memeorandum: Benghazi attack testimony claims state department ignored warnings (Chris McGreal/Guardian)

10:40 PM ET, October 10, 2012

Top Items:

Mother of Navy Seal killed in Libya speaks out — BOSTON (WHDH) — The attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya became a major issue on the campaign trail and the mother of a Navy Seal killed in the violence is voicing her anger that Mitt Romney is speaking about her son on the campaign trail.

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Moderate Voice, Politico, Politicker, AMERICAblog, Booman Tribune, Business Insider, Election 2012, PoliticusUSA, Liberal Values, The Political Carnival, The Maddow Blog, CNN and Daily Kos

Libby Denkmann / MyNorthwest.com:

Romney's emotional story remembered very differently by friend of fallen SEAL — Listen: Romney's emotional story remembered very differently by friend of fallen SEAL — On the stump in Iowa Tuesday, Mitt Romney got emotional when he revealed that he met former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty at a holiday party some years ago.

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal, Business Insider and Balloon Juice

ABCNEWS:

Romney Drops SEAL Story After Mother Complains — ABC News' Michael Falcone and Emily Friedman report: — Mitt Romney's campaign said today he will stop citing his meeting with a former Navy Seal killed in last month's terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya after the victim's mother protested his use of her son's death.

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

BuzzFeed:
Mother Of Slain SEAL Tells Romney To Stop Talking About Her Son

Discussion: Politicker, The Hill and Booman Tribune

CNN:
Romney dropping ex-SEAL story after family complaint

Discussion: WCVB.com and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Slain SEAL's mom no Romney fan

Discussion: The Week

BuzzFeed:

Brutal Ad Hits White House On Libya Timeline Contradictions — Though it runs a little long, the Heritage Foundation's excellently crafted new video is worth a watch for anybody who's a fan of political attack ads. — Dorsey Shaw — a half hour ago — respond

Discussion: Sister Toldjah

Erika Johnsen / Hot Air:

Tapper to WH on Benghazi: So, wouldn't it be President Obama who shot first and aimed later? — If you'll recall, in the immediate wake of the breaking news of the riots in Cairo and Benghazi in September, the biggest question on the mainstream media's collective mind was not anything in the vein of …

Discussion: Mediaite, Babalú Blog and The Looking Spoon Blog

BuzzFeed:
White House Press Secretary In A Bind On Libya

Discussion: The Other McCain and The PJ Tatler

Jesse Helfrich / The Hill:
Rep. Issa closes in on Clinton

Discussion: CNN, The Maddow Blog, Politico, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, Pundits Blog, Taylor Marsh, National Review, Babalú Blog, The Right Scoop, Riehl World News, Prairie Weather, Moe Lane, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones and neo-neocon

Josh Peterson / The Daily Caller:

ABC News scrambles to cover up Barack Obama's attendance at VP debate moderator's wedding — President Barack Obama was a guest at the 1991 wedding of ABC senior foreign correspondent and vice presidential debate moderator Martha Raddatz, The Daily Caller has learned.

ABCNEWS:
Obama Says He Was ‘Just Too Polite’ at Debate

Discussion: Washington Wire, Moe Lane, Vodkapundit, Mediaite, The Political Carnival, theGrio, The Gateway Pundit, Jammie Wearing Fools and Gawker

Black America Web:
‘The Big Chief’ Calls Home

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Hill, The Powers That Be and Planet Washington

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

President Obama Insists ‘Fundamentals’ of Election Favor Him Despite ‘Bad Night’ at Debate — WASHINGTON - President Obama says the “fundamentals” of the 2012 presidential race remain unchanged following a weak debate performance in Denver that rattled his supporters and gave fresh momentum to Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
Anti-Abortion Activists Call Romney's New Comments A Gaffe, Not A Change Of Heart

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Politico, Guardian, Daily Kos, PolicyMic, First Read, CNN and National Review

Douglas Johnson / nrlc.org:
Biden-Ryan Versus Obama on Abortion Policy

Discussion: Hot Air, Instapundit and Weekly Standard

Glenn Thrush / Politico:
Angst grows among Obama supporters

Discussion: CNN, Moe Lane, Election 2012, Riehl World News and Taegan Goddard's …

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Security Officer on State Department Blocking Requests: ‘For Me the Taliban Is Inside the Building’ — Libyans walk on the grounds of the gutted U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The PJ Tatler and Weasel Zippers

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
What Happened In Benghazi — Today's Q's for O's WH — 10/10/12

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Chris McGreal / Guardian: Benghazi attack testimony claims state department ignored warnings

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:
State Dept. acknowledges rejecting requests for more security in Benghazi

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Reuters and Outside the Beltway

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Biden Viewed Unfavorably, Divided Opinions about Ryan — No Clear Winner Expected in VP Debate — OVERVIEW — Ahead of Thursday's vice presidential debate, more voters view Joe Biden unfavorably than favorably, while opinions about Paul Ryan are more evenly divided.

