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SYRIA SAYS IT ACCEPTED RUSSIAN WEAPONS PROPOSAL — MOSCOW (AP) — Syria said Tuesday it has accepted Russia's proposal to place its chemical weapons under international control for subsequent dismantling. — Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Tuesday after meeting …
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CBS News, Hot Air, The Other McCain, Mediaite, americanthinker.com, White House Dossier, The Glittering Eye and Outside the Beltway
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A Diplomatic Proposal for Syria — Secretary of State John Kerry may not have expected his casual suggestion that Syria avert American military action by giving up its chemical weapons to be taken seriously. But it may have created a diplomatic way out for President Obama …


Syria accepts Russian proposal on weapons; France to bring resolution to Security Council — BERLIN — An unexpected Russian proposal for Syria to avert a U.S. military strike by transferring control of its chemical weapons appeared to be gaining traction on Tuesday, as Syria embraced it …
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Yahoo! News, New York Times, emptywheel, USA Today, The Hill, Post Politics, National Review, Daniel W. Drezner, Voice of America, Pirate's Cove, The Reaction and Reuters


Senators working on new Syria plan — A powerful group of senators is quietly drafting a new proposal that could forestall military action in Syria if the country relinquishes its chemical weapon stockpile, according to a source familiar with the deliberations.
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ABC News, Daily Kos and Associated Press


15 Questions About the Increasingly Crazy Syria Debate — This has been a particularly manic day on the Syrian front. Secretary of State John Kerry sent the debate into overdrive first by promising that any American attack on Syria would be “unbelievably small,” and then with his suggestion …

White House Backs Global Push to Secure Syria's Arsenal — WASHINGTON — The White House and a bipartisan group of senators joined the international diplomatic momentum on Tuesday to avert an American military attack on Syria over its use of chemical munitions in that country's civil war …
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Washington Monthly, BBC, Business Insider, Yahoo! News, CBS News, NBCNews, The Verge, Guardian, BuzzFeed, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway and Politico


McConnell to Vote ‘No’ — In remarks this morning on the floor, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) will announce that he's voting against on the Syria resolution. National Review has obtained the text of his remarks (see below). In the speech, McConnell says that even though he's voting “no,” he's not an isolationist.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Capitol Report and Post Politics

Why I'll vote no on Syria strike
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NBCNews, The Spectacle Blog and National Review


Obama's accidental diplomacy
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BuzzFeed, CNN, Business Insider and The Hill

Manchin-Heitkamp: The Senate's Compelling Alternative Syria Resolution
Discussion:
The Week, Washington Post, National Review and Post Politics

PEACE IN OUR TIME: OBAMA CAVES TO PUTIN, ASSAD, IRAN
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Power Line, National Review, USA Today, CNN, BuzzFeed and Conservatives4Palin

Obama: “I understand” American people aren't with me on Syria strike
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The Week, The Hinterland Gazette, CBS DC, Taylor Marsh, National Review, Joe. My. God., Hot Air and Washington Wire

Syria Could Avoid Attack, Obama Says
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The New Republic, CNN, Politico, USA Today, ABC News, Questions and Observations, NBCNews, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, Real Clear Politics, The Caucus, National Review, Fox News, Pirate's Cove, americanthinker.com, Scared Monkeys, Washington Wire, Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots, Telegraph, Associated Press, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, Foreign Policy, Washington Free Beacon, Sister Toldjah, Taylor Marsh, New York Times, NPR, The Raw Story, Slate and Business Insider

Kerry's claim that he opposed Bush's invasion of Iraq — “You know, Senator Chuck Hagel, when he was senator, Senator Chuck Hagel, now secretary of defense, and when I was a senator, we opposed the president's decision to go into Iraq, but we know full well how that evidence was used to persuade …
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Sister Toldjah, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TheBlaze.com, Patterico's Pontifications and Hot Air


The United States of weakness — Red lines that may or may not be real, retaliatory strikes that may or may not be hours from launch, congressional debates that may or may not be necessary for the president to do what he wants—whatever that happens to be this hour.
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A plain blog about politics, TheBlaze.com and CNN

