memeorandum: Syrian official declares ‘victory,’ thanks Russia (CNN)

3:50 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: Connecting.the.Dots and Power Line

Jason Easley / PoliticusUSA:

Obama Obliterates The Republican Myth That Putin Saved Him on Syria — On ABC's This Week, President Obama destroyed the Republican created myth that Putin saved him on Syria, and obliterated the GOP talking points on the issue. — Transcript via This Week:

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

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

CNN:

Syrian official declares ‘victory,’ thanks Russia — (CNN) — A Syrian minister declared “victory” for his country on Sunday, thanking Russia for orchestrating a chemical weapons deal to avert U.S. military action, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported. — “We welcome these agreements.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, PoliticusUSA, The Week, Algemeiner.com, Politico, Guardian and Business Insider

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: PoliticusUSA, Booman Tribune and Politico

Pamela Falk / CBS News:
Syrian chemical weapons agreement bound for United Nations Security Council

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars and ThinkProgress

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

Discussion: CNN and Politico

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: Los Angeles Times, Mediaite and The Hinterland Gazette

The Charlotte Observer:

CMPD officer charged in fatal shooting — lruebens@charlotteobserver.com htrenda@charlotteobserver.com — A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who was involved in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man early Saturday has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and is in custody …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and msnbc.com

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, Watts Up With That? and Wall Street Journal

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) …

Spiegel Online:

NSA Spies on International Payments — The United States' NSA intelligence agency is interested in international payments processed by companies including Visa, SPIEGEL has learned. It has even set up its own financial database to track money flows through a “tailored access operations” division.

Discussion: Firedoglake, emptywheel, TechCrunch and GigaOM