memeorandum: To hunt Osama bin Laden, satellites watched over Abbottabad, Pakistan, and Navy SEALs (Washington Post)

12:00 AM ET, August 30, 2013

Top Items:

Obama Set for Limited Strike on Syria as British Vote No — WASHINGTON — President Obama is prepared to move ahead with a limited military strike on Syria, administration officials said Thursday, despite a stinging rejection of such action on Thursday by America's stalwart ally Britain and mounting questions from Congress.

Discussion: Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, The Hill, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Hullabaloo, Lawfare, NPR, National Review, Telegraph, Scared Monkeys and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

BBC:

David Cameron loses Commons vote on Syria action — British MPs have voted to reject possible military action against the Assad regime in Syria to deter the use of chemical weapons. — A government motion was defeated by 285 to 272, a majority of 13 votes.

Discussion: Hot Air, Samizdata, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and The Volokh Conspiracy

Jim VandeHei / Politico:

The ironic war plan — Imagine Dick Cheney in a “Saturday Night Live” skit fantasizing about Barack Obama handling the pressures of going to war. — Cheney's sitting there, yucking it up with Rummy and the boys, eating yellow cake. He laughs off his own reckless rush to an unwinnable war fought on flawed grounds.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, CNN, Reuters, AEIdeas, Washington Monthly and The Hill

Associated Press:

UK Prime Minister Cameron loses Syria war vote — LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron lost a vote endorsing military action against Syria by 13 votes Thursday, a stunning defeat for a government which had been poised to join the U.S. in strikes to punish Bashar Assad's regime …

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, The DiploMad 2.0, Scared Monkeys, Ed Driscoll, JustOneMinute and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

CNN:

British leader loses vote on Syria response — (CNN) — [Breaking news alert, 5:52 p.m. ET] — British Prime Minister David Cameron was dealt a blow Thursday in his push for a strong response, including possible military action, against Syria after the House of Commons voted down the measure.

Discussion: CBS News, AL.com, The Economic Collapse, KDVR.com, Here & Now, NPR, ABC News, Balloon Juice, Guardian and New York Times

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

British parliament rejects military strike against Syria — British lawmakers on Thursday delivered a stunning rejection of Prime Minister David Cameron's bid to punish the government of Bashar al-Assad for allegedly using chemical weapons, citing skepticism over the misinformation used …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Wonkblog, Outside the Beltway, Crooks and Liars and Lawfare, more at Mediagazer »

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Liberals join conservatives in demanding Obama get Congress OK for Syria action

Discussion: Politico

GOV.UK:
Chemical weapon use by Syrian regime: UK government legal position

Discussion: ThinkProgress, BBC, Guardian, Business Insider, Amnesty's global human …, Moon of Alabama, News Desk and Telegraph

Dylan Byers / Politico:
After Iraq, media skepticism on Syria

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Reuters

Cassell Bryan-Low / Wall Street Journal:
U.K. Parliament Rejects Syria Action

Discussion: Reuters, Yahoo! News, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Paper Chase, Washington's Blog and New York Times

Andrew Sparrow / Guardian:
MPs vote down military intervention in Syria: Politics live blog

Discussion: msnbc.com, DownWithTyranny!, Washington's Blog and Pressing Issues

Washington Post:

U.S. spy network's successes, failures and objectives detailed in ‘black budget’ summary — U.S. spy agencies have built an intelligence-gathering colossus since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but remain unable to provide critical information to the president on a range of national security threats …

Washington Post:
To hunt Osama bin Laden, satellites watched over Abbottabad, Pakistan, and Navy SEALs

Discussion: New York Times, The Switch and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:
Inside the 2013 U.S. intelligence ‘black budget’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, FP Passport and Business Insider

Washington Post:
U.S. spy network's successes, failures and objectives detailed in ‘black budget’ summary

Discussion: msnbc.com and NPR

U.S. Department of the Treasury:

All Legal Same-Sex Marriages Will Be Recognized for Federal Tax Purposes — Ruling Provides Certainty, Benefits and Protections Under Federal Tax Law for Same-Sex Married Couples — WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) …

Discussion: The Other McCain, AL.com, The Volokh Conspiracy, Advocate, Arizona Republic, Towleroad News #gay, Wonkblog, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, Althouse, National Review, Firedoglake and NPR

HHS.gov:
HHS announces first guidance implementing Supreme Court's decision on the Defense of Marriage Act

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Liberal Values, LGBTQ Nation, The Heritage Foundation, ThinkProgress, Joe. My. God. and Weekly Standard

Annie Lowrey / New York Times:
Gay Marriages in All States Get Recognition From the I.R.S.

