memeorandum: The Conservative Case for Common Core (William J. Bennett/Wall Street Journal)

4:10 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.

Discussion: American Prospect, Slate, Hot Air, BillMoyers.com, The Hill, Washington Post, Hinterland Gazette, The Mahablog, Mediaite, Prairie Weather, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, 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: BREITBART.COM, New Yorker, Firedoglake, Bloomberg View, 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: New Yorker, Firedoglake, al.com, The Atlantic Online, Lawfare, Guardian, RedState, Politico, CNN, Washington Post, Bloomberg View and Hinterland Gazette

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, Amanda Coyne, Hot Air, The Intercept, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CANNONFIRE and The Moderate Voice

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

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

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

Discussion: ABC News

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

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

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.

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

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

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

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, Lawfare, Hot Air, 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, Lawfare, Opinio Juris and Guardian

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

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, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Americans Against the … and Gawker

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

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

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

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”

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:

Exclusive: Joe Biden to chase Hillary Clinton to Iowa next week — Vice President Joe Biden will make a splash in Iowa with an official White House visit next week, just three days after Hillary Clinton basks in a major media spotlight here. — Both Democrats are considered potential 2016 presidential candidates.

Discussion: Washington Post

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

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

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, The Raw Story and WSB-TV

Peter King / The MMQB with Peter King:

Goodell Under Siege — NEW YORK — The Ray Rice tornado has been swirling for three days now, and the twists and turns have been fast and furious. Have you ever seen a story go so frenetic in three days? As Wednesday evening began, one NFL owner told me he didn't think NFL commissioner Roger Goodell …