memeorandum: New Michael Brown shooting witnesses describe scene (Randi Kaye/CNN)

7:10 PM ET, September 11, 2014

Top Items:

Struggling to Gauge ISIS Threat, Even as U.S. Prepares to Act — WASHINGTON — The violent ambitions of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have been condemned across the world: in Europe and the Middle East, by Sunni nations and Shiite ones, and by sworn enemies like Israel and Iran.

David Frum / The Atlantic Online:

Obama's Speech on ISIS, in Plain English — Qua speech, Barack Obama's address Wednesday on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria was surprisingly terrible: a disorganized mess, insincere and unconvincing. To appreciate just how bad and bizarre it was, compare the president's speech announcing …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and New Yorker

CNN:

Kerry: U.S. not at war with ISIS — (CNN) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday would not say the United States is at war with ISIS, telling CNN in an interview that the administration's strategy includes “many different things that one doesn't think of normally in context of war.”

Discussion: Firedoglake and Hot Air

Matthew Duss / American Prospect:

In Fight Against ISIL, Obama Finds Himself Facing Michael Corleone's Dilemma — If you think that American power and leadership is best demonstrated by our ability to blow things up, this probably wasn't the speech for you. While President Barack Obama laid out a number of steps …

Discussion: Guardian, BREITBART.COM, Firedoglake, National Review, The Dish and Hullabaloo

Geir Moulson / Associated Press:
Britain: Won't take part in airstrikes on Syria

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, RedState and NO QUARTER USA NET

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Five things that could go horribly wrong with Obama's action in Iraq

Discussion: ABC News

Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:
Countering Islamic State will be hard in Iraq and harder in Syria, officials say

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Jerusalem Post, The Atlantic Online, Guardian, Hot Air, The Intercept, Amanda Coyne, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Times, CANNONFIRE and The Moderate Voice

Sarah Palin / Facebook:
War is hell. So go big or go home, Mr. President.

Discussion: Politico, The Immoral Minority, Daily Kos, Hit & Run and The Raw Story

Vali R. Nasr / New York Times:
The Grand Strategy Obama Needs

Discussion: VodkaPundit

Ron Bell / Yahoo Global Public Policy:

Shedding Light on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC): Court Findings from Our 2007-2008 Case — Today we are pleased to announce the release of more than 1,500 pages of once-secret papers from Yahoo's 2007-2008 challenge to the expansion of U.S. surveillance laws.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Guardian, Gigaom, Hit & Run, The Verge, VentureBeat and New York Times

Craig Timberg / Washington Post:

U.S. threatened massive fine to force Yahoo to release data — The U.S. government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day in 2008 if it failed to comply with a broad demand to hand over user data that the company believed was unconstitutional, according to court documents unsealed Thursday …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite and emptywheel

Amanda Coyne:

Loose Lips: Hell hath no fury like a Palin family visit. Campaigns gear up. Mayor Dan grabs a Tiger by the tail. — About 65 people showed for the fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker and lt. gov. candidate Byron Mallott on Monday night. It wasn't the usual Dem crowd.

Discussion: The Immoral Minority, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and The Huffington Post

Rebecca Schoenkopf / Wonkette:

Anchorage PD: Palins Were ‘Present’ At 20-Person Brawl. Fate Of Hos' Weave Unknown — and we done called up the Anchorage PD to say “yo, Palin fight?” and they said “maybe.” ALL THE PULITZERS PLS. — Anita in the Anchorage Police Department's communications office is sitting at her desk …

Discussion: Liberaland, The Immoral Minority, The Raw Story and Gawker

Randi Kaye / CNN:

New Michael Brown shooting witnesses describe scene — (CNN) — Two men, shocked at what they saw, describe an unarmed teenager with his hands up in the air as he's gunned down by a police officer. — They were contractors doing construction work in Ferguson, Missouri, on the day Michael Brown was killed.

Discussion: Liberaland, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Hinterland Gazette, Little Green Footballs, Washington Monthly, Americans Against the … and Gawker

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:

Obama's New War on ISIS May Be Illegal — In a stunning turnaround, the Obama administration is arguing that a law authorizing a war on al Qaeda be used to justify strikes on al Qaeda's foes. — President Obama's new war against ISIS is off to a shaky legal start.

