memeorandum: Tea Party Challenger To McConnell: ‘Be A Man, Run On Your Record’ (Perry Stein/Talking Points Memo)

11:20 PM ET, August 4, 2013

Top Items:

Martha Raddatz / ABC News:

Senior U.S. Official: Intercepted Al Qaeda Communications Indicate Planned Attack ‘Big,’ ‘Strategically Significant’ — ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Jonathan Karl report: — On the day that almost two dozen U.S. embassies and consulates across North Africa and the Middle East are closed following …

Discussion: CBC News, Christian Science Monitor, Examiner, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite, The Moderate Voice, msnbc.com and Weekly Standard

Fox News:

Capitol Hill intelligence committee leaders: Terror threat ‘specific’ and ‘serious,’ included dates — Capitol Hill lawmakers, including top-ranking members of intelligence committees, on Sunday described the terror threat that closed 22 U.S. embassies and consulates across the Muslim region …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jihad Watch, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

Brendan Sasso / The Hill:
Chambliss: NSA spying uncovered threat

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Barbara Starr / CNN:
Intercepted al Qaeda message led to shuttering embassies, consulates

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, BBC and Washington Monthly

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Graham: Al Qaeda ‘on steroids’ since Benghazi attack

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite and Hot Air

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Graham praises Obama administration; trip to Egypt still on

Discussion: Politico

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Debate over NSA programs gets renewed attention amid terror threat

Discussion: Politico

Perry Stein / Talking Points Memo:

Tea Party Challenger To McConnell: ‘Be A Man, Run On Your Record’ — Matt Bevin, the Tea-Partier challenging incumbent Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in the Republican primary, called on the five-term senator to “be a man” and “run on his record.” — “I beg him to tell the people …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Howard Fineman / The Huffington Post:

At Fancy Farm, Kentucky Tea Party Guy Has a Good Debut — FANCY FARM, Ky. — Let's cut to the chase. The news from Fancy Farm, the big Kentucky political picnic, is that Matt Bevin — the Tea Party-ish primary challenger to five-term incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell - does not, at first glance …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box: Kentucky Senate candidates trade barbs at rowdy Fancy Farms picnic

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:

Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA — Documents provided by two House members demonstrate how they are blocked from exercising any oversight over domestic surveillance — • Morgan Griffith's requests for NSA information — • Alan Grayson's requests for NSA information

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Hill, The Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Crooks and Liars, The Hill and Boing Boing

Jen Psaki / US Department of State:

Statement on Update of Embassy and Consulate Closure — Press Statement — Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson — Washington, DC — Given that a number of our embassies and consulates were going to be closed in accordance with local custom and practice for the bulk of the week …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, The Hill and The Hinterland Gazette

Michael Gartland / New York Post:

Pay-up time for Brawley: '87 rape-hoaxer finally shells out for slander — Just $431,000 to go — Twenty-five years after accusing an innocent man of rape, Tawana Brawley is finally paying for her lies. — Last week, 10 checks totaling $3,764.61 were delivered to ex-prosecutor Steven Pagones …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit and The PJ Tatler

Scott Wong / Politico:

Schumer calls Putin a ‘school-yard bully’ — Russian President Vladimir Putin is nothing more than a “school-yard bully” and President Barack Obama should cancel their meeting in Moscow next month, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) said Sunday. — Last week, Putin granted National Security …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Schumer: Obama should stand up to ‘schoolyard bully,’ cancel Putin meeting

Discussion: Hot Air

Associated Press:

4-year-old Bobby Tufts re-elected mayor of small Minnesota town — DORSET, Minn. - Robert “Bobby” Tufts hasn't made it to preschool yet, but he's already been elected twice as mayor of a tiny tourist town in northern Minnesota. — Mayor Tufts' name was picked Sunday during annual Taste …

Elisabeth Rosenthal / New York Times:

In Need of a New Hip, but Priced Out of the U.S. — WARSAW, Ind. — Michael Shopenn's artificial hip was made by a company based in this remote town, a global center of joint manufacturing. But he had to fly to Europe to have it installed. — Mr. Shopenn, 67, an architectural photographer …

Discussion: Hullabaloo and JustOneMinute

Marry Me / Bangor Daily News:

‘Trayvon got justice,’ Ted Nugent says in interview with Maine radio station — Rocker Ted Nugent launched a volley of invective at local protesters and the New Haven Register during an interview Saturday with a Maine radio station. — Anyone anticipating wild remarks from the Motor City Madman …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post and The Raw Story

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

Michael Savage Questions Terror Alert: ‘First Muslim President’ Trying To ‘Justify Spying On Americans’ — Radio host Michael Savage recently went from skepticism over this weekend's terror alerts to accusations that Barack Obama was “the first Muslim president.”

Discussion: The Raw Story

Ariel Edwards-Levy / The Huffington Post:

Rick Santorum ‘Open’ To 2016 Presidential Run — Former Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is open to running again in 2016, he said Sunday. — “I'm open to looking into the presidential race in 2016,” Santorum said on “Meet The Press.” “But we've got a little ways.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Des Moines Register