Top Items:
Politico:
President Obama could lose big on Syria in House — If the House voted today on a resolution to attack Syria, President Barack Obama would lose — and lose big. — That's the private assessment of House Republican and Democratic lawmakers and aides who are closely involved in the process.
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John Hudson / Foreign Policy:
Congressional Black Caucus Instructed to Hold Tongue on Syria — As an increasing number of African-American lawmakers voice dissent over the Obama administration's war plans in Syria, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has asked members to “limit public comment” …
Discussion:
The Last Refuge, The Right Scoop, Weasel Zippers, Naked DC, The Hill and Jammie Wearing Fools
Steven Nelson / US News:
Rep. Alan Grayson: Syria Intelligence Manipulated — Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., who is aggressively lobbying against a military strike on Syria, says the Obama administration has manipulated intelligence to push its case for U.S. involvement in the country's two-year civil war.
Discussion:
Nice Deb and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Obama needs game-changer to win House vote on Syria — President Obama's request for congressional approval of a military strike in Syria is facing failure and could need a significant game-changer to pass the House. — While the authorization request might pass the Democratic-controlled Senate …
Discussion:
The Reaction, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Plum Line and The Impolitic
Manu Raju / Politico:
AIPAC to go all-out on Syria — The powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC is planning to launch a major lobbying campaign to push wayward lawmakers to back the resolution authorizing U.S. strikes against Syria, sources said Thursday. — Officials say that some 250 Jewish leaders and AIPAC activists …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed and MJ Rosenberg
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama cancels LA trip as ‘no’ votes on Syria resolution pile up (Video)
Obama cancels LA trip as ‘no’ votes on Syria resolution pile up (Video)
Discussion:
Politico, Right Turn, gopthedailydose.com, Nice Deb, Hit & Run, The PJ Tatler, Jammie Wearing Fools and Post Politics
Washington Post:
Obama, from Russia, urges U.S. lawmakers to back strike on Syria
Obama, from Russia, urges U.S. lawmakers to back strike on Syria
Discussion:
New York Times, Post Politics and FP Passport
Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
The Democratic Congressman Who Thinks He Can Stop the Syria War
The Democratic Congressman Who Thinks He Can Stop the Syria War
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Raw Story, protein wisdom, The Fix, American Prospect, National Review, Washington Post and In These Times
New York Times:
N.S.A. Able to Foil Basic Safeguards of Privacy on Web — The National Security Agency is winning its long-running secret war on encryption, using supercomputers, technical trickery, court orders and behind-the-scenes persuasion to undermine the major tools protecting the privacy …
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Guardian:
US and UK spy agencies defeat privacy and security on the internet — • NSA and GCHQ unlock encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records — • $250m-a-year US program works covertly with tech companies to insert weaknesses into products
Bruce Schneier / Guardian:
How to remain secure against NSA surveillance
How to remain secure against NSA surveillance
Discussion:
Wired, io9, Boing Boing and protein wisdom
Wall Street Journal:
Iran Plots Revenge, U.S. Says — Officials Say Intercepted Message to Militants Orders Reprisals in Iraq if Syria Hit — WASHINGTON—The U.S. has intercepted an order from Iran to militants in Iraq to attack the U.S. Embassy and other American interests in Baghdad in the event of a strike on Syria …
Discussion:
Business Insider, NPR, Capitol Report, Telegraph, Weasel Zippers and The Raw Story
Timothy Egan / Opinionator:
The Bush Burden — He's there in every corner of Congress where a microphone fronts a politician, there in Russia and the British Parliament and the Vatican. You may think George W. Bush is at home in his bathtub, painting pictures of his toenails, but in fact he's the biggest presence in the debate over what to do in Syria.
Discussion:
The Mahablog
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msnbc.com:
‘This is not Iraq’: Video, transcript of Kerry's MSNBC interview — CHRIS HAYES, HOST: Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for making the time today. — I really appreciate it. — JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm very happy to be with you. — HAYES: There's a — a pretty shocking video by “The New York Times” posted today.
Discussion:
Arizona Republic, ThinkProgress, Real Clear Politics, Gawker and The Huffington Post
Charles M. Blow / New York Times:
The Era of Disbelief — This is a particularly bad time to sell …
The Era of Disbelief — This is a particularly bad time to sell …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly and The Huffington Post
John Dickerson / Slate:
The Obama administration should stop pretending it's easy. — After almost 30 years in the Senate, Secretary of State John Kerry should've known that Senate hearings are supposed to be free of news. As Sen. John McCain proved, you can even sit through them and play online poker.
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Salon and Boing Boing
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Justin Joseph / KDVR.com:
GOP lawmaker brings fried chicken to poverty hearing in ‘silent protest’ — DENVER — Two weeks ago, the last meeting of a Colorado task force on economic opportunity and poverty exploded into allegations of racism when Sen. Vicki Marble, a Republican, attempted to explain high poverty rates …
Kevin Liptak / CNN:
McCain gets an earful from voters on Syria — (CNN) - Sen. John McCain, whose endorsement of President Barack Obama's plan to launch military strikes against Syria provided the president a key Republican backer, faced vocal opponents of military action during a town hall in Arizona Thursday.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Hot Air, Mediaite and Jammie Wearing Fools
Jonathan Allen / Politico:
Manchin, Heitkamp float alternative — The United States would give Syria 45 days to sign an international chemical weapons ban or face the wrath of American military might, under a draft resolution being circulated by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Booman Tribune and Post Politics
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
The Right Vote — The statesmanlike case for voting Yes on the congressional resolution to use force against the Assad regime has been made widely and well by conservative foreign policy thinkers. At the end, the case boils down to this: As a policy matter, a Yes vote may be problematic in all kinds of ways.
Josiah Ryan / Campus Reform the #1 Source …:
SUSPENDED: Michigan State removes prof who went on anti-Republican tirade — Michigan State administrators have suspended Prof. William Penn for the remainder of the semester, after he was caught on video going on an anti-Republican tirade on the very first day of his literature class.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, The Right Scoop and The Gateway Pundit
Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:
It's Official: Alec Baldwin to Host Talk Show on MSNBC — The actor and will anchor a 10 p.m. program on Fridays beginning in October. — Alec Baldwin — Alec Baldwin has finalized a deal to host a weekly night-time talk show on MSNBC. The program - Up Late with Alec Baldwin will bow …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Years of Tragic Waste — In a few days, we'll reach the fifth anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers — the moment when a recession, which was bad enough, turned into something much scarier. Suddenly, we were looking at the real possibility of economic catastrophe. — And the catastrophe came.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Why America Is Saying ‘No’ — Syria and Obama: Wrong time, wrong place, wrong plan, wrong man. — It is hard, if you've got a head and a heart, to come down against a strong U.S. response to Syria's use of chemical weapons against its civilian population.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Lee Enterprises / Arizona Daily Sun:
Lowell Observatory's Putnam wants to name asteroid for Trayvon Martin — Albert Einstein. George Takei. Jerry Garcia. — All of those men and many others have had an asteroid named after them. And if William Lowell Putnam III, trustee of Lowell Observatory, has his way, another name will be added to that list: Trayvon Martin.
Discussion:
BizPac Review, The Last Refuge, Weasel Zippers and National Review
New York Times:
The Federal Reserve Nomination — In July, when news broke that President Obama might nominate Lawrence Summers to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, several Democratic senators wrote a letter to the president in praise of Janet Yellen, the current Fed vice chairwoman who many presumed would be the nominee.
Discussion:
Business Insider and Brad DeLong