Conservatives skeptical of GOP ObamaCare defunding move — House Republican leaders will have to overcome a skeptical conservative bloc to pass a plan that would force the Senate to vote on defunding ObamaCare before enacting a critical spending measure. — Lawmakers on Tuesday offered …
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CNN
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House GOP Pushes New Gambit To Defund Obamacare — House Republican leaders are proposing a plan in a conference meeting Tuesday to force a symbolic Senate vote on defunding Obamacare but will stop short of shutting down the federal government if the Senate vote fails, as expected.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Salon and RedState


Bride: I pushed my husband off cliff — (CNN) — A woman in Montana is accused of pushing her husband off a cliff after an argument. The pair had been married for just more than a week. — Jordan Linn Graham made an initial appearance in court Monday to face a charge of second-degree murder.
Discussion:
KDVR.com, The Week, Scared Monkeys and Althouse


Syria: Government Likely Culprit in Chemical Attack — New Evidence based on Rocket Analysis, Witness Accounts — (New York) - Available evidence strongly suggests that Syrian government forces were responsible for chemical weapons attacks on two Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013.
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ThinkProgress, NBCNews, msnbc.com, Guardian and RT
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Your Annual Reminder to Ignore the U.S. News & World Report College Rankings — The list's real purpose is to “exacerbate the status anxiety” of prospective students and parents. — The annual college rankings by U.S. News & World Report are out today, and with their release will come …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and The Huffington Post


Crossfire Review #1 — The Daily Caller feels compelled to present our first, and hopefully last, review of the new version of CNN's vaunted ‘Crossfire.’ For Review #1, we will focus on the show's Monday debut starring President Obama's 2012 deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter …
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The Raw Story, The Last Refuge and The Spectacle Blog

McConnell chides Obama as ‘reluctant commander in chief’ on Syria — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came out against using U.S. military force in Syria Tuesday, criticizing the way President Obama has handled the situation. — “No one should be faulted for being skeptical …
Discussion:
Hot Air
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Seeking votes, Reid compares Syria to Hitler's gas chambers
Discussion:
NationalJournal.com, Weekly Standard and Hit & Run


House v. Napolitano — In May 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts challenging the suspicionless search and seizure of electronics and personal data belonging to David House …
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Prairie Weather
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Business Insider's CTO Is Your New Tech Bro Nightmare — What has two thumbs and a homophobic, misogynistic, classist worldview? Pax Dickinson. We just noticed this vile Twitter account from Business Insider's chief technology officer today. But he's been at it for awhile.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Joe. My. God., driftglass and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

The Weak Recovery Explains Rising Inequality, Not Vice Versa — Obama blames tax cuts that began under Reagan for today's slow growth. The data don't back him up. — Last year at this time a debate raged about whether economic growth and job creation has been abnormally slow compared …
Discussion:
The Glittering Eye


Execution rescheduled to accommodate Pam Bondi fundraiser — There is no graver responsibility and act of state government than an execution. — In Florida this week, a campaign fundraiser takes precedence. — Attorney General Pam Bondi persuaded Gov. Rick Scott to postpone …
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Balloon Juice and TalkLeft


Jon Favreau on Obama's War for Peace — ‘Peace requires responsibility,’ the president said when he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. He could say those words again Tuesday night about his proposed Syria strike, says Jon Favreau. — Forget the politics. Forget the whip counts.
Discussion:
The Dish


Bus rider's face smashed in during ‘hate attack’ — An attacker pummeled a bus passenger so hard he smashed the bones in his face after calling the victim a “cracker” in Manhattan - marking the second time in two days that people appeared to be randomly targeted in racial tirades against white people, authorities said.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers


Alcoa, Hewlett-Packard and Bank of America to Be Dropped from Dow Industrials — Goldman Sachs, Nike and Visa to Be Added to Benchmark Index — Alcoa Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Bank of America Corp. will be dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average next week, in the biggest shake-up of the 30-stock index in almost a decade.