memeorandum: Secretary Clinton Delivers Powerful Religion Speech After Middle East Embassy Attacks (Cliff Owen/ABCNEWS)

12:25 PM ET, September 14, 2012

Top Items:

Romney team sharpens attack on Obama's foreign policy — Advisers to Mitt Romney on Thursday defended his sharp criticism of President Obama and said that the deadly protests sweeping the Middle East would not have happened if the Republican nominee were president.

Discussion: The Hill, ABCNEWS, AEIdeas, The Raw Story, The Maddow Blog, New York Times, The Hinterland Gazette, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politico and The Crawdad Hole

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:

Romney owes an apology — To a certain extent, no one should be surprised by Mitt Romney's decision to seize on — actually, make that exploit — the attack on U.S. diplomatic outposts in Egypt and Libya as ammunition in the presidential campaign. — After all, the Republican presidential nominee wrote …

Discussion: protein wisdom, American Spectator, The Spectacle Blog, Patterico's Pontifications, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, Close Read, CBS News, Connecting.the.Dots, National Review, The Caucus, Conservatives4Palin and Slate

Martin H. Simon / ABCNEWS:

Full Transcript: George Stephanopoulos and Mitt Romney — The following is a full transcript of my interview with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. — GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor, thank you for doing this. — MITT ROMNEY: Thank you, George. — STEPHANOPOULOS: Boy …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Wire, Business Insider, NewsBusters.org blogs, National Review, emptywheel, First Read, The Right Scoop, New York Magazine and BuzzFeed, more at Mediagazer »

Martin H. Simon / ABCNEWS:

EXCLUSIVE - Romney on Debates: Obama Will 'Say Things That Aren't True' — With the first presidential debate less than three weeks away, Mitt Romney is spending lots of time getting ready behind closed doors. In his first comments on that debate prep, he told me that Sen. Rob Portman …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, William K. Wolfrum Chronicles, Marist Poll, Taylor Marsh, Hotline On Call and Towleroad News #gay

Katie Glueck / Reuters:
Mitt Romney: Barack Obama may lie in debates

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Martin H. Simon / ABCNEWS:
Romney on Iran: Share Same ‘Red Line’ As Obama

Discussion: The American Conservative, Election 2012 and Israel Matzav

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:
Romney Adviser: Libya Attack Never Would Have Happened Under Romney

Discussion: American Prospect, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Beast, The Mahablog, Wonkette, Balloon Juice, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Mother Jones and Election 2012

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
Mitt Romney And The Art Of The Double-Down (The Note)

Discussion: NationalJournal.com and Associated Press

Kim Sengupta / The Independent:

Revealed: inside story of US envoy's assassination — Exclusive: America ‘was warned of embassy attack but did nothing’ — NOTE: WE DO NOT STORE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) BUT YOUR IP ADDRESS WILL BE LOGGED TO PREVENT ABUSE OF THIS FEATURE. PLEASE READ OUR LEGAL TERMS & POLICIES

Mike Allen / Politico:

U.S. rebuts British report on LIbya — The Obama administration is flatly denying a blaring British newspaper report that the U.S. diplomats in Libya were killed as a result of a “continuing security breach,” and that “credible information” about possible attacks had been ignored.

Discussion: JOSHUAPUNDIT, The PJ Tatler, Jammie Wearing Fools, Taylor Marsh, Israel Matzav, Israpundit, Power Line and Hot Air

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Bloody Hand Prints at Consulate Reveal Americans Were Dragged From Building Before Their Death — The attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi came in two waves on the night of 9-11. — Four Americans were murdered in a coordinated attack by reportedly 400 Islamists. — It was a highly coordinated attack.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Daily Mail and Guardian

Beth Stebner / Daily Mail:

Bloody hand prints, stolen documents and shocking security failings: Harrowing pictures inside crumbling U.S. consulate in Benghazi after attacks that left ambassador and three others dead — Dramatic images of bloody hand prints and crumbling buildings capture horror of Tuesday's attack …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin, The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
A Non-Denial Denial From the Obama Administration

Discussion: Minneapolis Star Tribune, Right Wing News, Riehl World News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

David Gordon Smith / Spiegel Online:

'Obama's Middle East Policy Is in Ruins' — US embassies in the Muslim world were on high alert Friday following days of violent protests against an anti-Islam film. Germany, too, closed several embassies in fear of attacks. Some German commentators argue that the violence shows that Obama's Middle East policies have failed.

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, American Power and Atlas Shrugs

Robert Wright / The Atlantic Online:

The Muslim Protests: Two Myths Down, Three to Go — Here is the narrative that pretty much everyone was buying into 36 hours ago: Crude anti-Islam film made by Israeli-American and funded by Jews leads to Muslim protests that boil over, causing four American deaths in Libya.

