memeorandum: Hill briefing: Uphill battle for Obama on Syria (Politico)

Obama blinks — What if Congress says no to a Syria attack? … President Barack Obama bought himself some time Saturday to drum up support, at home and internationally, for a strike against Syria. He did what he needed to do, at considerable risk to his credibility.

Discussion: BBC, New York Times and americanthinker.com

Elliott Abrams / Politico:

How not to run a foreign policy — In March 2011, President Obama committed the United States to action in Libya that involved roughly 100 cruise missile firings, 12 U.S. Navy ships in the Mediterranean, and 75 U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft including B-2 bombers.

CBS News:

Face the Nation transcripts September 1, 2013: Kerry, McCain, Kaine, and Chambliss — (CBS News) Below is a transcript of “Face the Nation” on September 1, 2013, hosted by CBS News' Major Garrett. Guests include: Secretary of State John Kerry, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Tim Kaine, D-Va. …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Taylor Marsh, Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers

Timothy Heritage / Reuters:
Analysis: Putin sees chance to turn tables on Obama at G20

Discussion: Washington Post and Crooks and Liars

Politico:

Hill briefing: Uphill battle for Obama on Syria — President Barack Obama faces a clear uphill battle in swaying skeptical lawmakers of the merits of military action in Syria, as top officials were dispatched to Capitol Hill Sunday to make the administration's case.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, Right Wing News, Wall Street Journal, PoliticusUSA, Weasel Zippers, The Volokh Conspiracy, No More Mister Nice Blog and The World's Greatest …

Jonathan Allen / Politico:

Obama and Congress: ‘Rolling the dice’ — The stakes of Syria vote couldn't be higher for President Barack Obama: If Congress doesn't back him up, his already troubled second term would be dealt another blow in the twin arenas of domestic and foreign politics.

Ben Geman / The Hill:
Senate to rework Obama's Syria order

Discussion: Politico, americanthinker.com and CNN

Ed O'Keefe / Post Politics:
After classified briefing, lawmakers skeptical on Syria attack

Discussion: Booman Tribune and The World's Greatest …

New York Times:

Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.'s — For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans' phone calls …

Discussion: Hit & Run, emptywheel, The Verge, Mashable, Gawker, Outside the Beltway and Prairie Weather

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Love for Labor Lost — It wasn't always about the hot dogs. Originally, believe it or not, Labor Day actually had something to do with showing respect for labor. — Here's how it happened: In 1894 Pullman workers, facing wage cuts in the wake of a financial crisis, went on strike …

Jeryl Bier / Weekly Standard:

White House Spins Article About 34% Increase in Ohio Healthcare Premiums As Good News — David Simas tweets (and the White House retweets) a link to an article and adds, “More good ACA [Obamacare] news. 21% savings on premiums for Ohioans who buy their own health insurance because of the ACA.”

Discussion: Hot Air

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Surprising Friend of Gay Rights in a High Place — The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus sang “Give 'Em Hope” for a revered and in some ways surprising guest who shared a California stage with them last month: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. — Justice Kennedy was in San Francisco …

Kyle Smith / New York Post:

Why are major media outlets ignoring bestselling writer Mark R. Levin? — Conservative host Mark Levin rules the radio and the bestseller charts because he speaks for people who feel left out of the debate. So, what does the media do? Ignore him. — To read the book reviews in The New York Times …

Nancy Folbre / Economix:

Not Really Labor's Day — Nancy Folbre is professor emerita of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. — The annual holiday supposedly celebrating labor has long lacked much celebratory feel. Over the last 30 years, employment has become more precarious and real wages for most workers have stagnated.

Reuters:

Egypt's Morsi to stand trial on charges of ‘inciting killing and thuggery’ — 14 other Brotherhood members to also face charges of incitement to murder. — Deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi is to stand trial on charges of committing and inciting violence, a state prosecutor decided on Sunday …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers