memeorandum: Barack Obama, the 98-pound weakling (Margaret Wente/Globe and Mail)

2:45 PM ET, September 15, 2013

Top Items:

Devin Dwyer / ABC News:

Obama Rejects Criticism of Shifting Syria Policy: 'I'm Less Concerned About Style Points' — WASHINGTON — President Obama says a tumultuous month as commander in chief, when his policy toward Syria took a number of unexpected turns, may not have looked “smooth and disciplined and linear,” but it's working.

Discussion: BBC, msnbc.com, ABC News, Weasel Zippers, Israel Matzav and Associated Press

Margaret Wente / Globe and Mail:

Barack Obama, the 98-pound weakling — So, let me get this straight. Some red lines cannot be crossed, and gassing Syrian children is one of them. That's what Barack Obama told us Tuesday evening. “The images from this massacre are sickening,” he said.

Discussion: Power Line and Connecting.the.Dots

Devin Dwyer / ABC News:

Obama Calls GOP Debt Ceiling Demands an Assault on US ‘Constitutional Structure’ — WASHINGTON — On the eve of another fiscal showdown with congressional Republicans, President Obama is outright refusing to negotiate over an increase to the nation's debt limit, saying doing so would alter …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Yahoo! News

ABC News:

Full Transcript: President Obama Speaks Exclusively to George Stephanopoulos on ‘This Week’ — Alexander Vilf/Host Photo Agency via Getty Images … GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: — Mr. President, thank you for doing this. — PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: — Great to see you. — GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS:

Discussion: Hullabaloo, PoliticusUSA and Guardian

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Obama on Syria criticism: Washington grades on style, not substance — Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama has responded to critics who disagree with his handling of the situation in Syria, saying he's more concerned about the end goal - no chemical weapons in Syria - than about “style points.”

Discussion: Politico, PoliticusUSA and Booman Tribune

Jason Easley / PoliticusUSA:
Obama Obliterates The Republican Myth That Putin Saved Him on Syria

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hinterland Gazette

Pamela Falk / CBS News:

Syrian chemical weapons agreement bound for United Nations Security Council — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — The U.S. and Russia shook hands on a groundbreaking framework agreement Saturday to identify Syria's chemical weapons, place them under control of the Chemical Weapons Convention and its compliance body …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Crooks and Liars

CNN:
Syrian official declares ‘victory,’ thanks Russia

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Algemeiner.com, The Week, Politico, Guardian, Business Insider and New York Times

Carlo Muñoz / The Hill:
Russia deal opens door to end Syrian civil war, says Rep. Cummings

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

Angry House Republicans want better communication from leaders — Republican lawmakers are growing increasingly frustrated with what they say is a lack of communication from their leaders. — Both centrist and conservative members in the House believe that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) …

Salon:
Mann and Ornstein: “Brighter future for politics and policy requires a different Republican Party”

Discussion: Brad DeLong and The Mahablog

David Rose / Daily Mail:

Global warming is just HALF what we said: World's top climate scientists admit computers got the effects of greenhouse gases wrong — A leaked copy of the world's most authoritative climate study reveals scientific forecasts of imminent doom were drastically wrong.

Discussion: Power Line, Wall Street Journal and Watts Up With That?

Sy Mukherjee / ThinkProgress:

Police Fatally Shoot Unarmed Former Football Player Who May Have Been Seeking Help After A Car Crash — The wreckage of the car that Jonathan Ferrell, 24, had pulled himself out of before seeking help, only to be shot fatally by police. — Officer Randall Kerrick, 27 …

Discussion: The Charlotte Observer, Los Angeles Times and Mediaite

Jeremy W. Peters / The Caucus:

3 Democrats Say They Will Oppose Summers for Fed — Lawrence H. Summers' prospects to become chairman of the Federal Reserve have turned murkier after three key Democratic senators signaled in recent days that they would oppose his nomination. — Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Prairie Weather

Campbell Robertson / New York Times:

Secret Society Dips Toe in City Politics, Prompting Lawsuit — TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The college students began arriving a little before lunch at Calvary Baptist Church, far more than usual for a local election. The poll workers knew immediately: the Machine was here.

Discussion: Gawker

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:

Big U.S. banks keeping door open to another financial crisis — Big banks have watered down rules aimed at keeping them from fobbing bad loans off on investors and ensured loopholes in transparency rules. ‘Fundamentally not that much has changed,’ an analyst says.

Discussion: Hot Air