memeorandum: France launches first air strikes on IS in Iraq (BBC)

12:05 PM ET, September 19, 2014

Top Items:

Craig Whitlock / Washington Post:

Rift widens between Obama, U.S. military over strategy to fight Islamic State — Flashes of disagreement over how to fight the Islamic State are mounting between President Obama and U.S. military leaders, the latest sign of strain in what often has been an awkward and uneasy relationship.

Discussion: New York Times, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, Balloon Juice, Power Line, Prairie Weather, Liberaland and Washington Free Beacon

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Interpreting the Islamic State's jihadi logic — What was the Islamic State thinking? We know it is sophisticated in its use of modern media. But what was the logic of propagating to the world videos of its beheadings of two Americans (and subsequently a Briton) — sure to inflame public opinion?

Discussion: The Dish and Betsy's Page

BBC:
France launches first air strikes on IS in Iraq

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times and Twitchy

Mark Landler / New York Times:
A White House Position That Stands on a Narrow Definition of War

Discussion: New York Times and Hit & Run

The Hill:
Senate approves Obama request to arm, train Syrian rebels

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Stars & Stripes, ABC News, The Federalist, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, Althouse and Politico

ABC News: Rhetoric vs. Reality: 5 Myths About Obama's ISIS Plan Debunked

Arlette Saenz / ABC News:
President Obama: ‘Americans Are United’ in Fight Against ISIS

Discussion: Politico

BBC:

Scottish referendum: Scotland votes ‘No’ to independence — Scotland has voted to stay in the United Kingdom after voters decisively rejected independence. — With 31 out of the country's 32 council areas having declared after Thursday's vote, the ‘No’ side has an unassailable lead of 1,914,187 votes to 1,539,920.

Discussion: Boing Boing, Washington Post, USA Today, The Gateway Pundit, naked capitalism, BBC, Associated Press, Guardian, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gawker, The Moderate Voice, Sky News, Hullabaloo and Ed Driscoll

New York Times:

Scotland Rejects Independence From Britain in Historic Vote — EDINBURGH — With a sweeping majority far wider than had been forecast, voters in Scotland rejected independence from the United Kingdom in a referendum that had threatened to break up a 307-year union, according to the final count on Friday.

Discussion: Wonkette and Outside the Beltway

Vanessa Barford / BBC:

Scotland votes ‘No’: How the ‘No’ side won the referendum — Scotland has voted No to independence in a referendum, meaning its 300-year old union with the UK will continue. So how did the No campaign win? — 1. They were always the favourites — The No camp had a head start.

Discussion: Guardian and Scared Monkeys

Rowena Mason / Guardian:
Scottish referendum: Cameron pledges devolution revolution after no vote

Discussion: Hot Air, Telegraph, Shakesville and Samizdata

Scott Malone / Reuters:

Exclusive: Angry with Washington, 1 in 4 Americans open to secession — (Reuters) - The failed Scottish vote to pull out from the United Kingdom stirred secessionist hopes for some in the United States, where almost a quarter of people are open to their states leaving the union, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Discussion: Business Insider, Hit & Run and Scared Monkeys

Jim Gaines:

One in four Americans want their state to secede from the U.S., but why? — Click on the image to explore the the complete poll results. — For the past few weeks, as Scotland debated the wisdom of independence, Reuters has been asking Americans how they would feel about declaring independence today …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Taegan Goddard's …

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Could Fighting Global Warming Be Cheap and Free? — This just in: Saving the planet would be cheap; it might even be free. But will anyone believe the good news? — I've just been reading two new reports on the economics of fighting climate change: a big study by a blue-ribbon international group …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Press Association

Alexander Mallin / ABC News:

Bob Dole Returns to Save Kansas for Jittery GOP … It has been a rough two-and-a-half weeks for Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, a three-term Republican facing his toughest fight for re-election since arriving in Washington in 1981. — Roberts, who survived a Republican primary challenge …

Discussion: OnPolitics

Bryan Lowryeagle Topeka / Wichita Eagle:
Supreme Court: Democrat Chad Taylor's name can be taken off ballot for U.S. Senate

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Politico and Election Law Blog

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
Supreme Court Blocks Kobach's Power Move In Kansas Senate Race

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BillMoyers.com, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and Hit & Run

Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:
Breaking: In #KSSEN, Court Rules Taylor Off the Ballot: Analysis

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Topeka Capital-Journal, Daily Kos and Outside the Beltway

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Wisconsin Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Blames Campaign Consultant For Large Portions Of Copied Jobs Plan — From three previous Democratic campaigns. — Facebook- Burke for Wisconsin / Via Facebook: burkeforwisconsin — Large portions of Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, JSOnline, Weekly Standard, Watchdog.org, Hot Air, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

GOP House Candidate Open To War With Mexico ‘If We Need To’ — A Republican congressional candidate in North Carolina suggested that he'd be open to going to war with Mexico over problems with immigration and drug cartels. — The candidate, Mark Walker (pictured), the Republican nominee …

Discussion: Shakesville

Hunter / Daily Kos:
GOP congressional candidate endorses going to war with Mexico over undocumented immigrants

Discussion: Liberaland, Raw Story, Mediaite and WRAL-TV

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Report: Bridge scandal probe finds no tie to Christie, feds say — Federal officials on Thursday said they have not found information linking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) to traffic lane closures on the George Washington Bridge. — While the Justice Department's investigation …

Discussion: Mediaite

Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast:

Square Deal, New Deal, and Now, From Hillary Clinton, a “Fair Shot” — As Hillary Clinton spoke about women's economic issues at a liberal think tank, you could practically hear her campaign taking shape. — A hush fell over the room as some of the most powerful women in the Democratic Party took …

Discussion: Washington Monthly