memeorandum: Syria chemical weapons response poses major test for Obama (Los Angeles Times)

9:25 AM ET, August 29, 2013

Top Items:

President Obama: ‘I Have Not Made a Decision’ on Syria — President Barack Obama said he had not yet made his decision regarding a U.S. strike on Syria during an interview with Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Reuters, Right Wing News, WorldViews, NPR, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Connecting.the.Dots, CNN, Defense One, Washington Free Beacon, BuzzFeed and The Week

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:

Rumsfeld says administration hasn't justified Syria attack — Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who ushered the U.S. into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003, said the Obama administration has not clearly justified an attack on Syria. — “One thing that is very interesting …

Discussion: Politico, his vorpal sword and National Review

Speaker.gov:

Boehner Seeks Answers from President Obama on Syria — WASHINGTON, DC - House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today sent the following letter to President Obama requesting that he clearly articulate to the American people and Congress his objectives, policy, and strategy for any potential intervention in Syria.

Discussion: New York Times, BBC, The Week, The Atlantic Online, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Hill, First Read, The Hill, Hot Air, Post Politics, Lawfare, Washington Free Beacon and Wall Street Journal

Robin Wright / Los Angeles Times:

The risk of taking on Syria — Quick strikes rarely achieve enduring political goals — and often produce more costs or unintended consequences than benefits. — So the U.S. launches a military strike. Then what? — As the Obama administration and the U.S. military plot military action against Syria …

Discussion: Slate

New York Times:

U.S. Facing Test on Data to Back Action on Syria — WASHINGTON — The evidence of a massacre is undeniable: the bodies of the dead lined up on hospital floors, those of the living convulsing and writhing in pain and a declaration from a respected international aid group that thousands …

Discussion: Associated Press, Hot Air, Twitchy, Politico, Jammie Wearing Fools, News Desk, The Week and Pressing Issues

Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:
Putin's Silence on Syria Signals Resignation on Attack

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Hill and Taegan Goddard's …

Los Angeles Times:
Syria chemical weapons response poses major test for Obama

Discussion: NBCNews, Mediaite, Hot Air, Ed Driscoll, WorldViews, CNN, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway and New York Times

Anne Barnard / New York Times:
Reports of Syria Chemical Attack Spur Question: Why?

Discussion: americanthinker.com, National Interest, The Agonist and The PJ Tatler

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Official: White House seeks Syria response ‘just muscular enough not to get mocked’

Discussion: Reuters, CNN, protein wisdom and Crooks and Liars

Fred Pleitgen / CNN:
Obama: U.S. concludes Syria carried out chemical weapons attacks

Discussion: Michael J. Totten's blog, KDVR.com, The Huffington Post, The Week, Guardian, BBC, CBS News and Betsy's Page, more at Mediagazer »

Emma Dumain / Goppers:

Boehner, Cantor Turned Down Chance to Speak at March Anniversary (Updated) — Updated 5:23 p.m. | Speaker John A. Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the House's two most senior Republicans, were invited to speak at the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington — but declined.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, msnbc.com, The Hinterland Gazette, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Reaction

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Republicans absent from March on Washington

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, News One and Library of Law & Liberty

Aamer Madhani / USA Today:
Bushes unable to attend March on Washington ceremony

Discussion: BuzzFeed

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.”

Discussion: Power Line and Forbes

Sandhya Somashekhar / Washington Post:

States find new ways to resist health law — Several Republican-led states at the forefront of the campaign to undermine President Obama's health-care law have come up with new ways to try to thwart it, refusing to enforce consumer protections, for example, and restricting federally funded workers hired …

BREITBART.COM:

20,000 CURRENTLY ESTIMATED AT MARCH ON WASHINGTON, 100,000 WERE EXPECTED — While over 100,000 people were expected to show up at today's ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech, late estimates put the crowd numbers at 20,000.

Discussion: Joe. My. God., Mediaite, Washington Examiner, Power Line, AMERICAN DIGEST, Weasel Zippers, ABC News, Yahoo! News, Washington Wire and Wall Street Journal

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:
‘The Most Dangerous Negro’ — The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s …

Discussion: Most Recent, Balloon Juice and Bloomberg

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
THE GREAT LOOPHOLE — As the president mounts the podium …

Discussion: National Review, American Prospect, No More Mister Nice Blog, Firedoglake, Mediaite, Gawker and driftglass

Associated Press:

HASAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR FORT HOOD SHOOTING — (AP) Soldier sentenced to death for Fort Hood shooting — A military jury on Wednesday sentenced Maj. Nidal Hasan to death for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, handing the Army psychiatrist the ultimate punishment after a trial …

Discussion: UrbanGrounds

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:
Death Penalty for Rampage at Fort Hood

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Bill Mears / CNN:
Fort Hood shooting jury recommends death penalty for Nidal Hasan

Discussion: The Week and Scared Monkeys

Francesca Chambers / Red Alert Politics:

Nation's only black Senator not invited to speak at March on Washington — About Francesca Chambers — Francesca is the Editor of Red Alert Politics - an online publication written by and for young conservatives. Red Alert Politics is a product of Clarity Media Group …

Discussion: American Power, LifeNews.com, Weasel Zippers and TheBlaze.com

Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
At 50th Anniversary of March, No GOP Speakers

Discussion: ABC News, NPR, Mediaite, The Hill, Telegraph and Post Politics

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Obama is talking America into a war — Barack Obama's foreign policy dream — cordial relations with a Middle East tranquilized by “smart diplomacy” — is in a death grapple with reality. His rhetorical writhings illustrate the perils of loquacity. He has a glutton's, rather than a gourmet's …

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Antiwar Left Stays Quiet On Syria — With less money and fewer members, antiwar groups struggle to effectively protest the imminent war in Syria. — Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans at an Iraq War veterans march in 2008 in Denver. — Michael Francis McElroy/Zuma Press / MCT

Discussion: Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, The Huffington Post and National Review

Jessica Parks / Philly.com:

State: Montco same-sex marriage licenses meaningless — The Corbett administration said its lawsuit seeking to halt same-sex marriage licenses in Montgomery County “would have no direct effect” on the couples who have already received them. — In a brief Wednesday, state attorneys …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, LGBTQ Nation and Guardian

Daniel Henninger / Wall Street Journal:

ObamaCare for Everything — First health, then finance and now higher ed gets a federal fix. — Thousands of American higher-education administrators will spend part of Labor Day weekend trying to plumb the meaning of the ideas President Obama dropped on them last week to “reform” the American college and university system.

Discussion: Betsy's Page and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:

Verizon and Vodafone Rekindle Talks on $100 Billion-Plus Deal — With Rising Interest Rates and New Competition, the Companies Move Beyond Stalemate — Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC have rekindled talks about a buyout of the U.K. company's stake in their U.S. wireless joint venture …

Discussion: Guardian, The Verge and AllThingsD, more at Mediagazer »