Discussion: Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, Outside the Beltway and LGBTQ Nation

Allison Benedikt / Slate:

If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person — A manifesto. — You are a bad person if you send your children to private school. Not bad like murderer bad—but bad like ruining-one-of-our-nation's-most- essential-institutions-in-order-to-get- what's-best-for-your-kid bad.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, his vorpal sword, National Review, Ace of Spades HQ, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, The Week, The Daily Banter, FITSNews, Business Insider, The Other McCain, NewsBusters, TheBlaze.com, BizzyBlog, JustOneMinute and Overlawyered

James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas:
Please, sending your kids to private school doesn't make you a bad person

Discussion: protein wisdom and National Review

The United States Department of Justice:

Justice Department Announces Update to Marijuana Enforcement Policy — Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an update to its federal marijuana enforcement policy in light of recent state ballot initiatives that legalize, under state law, the possession of small amounts of marijuana …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, VICE, The Verge, The Reality-Based Community, msnbc.com, BBC, Firedoglake and TalkLeft

Evan Perez / CNN:
No federal challenge to pot legalization in 2 states

Discussion: New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Volokh Conspiracy and AL.com

Blake Neff / The Hill:
Justice Department eases rules on marijuana enforcement

Discussion: Politico and The Democratic Daily

Telegraph:

Kim Jong-un's ex-lover ‘executed by firing squad’ — Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad nine days go, according to South Korean reports. — Hyon Song-wol, a singer and rumoured to be a former lover of the North Korean leader …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Via Meadia, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller and Boing Boing

Digital Chosunilbo:
Kim Jong-un's Ex-Girlfriend ‘Shot by Firing Squad’

Discussion: Fox News, NBCNews, Gawker, FP Passport, Business Insider and AL.com

Joe Kemp / NY Daily News:
Ex-girlfriend of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed by firing squad: report

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Senator Tim Scott Turned Down Invitation to 50th Anniversary of MLK Event — One of the controversies surrounding the 50th anniversary celebration of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King's “I Have A Dream” speech has been the absence of Republicans at the event, despite many of them having been invited.

Discussion: Joe. My. God., theGrio, PoliticusUSA, Goppers and Washington Post

Emma Dumain / The World's Greatest Deliberative Body:
Tim Scott Declined Invite to Attend MLK March as Spectator

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, theGrio, The Week, Washington Examiner, The Spectacle Blog, PoliticusUSA and Washington Wire

Eliana Johnson / National Review:

Cory Booker's Imaginary Friend — Go back and listen to Cory Booker's stump speeches over the years, and, as in those of any politician, you'll hear many of the same stories. But Booker's are more dramatic and heart-rending than most. They draw heavily on his experiences in Newark, N.J. …

Discussion: Twitchy, TheBlaze.com, Gawker, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Real Clear Politics, Hot Air, Ed Driscoll, Taegan Goddard's …, The Daily Caller, Jammie Wearing Fools and Post Politics

Rush Limbaugh:

Minimum Wage: How Much is Too Much? — RUSH: Let's go to San Diego. We'll start with Sean. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello, sir. — CALLER: (Unintelligible) tell (unintelligible) — RUSH: Shh. Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh. Hang on, folks.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:

OBAMA OFFERS NEW GUN CONTROL STEPS — You are here — Home » United States government » Obama offers new gun control steps — WASHINGTON (AP) — Striving to take action where Congress would not, the Obama administration announced new steps Thursday on gun control …

Discussion: Associated Press, Weekly Standard, BuzzFeed, msnbc.com, The Truth About Guns, The Week, Daily Kos, Global Grind, BizzyBlog, The Raw Story and UrbanGrounds

Atossa Araxia Abrahamian / Reuters:

U.S. fast-food workers protest, demand a ‘living wage’ — (Reuters) - Fast-food workers went on strike and protested outside McDonald's, Burger King and other restaurants in 60 U.S. cities on Thursday, in the largest protest of an almost year-long campaign to raise service sector wages.

Discussion: Agence France Presse, Gawker, NPR and Balloon Juice

Alana Semuels / Los Angeles Times:
National fast-food wage protests kick off in New York

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Power Line and TheBlaze.com

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Stan Solomon: Trayvon Martin Deserved To Die And So Does ‘That Faggot’ Dan Savage — Conservative talk show host Stan Solomon is obsessed with the idea that President Obama is fomenting a race war in order to murder white, Christian heterosexuals, so when we noticed he was hosting a special …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Towleroad News #gay, The Raw Story and The Huffington Post

Clara Ritger / NationalJournal.com:

Obama's Affordable Care Act Looking a Bit Unaffordable — Independent National Journal analysis finds premiums higher under Obamacare as employers weigh dropping coverage. — Republicans have long blamed President Obama's signature health care initiative for increasing insurance costs, dubbing it the “Unaffordable Care Act.”