Discussion: Business Insider, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Lawfare, Reuters, Hot Air, Mediaite, Hit & Run, The Dish, ThinkProgress, Washington Post and National Review

Reuters:
Russia says air strikes in Syria would be act of aggression without U.N. vote

Discussion: Hot Air and Weekly Standard

Jack Goldsmith / TIME:
Obama's Breathtaking Expansion of a President's Power To Make War

Discussion: Lawfare, Opinio Juris, Wall Street Journal and Guardian

Tristyn Bloom / The Daily Caller:

Ted Cruz Booed Off Stage At Middle East Christian Conference [VIDEO] — Sen. Ted Cruz was booed offstage at a conference for Middle Eastern Christians Wednesday night after saying that “Christians have no greater ally than Israel.” — Cruz, the keynote speaker at the sold-out D.C. dinner gala …

Discussion: Washington Post, Americans Against the …, Wonkette, Mediaite, The Raw Story, BillMoyers.com, Politico, Israel Matzav, Gawker, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:
TED CRUZ: HATRED, BIGOTRY, OPPOSITION TO ISRAEL LED TO ME LEAVING EVENT

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Vox Popoli and National Review

Alana Goodman / Washington Free Beacon:
Cruz Headlines Conference Featuring Hezbollah Supporters

Discussion: Power Line, Lebanon Daily Star, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and The Federalist

Rasmussen Reports:

North Carolina Senate: Hagan (D) 45%, Tillis (R) 39% — Is Kay Hagan's “war on women” strategy beginning to pay off? The embattled incumbent Democrat has now moved ahead of Republican challenger Thom Tillis in North Carolina's U.S. Senate race. — The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

New York Times:

Stop the Anti-Obamacare Shenanigans — SO far, opponents of the Affordable Care Act have lost every major battle to repeal or invalidate it. Some of them are now urging the courts to interpret the health reform law in a way that would guarantee its failure.

Discussion: Associated Press

Tara Palmeri / Page Six:

Arnold had Shriver scrubbed from portrait — He scrubbed her from his heart! — Arnold Schwarzenegger was so hot to erase any memory of his marriage to Maria Shriver that he had her face scrubbed from his official portrait as governor of California — and he didn't even care …

Discussion: Mediaite, Truth Revolt and Politico

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

Kansas High Court Rejects Kobach's Request To Transfer Senate Case — The Kansas Supreme Court has decided to hear the lawsuit Democratic Senate nominee Chad Taylor has brought against Secretary of State Kris Kobach, after Kobach argued that the case should be transferred to a lower court.

Discussion: Election Law Blog

New York Times:

Oscar Pistorius Not Guilty of Murder; Still Faces Lesser Homicide Charge — PRETORIA, South Africa — The judge presiding over the trial of Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic athlete, cleared him of the two most serious murder charges against him on Thursday, almost certainly sparing him a long prison sentence.

Discussion: ABC News, SBNation.com, Jezebel, Gawker, Scared Monkeys, Robert Littal Presents …, Liberaland and Taylor Marsh

Claire Phipps / Guardian:
Oscar Pistorius verdict live: judge says athlete not guilty of murder

Discussion: Deadspin

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:

U.S. seeks up to 16 months in prison for Dinesh D'Souza — (Reuters) - The U.S. government wants conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza to be sentenced to as much as 16 months in prison, following his guilty plea to a campaign finance law violation.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Perry Stein / City Desk:

Some DCPS Students Were Assigned to Compare George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler — Some D.C. Public School seventh-graders were assigned the rather unpatriotic task this week of comparing Adolf Hitler to former President George W. Bush. But now the school district wants you to know that such …

Discussion: CBS DC, Gawker, Truth Revolt, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, Mediaite and National Review

Sydni Dunn / Chronicle of Higher Education:

Salaita to U. of Illinois: ‘Reinstate Me’ or Brace for Legal Fight — Steven G. Salaita wants to continue fighting for a job at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he's ready to take legal action if he doesn't get it. — Mr. Salaita spoke publicly on Tuesday for the first time since …

Discussion: Corey Robin, National Review and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:

Poll gives GOP 23-point lead in keeping US safe — The public thinks Republicans will do a better job keeping the U.S. safe by a wider margin than at any time since 2002, according to a Gallup poll. — The poll finds that 55 percent of adults think Republicans will do a better job protecting …

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Fox News