memeorandum: Walnut Creek officer accused of beating woman with bat (Allie Rasmus/KTVU-TV)

2:05 PM ET, August 30, 2014

Top Items:

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama: Media makes you think ‘world is falling apart’ — President Obama on Friday said social media and the nightly news are partly to blame for the sense that “the world is falling apart.” — “I can see why a lot of folks are troubled,” Obama told a group of donors gathered …

Discussion: Power Line, his vorpal sword, protein wisdom, Independent Journal Review, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and Mediaite

John Kerry / New York Times:

The Threat of ISIS Demands a Global Coalition — IN a polarized region and a complicated world, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria presents a unifying threat to a broad array of countries, including the United States. What's needed to confront its nihilistic vision and genocidal agenda …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs, Newsweek, Guardian, CNN and The Huffington Post

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Save It For The Funny Papers, Or, The Long Slow Flip-Flop Into Light — John Kerry gets guest space in the NY Times on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend - geez, I guess whatever it is couldn't wait until the day after Thanksgiving. — Kerry is exhorting the world to rally itself …

Washington Post:

President Obama needs to focus on how the United States can meet global challenges — PRESIDENT OBAMA'S acknowledgment that “we don't have a strategy yet” in Syria understandably attracted the most attention after his perplexing meeting with reporters Thursday.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Mashable, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, New York Times, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Guardian, The Moderate Voice and The Reaction

New York Times:

John McCain and Lindsey Graham: Confront ISIS Now — AFTER more than three years, almost 200,000 dead in Syria, the near collapse of Iraq, and the rise of the world's most sinister terrorist army — the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which has conquered vast swaths of both countries …

Discussion: emptywheel, ParaPundit, Politico, The Huffington Post and Lawfare

Martin Matishak / The Hill:
GOP senators: Obama needs to respond faster to ISIS threat

Discussion: Liberaland

Carol Anderson / Washington Post:

Ferguson isn't about black rage against cops. It's white rage against progress. — Carol Anderson is an associate professor of African American studies and history at Emory University and a public voices fellow with the Op-Ed Project. She is the author of “Bourgeois Radicals …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Prairie Weather

Allie Rasmus / KTVU-TV:

Walnut Creek officer accused of beating woman with bat — A man who'd been in charge of upholding the law for three decades is now accused of breaking it. Richmond police arrested an off-duty Walnut Creek Police Officer for allegedly donning a mask and beating a woman with a baseball bat on August 16.

Discussion: The Raw Story and Liberaland

Courier-Journal:

McConnell campaign chief resigns amid scandal — Jesse Benton resigned as Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign manager Friday following reports that he had emerged as a figure in an endorsement scandal during the 2012 Iowa presidential caucus. — In an emailed statement Friday evening …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Associated Press, The Daily Caller and Americans Against the …

Sam Youngman / Lexington Herald-Leader:
Mitch McConnell's campaign manager resigns after Iowa bribery scandal deepens

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Hit & Run, Washington Post, Mediaite and Liberaland

Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:

War in Europe is not a hysterical idea — Over and over again — throughout the entirety of my adult life, or so it feels — I have been shown Polish photographs from the beautiful summer of 1939: The children playing in the sunshine, the fashionable women on Krakow streets.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, CNN, National Review, Telegraph, Instapundit and The Dish

Amy Cohn / The New Republic:

Why the $#&@! Did Your Airline Cancel Your Flight Today? They Had a Very Good Reason. — An airline-industry expert explains why you get screwed over—and how to avoid it — Comedian Louis CK has absolutely no patience for the complaints of airline passengers, as he explains in one very funny, albeit profanity-laced bit.

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Advice on Strategy From Dilbert — President Obama can't come up with a strategy to deal with ISIS. It's just so...complicated. Here's an idea: how about if we kill them? — I don't suppose Obama will go with that one. But hey: even Dilbert has a better grasp of strategy than our clueless president:

Tim Devaney / The Hill:

Obama pushes green standards for everything but the kitchen sink — The Obama administration is working on new efficiency standards for seemingly every appliance but the kitchen sink. — Spurred by President Obama's climate action plan, the Department of Energy is pumping out new standards …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News