memeorandum: Homeland Confusion — NO single event in the last half-century … (New York Times)

4:00 PM ET, September 11, 2013

Top Items:

COLORADO SENATE PRESIDENT JOHN MORSE, STATE SEN. ANGELA GIRON OUSTED — An epic national debate over gun rights in Colorado on Tuesday saw two Democratic state senators ousted for their support for stricter laws, a “ready, aim, fired” message intended to stop other politicians for pushing for firearms restrictions.

Discussion: NBCNews, The Spot, The Recall Elections Blog, msnbc.com, Roll Call, Taylor Marsh, Sister Toldjah, Colorado Peak Politics, Yahoo! News, ABC News, Crooks and Liars, Ricochet Conversations Feed, John Lott's Website, TheDenverChannel.com, Booman Tribune, First Read and The Reaction

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Reflecting on the Colorado recalls — We did a poll last weekend in Colorado Senate District 3 and found that voters intended to recall Angela Giron by a 12 point margin, 54/42. In a district that Barack Obama won by almost 20 points I figured there was no way that could be right and made a rare decision not to release the poll.

Discussion: The Hill, Taegan Goddard's …, Democratic National Committee, Business Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Capitol Report, National Review and The PJ Tatler

Jack Healy / New York Times:

Colorado Lawmakers Ousted in Recall Vote Over Gun Law — COLORADO SPRINGS — Two Colorado Democrats who provided crucial support for a package of state gun laws were voted out of office on Tuesday in special elections seen as a test of whether swing-state voters would accept gun restrictions …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Week, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Gawker, Shakesville, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Plum Line, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Naked Politics, Joe. My. God., Shot in the Dark, Michelle Malkin, Southern Beale and Politico

David Kopel / The Volokh Conspiracy:
The Colorado Recalls Explained

Discussion: American Spectator, Colorado Peak Politics, National Review, The PJ Tatler, Twitchy, The Lonely Conservative, Power Line and Overlawyered

Alec Macgillis / The New Republic:
Gun Control Loses in a Swing State

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Colorado Peak Politics, National Review, John Lott's Website, The Week and Wall Street Journal

Sean Sullivan / The Fix:
The Colorado recalls dealt a serious blow to gun-control advocates. Here's why.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Week

Joseph Weber / Fox News:
Colorado state senators recalled over gun control support

Discussion: Fox News Insider, americanthinker.com and Real Science

Denver Post:
COLORADO RECALL ELECTION VOTER TURNOUT MIXED, FIGURES SHOW

Discussion: KDVR.com, Colorado Peak Politics, BizPac Review and The Recall Elections Blog

Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times:
Colorado lawmakers ousted in recall election over strict gun laws

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

WSJ op-ed writer Elizabeth O'Bagy fired for resume lie — The Syria researcher whose Wall Street Journal op-piece was cited by Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. John McCain during congressional hearings about the use of force has been fired from the Institute for the Study of War for lying …

Discussion: Firedoglake, NPR, Real Science and The PJ Tatler

Susannah George / BuzzFeed:

Controversial Syria Researcher Fired Over Doctorate Claim — Elizabeth O'Bagy's ties to the Syrian opposition had become an issue. Think Tank founder says she had “no problem” with O'Bagy's affiliation. — A young researcher whose opinions on Syria were cited by both Senator McCain …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Raw Story, National Review and American Spectator

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:
McCain Calls Russia's Syria Plan a Stall Tactic

Discussion: Washington Wire and Israpundit

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Who Do You Trust? — WASHINGTON — Vladimir Putin, who keeps Edward Snowden on a leash and lets members of a riotous girl band rot in jail, has thrown President Obama a lifeline. — The Russian president had coldly brushed back Obama on Snowden and Syria, and only last week called John Kerry a liar.

Discussion: Right Turn, Power Line and Mediaite

Nile Gardiner / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:

Barack Obama's Syria speech was an incoherent mess - he is outperforming Jimmy Carter as the most feeble US president of modern times — Billed as a game-changer on Syria, the President's White House address landed with a thud that could be heard as far away as Damascus.

Discussion: Hot Air, New York Times, JustOneMinute, Yahoo! News, Telegraph and NewsBusters

John F. Harris / Politico:
Obama's Zig vs. Zag

Discussion: Guardian, TIME, Slate, americanthinker.com, Hot Air, Taegan Goddard's …, John Lott's Website and The Hill

Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Obama's speech may not have sounded novel, but the president may have helped his cause in unexpected ways.

Discussion: The Week, Guardian, The American Conservative, NBCNews and Weekly Standard

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
A new error in U.S. foreign policy.

Discussion: Sense of Events, The Gateway Pundit, American Spectator and CNN

Wall Street Journal:
The President lets Putin outmaneuver him on Syrian chemical arms.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Right Turn, National Review, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Bloomberg, Slate, American Power and blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Reza Kahlili / The Daily Caller:
Iran threatens widespread retaliation against U.S. and allies

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Mara Gay / NY Daily News:

Sydney Leathers, former sexting partner of Anthony Weiner, attempts to crash his election night party — The 23-year-old, clad in a tight red dress and platform heels, said that she wanted to finally meet the man who ‘manipulated’ her into a months-long relationship.

