memeorandum: The Strange Case Of A Father Who Sued The Obama Administration To Keep His Daughters From Getting Birth Control (Ian Millhiser/ThinkProgress)

3:35 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.

Discussion: Slate, Hot Air, BillMoyers.com, The Hill, Washington Post, Hinterland Gazette, The Mahablog, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Prairie Weather, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Huffington Post and Associated Press

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: Firedoglake, Bloomberg View, Weekly Standard, AEIdeas, The Dish and Hullabaloo

The White House:

Statement by the President on ISIL — My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak to you about what the United States will do with our friends and allies to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL. — As Commander-in-Chief, my highest priority is the security of the American people.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, New Yorker, al.com, Guardian, Lawfare, RedState, Politico, New York Times, CNN, Bloomberg View and Hinterland Gazette

Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:

Countering Islamic State will be hard in Iraq and harder in Syria, officials say — President Obama's strategy to beat back Islamic State militants spread across Iraq and Syria will depend on far more than U.S. bombs and missiles hitting their intended targets.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, Jerusalem Post, Amanda Coyne, Hot Air, The Intercept, Weekly Standard, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CANNONFIRE and The Moderate Voice

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

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and Hit & Run

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

Discussion: VodkaPundit

Mario Trujillo / The Hill: Cheney points finger at Obama's ‘indifference’ for rise of ISIS

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, Wonkette, Politico, Americans Against the …, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Israel Matzav, Gawker, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:

TED CRUZ: HATRED, BIGOTRY, OPPOSITION TO ISRAEL LED TO ME LEAVING EVENT — Reports surfaced Wednesday night that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was “booed off the stage” at an event hosted by a purportedly Christian organization. — Cruz, the keynote speaker at the new “In Defense Of Christians” …

Discussion: Vox Popoli and National Review

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

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

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

The Strange Case Of A Father Who Sued The Obama Administration To Keep His Daughters From Getting Birth Control — Providing two college-age women with health insurance that covers birth control, according to an attorney for Missouri state Rep. Paul Joseph Wieland (R) and his wife Teresa …

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

New York Times: Stop the Anti-Obamacare Shenanigans

Irin Carmon / msnbc.com:
Missouri lawmaker suing to deny daughters birth control access

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

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

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

Discussion: Deadspin

Kim Ludbrook / ABC News:
Oscar Pistorius Did Not Intentionally Kill Girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, Judge Rules

Discussion: Gawker, abc7.com and 7online.com

Agence France-Presse:

Turkey refuses US permission for combat missions against ISIS: official — ANKARA: Turkey will refuse to allow a US-led coalition to attack jihadists in neighbouring Iraq and Syria from its air bases, nor will it take part in combat operations against militants, a government official told AFP Thursday.

Discussion: Guardian, Hot Air, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Free Beacon

David Corn / Mother Jones:
The ISIS Speech: Obama and the Dogs of War

Discussion: The Federalist, Vox, RedState, Washington Monthly, BillMoyers.com, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, American Power, New York Times, CNN and The Atlantic Online

Hayes Brown / ThinkProgress:
The Most Discouraging Sentence in Obama's Entire ISIS Speech

Discussion: Informed Comment, The United States Department …, Opinio Juris, Weekly Standard, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, rubber hose, The Dish and JustOneMinute

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

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

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

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: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Americans Against the … and Gawker

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

Frank Newport / Gallup: Republicans Expand Edge as Better Party Against Terrorism

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

Robert Costa / Associated Press:
Cleveland's winning bid to host the GOP convention highlights Portman's influence

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Washington Post and Roll Call

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: Politico, Mediaite and Truth Revolt

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Jay Carney's rough first night vs. John McCain — Former White House press secretary Jay Carney is used to battling it out with journalists. But on Wednesday evening he had a new adversary: Sen. John McCain. — In an appearance on CNN as its newest contributor, following President Barack Obama's prime …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos and Washington Free Beacon

RealClearPolitics Video Log: Fireworks: McCain vs. Carney on Iraq: “It's Not A Matter Of Disagreement; It's A Matter Of Facts”

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: Liberaland, Wonkette, The Immoral Minority, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Raw Story, The Huffington Post and Gawker

CBS New York:

Catholic League Says It Will Not March In 2015 St. Patrick's Day Parade — NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) — The world's largest St. Patrick's Day parade is making more headlines. — A week after Organizers of the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade announced that they are ending a ban and allowing …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Wonkette and Washington Times

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Georgia Secretary Of State Laments That Democrats Are Registering Minority Voters — Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) — CREDIT: Office of the Secretary of State — A day after the Senior Deputy Whip for the Georgia Senate Republicans vowed to block early voting dates and locations …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Insider blog and WSB-TV

ESPN:

Sources: Ray Rice spat at fiancee — ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Ray Rice spat in the face of Janay Palmer the night he punched her in a hotel elevator, one current and one former security staffer at the Revel hotel told “Outside the Lines.” — Three current or former security staffers …