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Arabist, Mother Jones, Towleroad News #gay and Washington Monthly

Cliff Owen / ABCNEWS:
Secretary Clinton Delivers Powerful Religion Speech After Middle East Embassy Attacks

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Althouse

New York Times:
Egypt, Hearing From Obama, Moves to Heal Rift From Protests

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Week, The Daily Beast, Taegan Goddard's …, americanthinker.com, Spectator, BBC, Hot Air, ABCNEWS and The Atlantic Online

Washington Examiner:
Examiner Editorial: Obama runs riot with facts on ‘ally’ Egypt

Discussion: Hot Air and Election 2012

Sky News:

Tunis Protesters Attack US Embassy — Protesters descend on the US embassy in Tunis — Protesters have entered the US embassy in the Tunisian capital Tunis in the latest violence sparked by an anti-Muslim film. — A large fire could be seen burning inside the compound.

Discussion: Reuters and Hot Air

Doug Stanglin / USA Today:
Protesters scale U.S. embassy walls in Tunisia

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Jammie Wearing Fools

This Just In:
Protesters arrested at U.S. Consulate in Chennai, India

Discussion: Firedoglake, CNN, Independent Journal Review, The Jawa Report, New York Magazine, Mediaite and Atlas Shrugs

Khalid Abdelaziz / Reuters:
Sudan protesters set fire to German embassy

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Talking Points Memo:

Kansas Goes Birther: State Board Considers Removing Obama From Ballot — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an informal advisor to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said on Thursday he and his fellow members of a state board were considering removing President Barack Obama from the Kansas ballot this November.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Maddow Blog, US Politics, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Mediaite and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Tim Carpenter / Topeka Capital-Journal:
Kansas panel delays ballot decision on Obama

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway and The Raw Story

Jackie Vega / KXAN-TV:

UT bomb threat deadline passed, evac continues — Caller claimed to be with al-Qaida, planted bombs — AUSTIN (KXAN) - The University of Texas is evacuating all of its buildings due to threats on campus after a caller claiming to be with al-Qaida said he placed bombs all over campus …

Discussion: BBC, Independent Journal Review, protein wisdom, The Raw Story, This Just In, www2.wspa.com and Jihad Watch

Doug Stanglin / USA Today:

Bomb threats clear Texas, N. Dakota State campuses — The University of Texas at Austin and North Dakota State University have ordered campus buildings evacuated because of bomb threats. — “Immediately evacuate ALL buildings and get as far away as possible,” the University of Texas at Austin says on its website.

Discussion: The Jawa Report and The PJ Tatler

Ben Blanchard / Reuters:

China commentary slams Romney's “foolish” China-bashing — (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's attacks on China and promise to name the country a currency manipulator if elected are foolish and hypocritical, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico and Weekly Standard

Liu Chang / Xinhua News Agency:
Romney's China-bashing talks useless to U.S. economy

Discussion: Politico

Tara Palmeri / New York Post:

Samuel's prez ad: Wake the f@#k up! — They picked the perfect actor for a political ad loaded with f-bombs. — Samuel L. Jackson will film a provocative spot supporting President Obama's re-election bid as early as tomorrow — telling voters to “Wake the f—k up, Vote for Obama.”

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Althouse, Jammie Wearing Fools, The Hinterland Gazette and New York Magazine

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:

Poll: Obama Holds Narrow Edge Over Romney — President Obama holds a narrow three-point advantage over Mitt Romney among Americans most likely to vote in November, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. — With their back-to-back political conventions behind …

Discussion: Reuters, CNN, USA Today, WMUR, The Hill, First Read, Naked Politics, Election 2012 and National Review

ThinkProgress:

In Meetings With Anti-Pornography Group, Romney Campaign Promised To Prosecute Porn — WASHINGTON, DC — Mitt Romney's campaign told a leading anti-pornography group that the Republican nominee will pursue and prosecute pornography if elected president. — Three months ago …

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:

Glenn Beck, Eliot Spitzer ‘Weigh In’ For Head-To-Head October Debate — Oh, how the mighty have fallen. — During an ostentatious, boxing-themed promotional event Thursday, the satellite television provider Dish announced that Glenn Beck and Eliot Spitzer will face off in a head-to-head debate …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Mediaite

Brian Doherty / Hit & Run:

The Badgering of Bob Dylan, Or, Tell Us You Love Obama, Bob! Please! — Rolling Stone features another of its many mega-cover story interviews with Bob Dylan—a character always valuable, or at least amusing, to listen to. (The interview is not yet online, but appears in the Sept 27 issue …

Discussion: Althouse

Wall Street Journal:

The Obama Street Journal — The President takes our name in vain to make a false tax claim. — President Obama is running another ad pretending Mitt Romney has a secret plan to raise taxes on the middle class, which Freudians would call projection. We're not sure what they'd call …

Discussion: Politico and Mediaite

Larry Gordon / Associated Press:

UC to pay settlement in Davis pepper spray case — UC leaders agree to pay settlement to 21 UC Davis students and alumni who sued over campus officers' use of pepper spray during a November 2011 protest. — A UC Davis officer pepper-sprays Occupy protesters in November.

Discussion: New York Magazine, L.A. NOW, Prairie Weather and Inside Higher Ed

BuzzFeed:

Who Would Win In A Fistfight: Romney Or Obama? — Result from a Langer Research Associates poll of more than a thousand Americans. It's lopsided (image via). — copyranter — an hour ago — 21 responses