memeorandum: ‘Israel wanted Assad gone since start of Syria civil war’ (Herb Keinon/Jerusalem Post)

12:30 PM ET, September 17, 2013

Top Items:

Ben Brumfield / CNN:

Navy Yard shooting: AR-15, back in the news — briefly — Mass shooting at D.C. Navy Yard — (CNN) — It has been called the most popular rifle in America, and it briefly returned to the spotlight after Monday's shooting at the Navy Yard: the AR-15. — A U.S. law enforcement official …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, NewsBusters, Washington Times, Mediaite, Shall Not Be Questioned, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit and BuzzFeed

Washington Post:

Navy Yard massacre should move Americans to more than sorrow — FOR ALL the unknowns about Monday's mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, there was a nauseating familiarity to the unfolding events: the witness accounts of chaos and fear; the plea from officials for the public's help …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Post Politics, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, Yahoo! News, Spectator, WJLA-TV, American Power, Hot Air, Gawker, Clayton Cramer's Blog and Crooks and Liars

Matt Higgins / CBS DC:

Carney: Obama Implementing Executive Actions Following Navy Yard Shooting — WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — President Barack Obama on Monday wearily lamented “yet another mass shooting,” this time in the nation's capital where the debate that raged earlier this year over tightening firearms laws …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

After shooting, talk turns to gun control — President Barack Obama on Monday stepped onto a podium and lamented the deaths of a senseless mass shooting — just as he did after Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn. — This time, his remarks came as office workers scrambled for cover …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon, Right Wing News, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, ABC News and The Raw Story

Jonah Spangenthal-Lee / SPD Blotter:

Suspect In Navy Yard Attack Previously Arrested In Seattle For “Anger-Fueled” Shooting — Aaron Alexis, the man identified by Washington D.C. police as a suspect in this morning's tragic attack on a US Navy Yard, was previously arrested by Seattle police in 2004 for shooting out the tires …

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

NY Daily News Slams ‘Made For Murder’ AR-15 After Navy Yard Shooting (PHOTO) — The New York Daily News responded to the massacre at the Washington Navy Yard with a front page Tuesday that decried one of the weapons suspected gunman Aaron Alexis reportedly had in his possession.

Discussion: Politico

Investigations:
Alleged Washington shooter served as Navy reservist, may have recently lost job

Discussion: Reuters, NBCNews, Slate, msnbc.com, Politico, Washington Post, First Read, Daily Mail, The Hinterland Gazette, USA Today, CANNONFIRE and Business Insider

Mike Lupica / NY Daily News:
AR-15 is the rifle for the ‘sport’ of hunting humans

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, National Review and NewsBusters

Ashley Halsey III / Washington Post:
D.C. Navy Yard gun attack kills 12, wounds 14; alleged shooter dead, ID'd as Aaron Alexis

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Yahoo! News, Post Politics, Hit & Run, The Week, The Fix, The Talking Dog, WJLA-TV, Weasel Zippers and msnbc.com

Reuters: Authorities question vetting of Washington gunman who killed 12

Associated Press:
Washington Navy Yard shooting: Aaron Alexis was treated for “serious mental illness”

Discussion: Associated Press and National Review

Nelson Mandela / Telegraph:
Aaron Alexis: Washington navy yard gunman ‘obsessed with violent video games’

Discussion: TIME, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Jammie Wearing Fools and Washington Wire

Associated Press:
OFFICIALS: GUNMAN TREATED FOR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, CBS DC, Gawker and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
D.C. Gun Laws Some of the Strictest in the U.S.

Discussion: ABC News and National Review

Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:
‘AR-15 shotgun’: Did CNN let noted gun expert Piers Morgan write its chyron text?

