memeorandum: AF to change instructions for oaths (U.S. Air Force/af.mil)

9:25 AM ET, September 18, 2014

Top Items:

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Democratic, Republican Party Favorable Ratings Now Similar — Ratings of GOP improve, but are still negative — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' views of the Democratic and Republican parties are now similar, mainly because of their more positive ratings of the GOP.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Politico, Real Clear Politics and New York Times

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

GOP peaked too soon — The danger to a political party when pundits almost unanimously predict a nation-shaking victory for that party is that, quietly and thoughtfully, voters concerned about the future of their families and country ask themselves: Will we be better off if this party wins complete control of Congress?

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic Online:
‘Security Moms’ Are Back—and That's Bad News for Democrats

Discussion: Betsy's Page, USA Today and No More Mister Nice Blog

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

Left blasts Clinton in secret emails — Emails sent by liberal activists and obtained by The Hill reveal significant dissatisfaction with Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. — The critical messages about the former first lady show …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Hot Air

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Elizabeth Warren: It's “Fair” to Compare Israel to Nazis — Elizabeth Warren is a heroine to many liberals, who hope she will challenge Hillary Clinton from the left. Even apart from the concept of anyone being to Hillary's left, this seems bizarre to me.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

U.S. Air Force / af.mil:

AF to change instructions for oaths — WASHINGTON (AFNS) — The Air Force has instructed force support offices across the service to allow both enlisted members and officers to omit the words “So help me God” from enlistment and officer appointment oaths if an Airman chooses.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, ABC News, Business Insider, Religion Clause and Mediaite

Abby Ohlheiser / Washington Post:

The Air Force will now allow airmen to omit ‘so help me God’ from enlistment oaths — After an airman was unable to complete his reenlistment because he omitted the part of a required oath that states “so help me God,” the Air Force changed its instructions for the oath.

Discussion: Liberaland

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Democrats turn on Debbie Wasserman Schultz — Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is in a behind-the-scenes struggle with the White House, congressional Democrats and Washington insiders who have lost confidence in her as both a unifying leader and reliable party spokesperson …

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com, Capitol Report, BuzzFeed, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, American Power, Ed Driscoll and Althouse

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Wisc. GOPer Drops Out Of Race Over ‘F*gs’ And ‘N*ggers’ Tweets — A Wisconsin Republican dropped out of the race for a seat on the state assembly on Tuesday after he admitted that he made offensive comments about gay and black people on social media, according to The Gazette.

Discussion: JSOnline

GazetteXtra:
‘Insensitive’ remarks prompt Dorsey to end Assembly campaign

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette, Exposing NOM …, The Moderate Voice and Liberaland

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

House Votes to Authorize Aid to Syrian Rebels in ISIS Fight — WASHINGTON — A House divided along unusual and unpredictable lines voted Wednesday to authorize the training and arming of Syrian rebels to confront the militant group Islamic State, backing President Obama after he personally pleaded for support.

Discussion: Daily Kos, CANNONFIRE and Hit & Run

Guardian:

Scottish referendum: Scotland decides ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to independence - live — Rolling coverage throughout the day as Scotland votes to decide whether to stay part of the United Kingdom — Final poll puts yes on 47% and no on 53% — Andy Murray: Lets do this! — Are the Scots independent yet?

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, What Scotland Thinks, National Review, Business Insider and dailyrecord

Guardian:
Tomorrow Scotland could give yet another gift to Britain: the chance to forge our union anew

Discussion: The Dish

Howard Mintz / Mercury News:

Barry Bonds case: Court to rehear home-run king's appeal — Former San Francisco Giant and home-run king Barry Bonds likely has two hopes for establishing his legacy — removing the taint of a felony conviction and gaining entry into baseball's Hall of Fame.

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

The Making of a Conservative Superstar — Tom Cotton is the ultimate product of today's hard-edged, ideologically driven Republican Party. Is that what Arkansas voters want? — Tom Cotton was born in 1977 in Dardanelle, Arkansas, population less than 4,000, where his family had lived …

Discussion: Power Line, Talking Points Memo, Southern Progress and Washington Post

Mario Trujillo / The Hill:

‘Things have gotten really out of whack,’ Biden tells crowd in Iowa — Vice President Biden touched on a number of Democratic campaign themes during a speech in Iowa on Wednesday to help kick off a nationwide tour for a group of Catholic nuns traveling the country to register voters.

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

IRS commissioner: Our story isn't changing — The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commissioner denied Wednesday that his agency had an ever-shifting story when it came to former official Lois Lerner's missing emails. — Republicans weren't buying it. — John Koskinen, the IRS chief …

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Susan Glasser named Editor of POLITICO — Susan Glasser, the editor of POLITICO Magazine, has been promoted to Editor of POLITICO, a new title that will give her “full authority” over the site's core coverage, magazine and Pro verticals, the company's leadership announced early Thursday morning.

Discussion: American Press Institute, more at Mediagazer »

Milo Yiannopoulos / BREITBART.COM:

EXPOSED: THE SECRET MAILING LIST OF THE GAMING JOURNALISM ELITE — Several prominent gaming journalists across America are part of a secret mailing list on which they discuss what to cover, what to ignore, and what approach their coverage should take to breaking news, Breitbart can reveal.

Discussion: Raw Story and Vox Popoli

Lee Enterprises / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Darren Wilson testifies in front of grand jury — • By Robert Patrick rpatrick@post-dispatch.com 314-621-5154 — ST. LOUIS • Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson testified for almost four hours Tuesday in front of a St. Louis County grand jury investigating the Aug. 9 shooting …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Gawker and Talking Points Memo

NBC News:

EXCLUSIVE: Iran's President Blasts U.S.-Led Coalition — Asked about the extremists' beheading of American James Foley and Steven Sotloff and Briton David Haines, Rouhani said ISIS' actions are at odds with Islamic tenets. — “They want to kill humanity,” he said.

Discussion: emptywheel, The Daily Caller and National Review

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

The People Who Organized Occupy Wall Street Are Now Suing Each Other — The movement descends into litigation. “We can either go and beat him up or we can go to court.” — WASHINGTON — Activists who organized the dormant Occupy Wall Street movement are suing another activist for control …

Discussion: New York Times and The PJ Tatler

TMZ.com:

‘Django Unchained’ Actress — We Got the Pictures ... And It Looks Like Sex — The “Django Unchained” actress who cried racism against the LAPD ... claiming they harassed and hurt her because she was just making out with making out with her white boyfriend in a car — has some explaining to do …

Discussion: Guardian, National Review, Raw Story, Vox Popoli, Entertain This!, Twitchy and The Young, Black …

Scotsman:

Comment: The huge costs of Scotland getting small — AS THE SONG says, “Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.” The Scottish push for secession from the United Kingdom takes for granted the benefits of peaceful, deep, economic, social …

Discussion: Washington Post and Better Together Blog

Kelly Riddell / Washington Times:

Obama administration forcing new gun buyers to declare race, ethnicity — ATF policy irks dealers, risks privacy intrusion, racial profiling: critics

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Moonbattery and Liberty Unyielding