Top Items:
Boris Johnson / Telegraph:
Scottish independence: Decapitate Britain, and we kill off the greatest political union ever — The Scots are on the verge of an act of self-mutilation that will trash our global identity — Right: it's time to speak for Britain. If these polls are right, then we are on the verge of an utter catastrophe for this country.
Discussion:
National Review, Booman Tribune, Guardian and Samizdata
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Scots, What the Heck? — Next week Scotland will hold a referendum on whether to leave the United Kingdom. And polling suggests that support for independence has surged over the past few months, largely because pro-independence campaigners have managed to reduce the “fear factor” …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Guardian, Macleans.ca, Telegraph and National Review
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
The Scottish Independence Vote — “A majority of Scots want to live in a center-left society, while a majority of English want to live in a center-right society.” Why that may be a bigger problem for the United Kingdom than regional splits are for the United States.
Hayes Brown / ThinkProgress:
How The New Royal Baby Could Stop Scottish Independence — The future monarchs of at least England and Wales, maybe Scotland too — CREDIT: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File — This will be one for the conspiracy theorists. Two weeks before a vote on whether Scotland will remain inside …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Daily Mail and The Dish
TMZ.com:
Ray Rice — ELEVATOR KNOCKOUT ... Fiancee Takes Crushing Punch (Video) — ELEVATOR KNOCKOUT — Fiancee Takes Crushing Punch (Video) — EXCLUSIVE — This is what a two game suspension looks like — Ray Rice delivering a vicious punch to his fiancee's face, knocking her out cold ... and TMZ Sports has the shocking video.
New York Times:
Destroying ISIS May Take Years, U.S. Officials Say — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing to carry out a phased campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria that may take three years to eventually destroy the terrorist army — requiring a sustained effort that could last until …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Hot Air, The Dish, Weekly Standard, VodkaPundit, Lawfare, Mediaite, emptywheel and Reuters
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Politico:
The threat to American democracy — We are at a pivotal moment in American history. — Building the United States of America has been long, arduous and rife with setbacks. But throughout the years, we have undoubtedly moved toward a more inclusive democracy. We expanded the right to vote.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, RedState, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and BillMoyers.com
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Tarini Parti / Politico:
Tillis dismisses ‘mansplaining’ charges — WILSON, N.C. — Thom Tillis, the Republican running for a North Carolina Senate seat that could well decide the majority in the Senate, has been pilloried since last week's debate by Democrats who see him as a condescending “man-splainer” who played into gender stereotypes.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Charlotte Observer, Daily Kos and Washington Post
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Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Facing Dem attacks, could new GOP strategy end birth control wars?
Facing Dem attacks, could new GOP strategy end birth control wars?
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and National Review
Theodore B. Olson / Wall Street Journal:
Harry Reid Rewrites the First Amendment — When politicians seek to restrict speech, they are invariably trying to protect their own incumbency.
Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:
As Two Men Go Free, a Dogged Ex-Prosecutor Digs In — LUMBERTON, N.C. — The most memorable moment of the trial that put Henry McCollum and Leon Brown behind bars for three decades for a hideous 1983 rape and murder was a display of brilliant courtroom theatrics.
Lessig Blog, v2:
WOW: NASTYGRAM FROM THE BROWN CAMPAIGN — I received this nastygram (PDF) by email today from Scott Brown's campaign manager — cc-ing my boss, the provost and president. — I take it Mr. Reed's outrage is triggered by the Senate's regulations of what constitutes being a “lobbyist” for purposes of the Senate rules.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Techdirt and Fox News
Bill Scher / Real Clear Politics:
Why Are Republicans Suddenly Leaning Left? — Several Republican candidates in the year's most competitive Senate races have begun their fall sprint to Election Day, not by embracing Tea Party-fueled conservatism but by defensively tacking leftward. — Let's start in Colorado, site of a strategic GOP retreat in the “War on Women.”
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and The Moderate Voice
David Remnick / New Yorker:
World-Weary — Even the most forgiving judge of Barack Obama, one willing to overlook his preference for chipping onto the sunlit greens of Martha's Vineyard rather than brooding in the fluorescent glare of the Situation Room, must admit that the President has sometimes been a thick-tongued steward of his own foreign policy.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute
Alessandra Stanley / New York Times:
Chuck Todd Begins as Host of NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ — Chuck Todd was an imperfect host of “Meet the Press” on Sunday. And that's perfect. — Sunday talk shows, and most particularly NBC's “Meet the Press,” defy the normal rules of television news: spit-shine good looks and slick urbanity are unwelcome.
Discussion:
NBC News, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Politico, The Huffington Post and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »
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Kurt Schlichter / Townhall.com:
Liberals Eagerly Put Women At Risk Because Of Politics — SHARES — I got called “vile” on Twitter the other day, which in itself is nothing new - my fiercely pro-American, pro-freedom, anti-moron agenda is a constant source of outrage for the online world's liberal fascist contingent.
Juan Williams / The Hill:
Johnson ready for clash — The big news of the moment is President Obama's decision, revealed Saturday, to delay executive action on immigration reform until after November's midterm elections. — But, make no mistake, such action is coming sooner or later.