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, Real Clear Politics, Yahoo! News, Gothamist and Althouse

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:
The Scariest Question For Anthony Weiner: What's Next?

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and Business Insider

NY Daily News:
Anthony Weiner concedes in Democratic mayoral primary race

Discussion: msnbc.com, Capital New York and Patterico's Pontifications

Dave Jamieson / The Huffington Post:

Trader Joe's To Drop Health Coverage For Part-Time Workers Under Obamacare: Memo — After extending health care coverage to many of its part-time employees for years, Trader Joe's has told workers who log fewer than 30 hours a week that they will need to find insurance on the Obamacare exchanges next year …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, The Hill, BREITBART.COM, The PJ Tatler, Sister Toldjah and The Heritage Foundation

New York Times:

De Blasio First in Mayoral Primary; Unclear if He Avoids a Runoff — Bill de Blasio, whose campaign for mayor of New York tapped into a city's deepening unease with income inequality and aggressive police practices, captured far more votes than any of his rivals in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, according to exit poll results.

Discussion: NY Daily News, Good As You, Taylor Marsh, Gothamist, Capital New York, Hot Air, Towleroad News #gay, The Week, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's …, Gawker, Politicker, The Lonely Conservative and Balloon Juice

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Lhota Hopes to Capitalize on Elite Dismay Over a Liberal Tilt

Discussion: Gawker, The Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, NPR, Capital New York, alicublog and National Review

Kate Taylor / New York Times:
Stringer Defeats Spitzer in Comptroller Primary

Discussion: New York Post, Scared Monkeys and Gothamist

Tom Junod / Esquire:

THE FALLING MAN — Do you remember this photograph? In the United States, people have taken pains to banish it from the record of September 11, 2001. The story behind it, though, and the search for the man pictured in it, are our most intimate connection to the horror of that day. — SPECIAL OFFER

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, Poynter, Mediaite and The Huffington Post

Peter Lauria / BuzzFeed:

Exclusive: IAC And Daily Beast Editor Tina Brown To Part Ways — A source with direct knowledge of the situation says IAC does not plan to renew Tina Brown's contract when it expires in January. A decision has not yet been made on the future of The Daily Beast. — Jason Kempin / FilmMagic

Discussion: Capital New York, Erik Wemple, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, The Huffington Post, Gawker, The Daily Caller and Jezebel, more at Mediagazer »

Guardian:

NSA shares raw intelligence with Israel — • Secret deal places no legal limits on use of data by Israelis — • Only official US government communications protected — • Agency insists it complies with rules governing privacy — • Read the NSA and Israel's ‘memorandum of understanding’

Discussion: National Review, Hillicon Valley, Techdirt, Hot Air, Secrecy News, The Verge, Gawker and Engadget

Rich Lowry / National Review:

NR v. Booker — Newark mayor Cory Booker has a very active imagination. Eliana Johnson demonstrated that with her report on Booker's moving, highly detailed accounts of his involvement with “T-Bone,” a hard-luck drug dealer who Booker admitted to a friend is a fiction.

Discussion: Politico, Michelle Malkin, Business Insider, Mediaite and TheBlaze.com, more at Mediagazer »

Matt Krantz / USA Today:

Top 1% take biggest income slice on record — The gulf between the richest 1% of the USA and the rest of the country got to its widest level in history last year. — The top 1% of earners in the U.S. pulled in 19.3% of total household income in 2012, which is their biggest slice of total income …

Discussion: Opinionator and Hullabaloo

Annie Lowrey / Economix:
The Rich Get Richer Through the Recovery

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Slate, National Review, AEIdeas, NewsBusters, The Week, Wonkblog, The Raw Story and Real Time Economics

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

CNN Instant Poll: Did Obama move the needle on Syria? — Washington (CNN) - A majority of Americans who watched President Barack Obama's prime time address to the nation on Tuesday said they favor the approach to Syria that the president spelled out in his speech, according to an instant poll.

Discussion: Business Insider, Hullabaloo, The PJ Tatler and ABC News

David Kusnet / CNN:
Obama's speech a model of persuasion

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air and alicublog

David DesRosiers / Washington Times:

BOOK REVIEW: ‘America 3.0’ — AMERICA 3.0: REBOOTING AMERICAN PROSPERITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY — WHY AMERICA'S GREATEST DAYS ARE YET TO COME — As we return to reality from the lazy, hazy days of summer, we find our nation war-weary, broke and politically fractured. We are a subprime-mortgaged house divided.

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

GOP bill blocks food stamp users from buying junk food — Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday proposed legislation that would require people using federal food stamps to buy only healthy food. — The Healthy Food Choices Act, H.R. 3073, reflects a long-standing criticism …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Washington Post:

Securing Syria's chemical weapons arsenal would be formidable task, experts say — As diplomats wrangled over competing plans for securing Syria's chemical weapons, arms-control experts warned Tuesday of the formidable challenges involved in carrying out such a complex and risky operation in the midst of a raging civil war.