Discussion: Newsy, Washington Wire, PolicyMic, Business Insider, Planet Washington, Washington Examiner, Althouse and Election 2012

Joe Biden / CNN:
CNN Exclusive: How Ryan sharpens debate skills

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, Planet Washington and The Hill

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Ryan: Romney and I are ‘unified’ on abortion

Discussion: CNN, First Read and Election 2012

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Billionaire CEO Threatens To Fire Employees If Obama Wins — The CEO of a massive timeshare company sent an email about the upcoming election to his employees yesterday, threatening to fire some of them if President Obama wins re-election. — David Siegel, who owns Florida-based Westgate Resorts …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Cognitive Dissonance, Hullabaloo and Mediaite

Michael McAuliff / The Huffington Post:

Scott DesJarlais, Pro-Life Republican Congressman And Doctor, Pressured Mistress Patient To Get Abortion … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Abortion, Elections 2012, Video, Scott DesJarlais, Scott DesJarlais Abortion, Scott DesJarlais Patient, Susan DesJarlais, Scott Desjarlais Divorce …

Discussion: Times Free Press, The Raw Story, The Fix, DownWithTyranny!, News Desk, Mediaite, Wonkette, New York Magazine, Gawker, The Maddow Blog, Dependable Renegade, Whiskey Fire, Shakesville, Influence Alley, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Declan Walsh / New York Times:

Pakistan Angry Over Taliban Shooting of Schoolgirl — KARACHI, Pakistan — Doctors on Wednesday removed a bullet from a Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban, as Pakistanis from across the political and religious spectrum united in revulsion at the attack on the 14-year-old education rights campaigner.

Discussion: Via Meadia, Guardian, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Taylor Marsh, The Heritage Foundation, The Agonist, The Daily Beast, Right Wing Watch, ParaPundit, The Confluence and World

William J. Dobson / Slate:
Why the Taliban Fears Teenage Girls

Discussion: BBC, New York Times, Guardian and The Daily Dish

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

I watched the debate again... and I didn't think Obama was that bad. — Last night — between sleeps — I found the debate in my iPhone and watched it straight through (except for the closing statements). Last week, watching the debate live, I did not think Obama was especially bad …

Discussion: Maggie's Farm and Instapundit

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

New O'Keefe video: Obama campaign staffer caught helping activist vote twice — Videographer James O'Keefe's Project Veritas caught an official for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign helping who she thought was an Obama supporter set herself up to vote more than once in November.

Discussion: Watchdog News, Doug Ross, The PJ Tatler, small dead animals, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Lonely Conservative, The Other McCain and Althouse

Kevin Russell / SCOTUSblog:

Halftime report at Fisher oral argument — The attorney representing the student challenging the use of race in admissions at the University of Texas just sat down. Nothing terribly surprising. The liberals dominated the questioning and were unsurprisingly skeptical.

Discussion: Althouse, ACS Blog and Maggie's Farm

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
A Changed Court Revisits Affirmative Action in College Admissions

Discussion: USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Democracy in America, The Daily Beast and The Week

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

New York S**tty — After two full weeks of moving to and living in New York City, I just got back to DC for ten days (doctor's appointments, etc.). All I can say is: what a relief. — Moving is never easy; moving to New York City even harder. Moving to New York while blogging an election …

Discussion: New York Magazine, alicublog, The Agonist, City Desk, DCist, Washington Examiner, Riehl World News and Gothamist

Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:

Bill Clinton works Las Vegas crowd, mocking Mitt Romney — Speaking on President Obama's behalf, he characterizes the Republican's moderate talk during the debate as hypocritical in hopes of holding on to Nevada's electoral votes. — Former President Clinton campaigns for President Obama at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas.

Discussion: The Impolitic, The Maddow Blog, The Hinterland Gazette, Daily Kos and Taylor Marsh

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:

AP: We ‘Fell Short’ By Not Providing Full Explanation Of Photo Of Romney Bent Over — AP senior vice president and executive editor Kathleen Carroll said in a statement Wednesday the news organization “fell short” by not providing the full context in an image of Mitt Romney bent over in front of a surprised looking girl:

Discussion: Mediaite, JIMROMENESKO.COM and New York Magazine

BuzzFeed:

Mysterious Building In Obama Campaign “Big Bird” Ad Is Bosnian Hotel — The headquarters of “evil genius” Big Bird appears to be the Radon Plaza Hotel, a five star hotel in Sarajevo,Bosnia Herzegovina. Why? Who knows — an Obama campaign spokesman declined to comment. — Andrew Kaczynski

Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:

The Grieving Widow Behind Romney's Personal Story — Jane Horton, 26, picture with Mitt and Ann Romney. Horton's husband, Chris Horton, is featured in Romney's stump speech. — Jane Horton began crying on the other end of the phone when she learned that Mitt Romney had been using the story …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and AEIdeas

Bloomberg:

Facebook Fought SEC to Keep Mobile Risks Hidden Before IPO — When Facebook Inc. (FB) filed its proposal Feb. 1 to go public, it touted the effectiveness of ads linked to customers' friends, citing research from Nielsen, the audience-counting company. — Barbara Jacobs, an assistant director …

Discussion: Mashable! and MarketBeat