Discussion: Hot Air

Ed Payne / CNN:
Navy Yard shooting: What we know and don't know

Discussion: New York Times, Macleans.ca and 5NEWSOnline.com

Jacqueline Klimas / Washington Times:
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray: Sequester cuts ‘put people at risk’

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Ashley Halsey III / Washington Post:
Navy Yard area reopens as investigators search for clues to massacre

Discussion: Reuters, Post Politics, Telegraph, NPR, Associated Press, The Fix, The Hinterland Gazette and TheBlaze.com

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray: Cuts ‘put people at risk’

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:
Navy Yard shooting renews call for gun control among Dems

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Navy Yard shooting hits home

Discussion: Telegraph, Post Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, WorldViews and American Power

Wall Street Journal:

If House Republicans can't hold together, they have no leverage at all. — Perhaps the only war strategizing more inept than President Obama's on Syria are GOP plans for the budget hostilities this autumn. Republicans are fracturing over tactics, and even over the nature of political reality …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Taegan Goddard's …, The Hill, PoliticusUSA, New York Times and msnbc.com

Robert Costa / National Review:

The Movement Strikes Back — As the deadline to fund the federal government nears, Republican leaders are struggling mightily to come up with legislation that can pass the House. Over the weekend, leadership staffers fired off anxious e-mails and uneasy veteran House members exchanged calls.

Discussion: The Plum Line and The New Republic

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
About That Other Debacle — For ObamaCare, it's only the end of the beginning.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Power Line, The White House, Weasel Zippers and NewsBusters

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Powerful Senate Conservatives Fund Expands To Focus On House Races

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and National Review

Jonathan Strong / National Review:
House Aide to Cruz Staffer: 'You're Not Dealing in Reality'

Discussion: Business Insider, A plain blog about politics and The Monkey Cage

Rick Pearson / Chicago Tribune:

Exclusive: Bill Daley drops bid for Illinois governor — In this raw Sept. 16, 2013 interview, Bill Daley explains to Chicago Tribune reporter Rick Pearson why he is dropping out of the Illniois governor's race. (WGN-TV) — Bill Daley abruptly ended his bid for the Democratic nomination …

Discussion: First Read, Washington Wire, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Post Politics, The Week, New York Times, Politico, CNN, msnbc.com, Ballot Box and Taegan Goddard's …

Chicago Tribune:
Daley ends campaign for governor: 'This isn't the best thing for me'

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, First Read and National Review

U.S. Census Bureau News:

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012 — The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that in 2012, real median household income and the poverty rate were not statistically different from the previous year, while the percentage of people without health insurance coverage decreased.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Wonkblog, BillMoyers.com and Colorlines

Joel Gehrke / Washington Examiner:

Obama waives ban on arming terrorists to allow aid to Syrian opposition — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL BARACK OBAMA SYRIA TERRORISM ISLAMIC JIHAD AL QAEDA BOB CORKER BASHAR ASSAD — President Obama waived a provision of federal law designed to prevent the supply of arms to terrorist groups …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, National Review, Doug Ross, Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, Vox Popoli and Jihad Watch

New York Times:

Push for Yellen to Lead at Fed Gathers Steam — WASHINGTON — Janet L. Yellen told friends in recent weeks that she did not expect to be nominated as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. Although she had been the Fed's vice chairman since 2010 and would make history as the first woman to hold the job …

Discussion: AEIdeas, Booman Tribune and Calculated Risk

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Obama's style on Syria needs refashioning

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, BillMoyers.com, Hot Air, Rational Irrationality and Jezebel

Associated Press:

Costa Concordia pulled completely upright off Italy — Uprighted Costa Concordia is seen in waters just off Italy on Sept. 17, 2013 / CBS — The crippled Costa Concordia cruise ship was pulled completely upright early Tuesday after a complicated, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side …

Discussion: The Week and Gawker

CBO's Publications:

The 2013 Long-Term Budget Outlook — Between 2009 and 2012, the federal government recorded the largest budget deficits relative to the size of the economy since 1946, causing federal debt to soar. Federal debt held by the public is now about 73 percent of the economy's annual output, or gross domestic product (GDP).

Discussion: Paul Krugman, AEIdeas and Speaker.gov

Herb Keinon / Jerusalem Post:

‘Israel wanted Assad gone since start of Syria civil war’ — “Tehran-Damascus-Beirut arc is the greatest danger,” says outgoing Israeli envoy to US Michael Oren. — “Bad guys” backed by Iran are worse for Israel than “bad guys” who are not supported by the Islamic Republic …