‘fiscal cliff’ warning

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation

Margot Roosevelt / Reuters:

Southern whites troubled by Romney's wealth, religion — (Reuters) - Sheryl Harris, a voluble 52-year-old with a Virginia drawl, voted twice for George W. Bush. Raised Baptist, she is convinced — despite all evidence to the contrary — that President Barack Obama, a practicing Christian, is Muslim.

Discussion: The Political Carnival and New York Magazine

Fox News:

EXCLUSIVE: Parents of SEAL Team Six member say unit endangered by Obama administration statements — Identifying the Special Operations Force behind the Usama bin Laden raid amounted to placing a target on the back of the team members as well as their families, according to the parents of Aaron Vaughn …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Politico, The PJ Tatler, The Right Scoop and The Gateway Pundit

Jeremy Peters / The Caucus:

A Journalist With Rare Access to Obama Had to Play by Quote Rule — Michael Lewis, the best-selling author of “Moneyball” and “The Big Short,” was granted extraordinary access to President Obama for his latest article in Vanity Fair. — But with that access came one major condition.

Discussion: Politico, Weekly Standard, New York Times, Media Decoder, NewsBusters.org blogs, Poynter and The PJ Tatler, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

NBC's ‘Today’ Skips 9/11 Moment Of Silence For Kardashian Interview — At 8:46 AM, in New York City and at the White House in Washington DC, there was a moment of silence to remember when the first plane hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. In New York, the NYPD, FDNY …

Discussion: FishbowlDC, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, BuzzFeed, Gawker and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:

Biden recalls own loss while marking ‘bittersweet’ 9/11 anniversary — Vice President Joe Biden drew on the sorrow of his own personal losses as he addressed the memorial marking 11 years since United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field. — “It is a bittersweet moment …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools