Top Items:
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Why many Republicans won't support Obama on Syria attack — CONGRESS BARACK OBAMA REPUBLICAN PARTY SYRIA — Early signs say it will be hard for President Obama to win congressional authorization for military action in Syria. That could change; lawmakers might re-write …
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Nick Marcelli / Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader:
LEADER CANTOR STATEMENT ON SYRIA AND REGIONAL CONFLICT — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor today released the following statement on Syria and the regional conflict following his meeting with President Obama at the White House:
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, NBCNews, Business Insider, Hot Air, Guardian, msnbc.com, Taylor Marsh, Rumproast, Joe. My. God., Pat Dollard, The Gateway Pundit and The Hinterland Gazette
New York Times:
House Speaker Backs Obama's Call for Strike Against Syria — WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner said on Tuesday that he would “support the president's call to action” in Syria after meeting with President Obama, giving the president a crucial ally in the quest for votes in the House.
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Public Opinion Runs Against Syrian Airstrikes — Few See U.S. Military Action Discouraging Chemical Weapons Use — President Obama faces an uphill battle in making the case for U.S. military action in Syria. By a 48% to 29% margin, more Americans oppose than support conducting military airstrikes …
Discussion:
The Fix, Washington Monthly, Yahoo! News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway and The Other McCain
Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:
The Robert Taft Republicans Return — Isolationism has never served the interests of America, or the GOP. — 'We'll be lucky to get 80 Republicans out of 230. " That's an astute GOP congressman's best guess for how his caucus now stands on the vote to authorize military force against Syria.
Discussion:
The Spectacle Blog
Greg Miller / Washington Post:
Top-secret U.S. intelligence files show new levels of distrust of Pakistan — The $52.6 billion U.S. intelligence arsenal is aimed mainly at unambiguous adversaries, including al-Qaeda, North Korea and Iran. But top-secret budget documents reveal an equally intense focus on one purported ally: Pakistan.
Discussion:
Lawfare, Via Meadia, Hot Air, New York Times, The Raw Story, Business Insider and The Reaction
Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
Where isolationism leads — The Syria debacle sheds light on the thinking of both interventionists and isolationists. The former are furious with President Obama for stalling, evading a burgeoning crisis and then coming up with half-measures coupled with a punt to Congress.
Discussion:
National Review, Bloomberg and PostPartisan
Politico:
John Kerry to Democrats: ‘Munich moment’ — Secretary of State John Kerry told House Democrats that the United States faced a “Munich moment” in deciding whether to respond to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government. — In a 70-minute conference call on Monday afternoon …
CNN:
Happening now: Lawmakers grill Obama officials on Syria — Check back here for the latest updates in our live blog of the Senate hearing — (CNN) - Top Obama administration officials face tough questions Tuesday as they make their case for a military strike in Syria in their first public congressional hearing on the issue.
Gary Langer / ABC News:
Six in 10 Oppose U.S.-Only Strike on Syria; A Closer Division if Allies are Involved
Six in 10 Oppose U.S.-Only Strike on Syria; A Closer Division if Allies are Involved
Discussion:
Daily Kos
The Boston Globe:
Obama pushes for approval of Syria military strike
Obama pushes for approval of Syria military strike
Discussion:
Politico, Pressing Issues, Guardian and MJ Rosenberg
Talking Points Memo:
Cantor Backs Syria Action
Cantor Backs Syria Action
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Hill and Towleroad News #gay
New York Times:
Debating the Case for Force
Debating the Case for Force
Discussion:
Washington Post, msnbc.com, Foreign Policy, emptywheel, Right Wing News, The Long War Journal, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, NBCNews, Wall Street Journal, PostPartisan, Pressing Issues, NPR and BBC
Tal Kopan / Politico:
John McCain fears ‘535 commanders in chief’
John McCain fears ‘535 commanders in chief’
Discussion:
ABC News, Post Politics, Daily Kos, Reuters and Associated Press
CNN:
House leaders back Obama
House leaders back Obama
Discussion:
NBCNews, Wall Street Journal, The Moderate Voice and The Agonist
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
On Syria, Obama can't take liberals and Dems for granted — The White House may be working hard to win the backing of hawkish Senators like John McCain and Lindsey Graham for Obama's plan to hit Syria, but that may come at a price: It could cost the support of many Congressional Democrats …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Monthly, MJ Rosenberg, Gawker, Weekly Standard and Daniel W. Drezner
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Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz: U.S. has ‘dozens’ of allies
DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz: U.S. has ‘dozens’ of allies
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers and Right Wing News
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Still Hasn't Armed Syrian Rebels
U.S. Still Hasn't Armed Syrian Rebels
Discussion:
FOX News Radio, Hot Air, Right Turn, MoneyBeat, Weasel Zippers, Washington Wire and Guardian
Hannah Strange / Telegraph:
US general says Syria action could be ‘more substantial than thought’
US general says Syria action could be ‘more substantial than thought’
Discussion:
Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, Pat Dollard and Sense of Events
John Fund / National Review:
President ‘Present’ — Washington is abuzz with talk about how much President Obama has damaged America's credibility with his indecisiveness on Syria. It's become accepted fact that Obama's decision-making style resembles that of an academic convening an unruly seminar whose participants he largely disdains.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal and Betsy's Page
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell offers no support for military strike against Syria
McConnell offers no support for military strike against Syria
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Steven T. Dennis / Roll Call:
Will Congress Follow Its Leaders On Syria?
Will Congress Follow Its Leaders On Syria?
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, NBCNews, The Hill, PoliticusUSA, The World's Greatest …, First Read and The Hill
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Miley Cyrus, Steubenville and teen culture run amok — Miley Cyrus twerked. I had to look up the word since my indefatigable spell checker had no idea what I meant. I discovered from Wikipedia that twerking “involves a person, usually a woman, shaking her hips in an up-and-down bouncing motion …
Discussion:
National Review, ThinkProgress, Gawker, No More Mister Nice Blog, TheBlaze.com, The Other McCain, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Wonkette, The Raw Story and Jezebel
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Jeffrey Bezos, Washington Post's next owner, aims for a new ‘golden era’ at the newspaper — Jeffrey P. Bezos, the next owner of The Washington Post, says he doesn't have all the answers for what's ailing the newspaper industry or for the financially challenged news organization he is preparing to buy.
Discussion:
Guardian, NewsBusters, The Verge, The Huffington Post, Gizmodo, Politico, Towleroad News #gay and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
Jennifer Meacham / KOIN-TV:
Sweet Cakes closing shop amid same-sex rift — GRESHAM, Ore. (KOIN) — A bakery embroiled in controversy after an owner refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple is closing up its Gresham storefront. — According to the “Sweet Cakes by Melissa” Facebook page …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Wonkette, ThinkProgress, Joe. My. God., Althouse, Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story
Dan Amira / New York Magazine:
Who Do Members of Congress Follow on Twitter? — Twitter has become such an integral medium for political communication that, according to our count, 97 percent of members of Congress now have an official Twitter presence. But Twitter is a two-way street — you spread your message, and you listen to what others have to say.
Discussion:
The Fix, Mediaite, The Huffington Post and Poynter
Monica Potts / American Prospect:
What's Killing Poor White Women? — On the night of May 23, 2012, which turned out to be the last of her life, Crystal Wilson baby-sat her infant granddaughter, Kelly. It was how she would have preferred to spend every night. Crystal had joined Facebook the previous year …
David Horowitz / Fox News:
GOP leaders should let Allah sort out Syria's Islamic civil war — Editor's note: The following commentary originally appeared on RedState.com. — As bankrupt as elected Republican leadership is in Washington vis-à-vis domestic policy, they are completely clueless as it relates to foreign policy.
Discussion:
protein wisdom
Gerry Mullany / New York Times:
Dennis Rodman Returns to North Korea to Visit Kim — HONG KONG — The former basketball star Dennis Rodman returned Tuesday to North Korea, where he plans “to see my friend” Kim Jong-un, the dictator whose country until recently was threatening to annihilate the United States with nuclear weapons.
Discussion:
CBS Detroit and The Daily Caller
Andrew Johnson / National Review:
Pelosi Huddles with 5-Year-Old Grandson on Syria — Nancy Pelosi told reporters today she consulted her five-year-old grandson over the weekend about whether or not to support intervention in Syria. — The minority leader explained that when she was home this past weekend …
Discussion:
Pat Dollard, Mediaite and Power Line
WMUR:
Bradley rules out running for statewide office next year — Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley tells WMUR-TV that he will not run for statewide office in 2014, a significant blow to state Republicans who nearly took it for granted that Bradley would run for either governor or U.S. Senate next year.
Discussion:
Roll Call