memeorandum: U.S. Faces Tough Struggle on Ground to Oust ISIS (New York Times)

3:50 PM ET, September 19, 2014

Top Items:

Luke Harding / Guardian:

Russia cries foul over Scottish independence vote — Russian observers say referendum count took place in rooms that were too big and did not meet international standards — Russia has said the conduct of the Scottish referendum “did not meet international standards” …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and National Review

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

New York Times:
After Losing Scottish Independence Vote, Alex Salmond Will Resign

Discussion: Wonkette and Outside the Beltway

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

Discussion: The Dish, Hot Air, Telegraph, Samizdata and Shakesville

Vanessa Barford / BBC:
Scotland votes ‘No’: How the ‘No’ side won the referendum

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Guardian

CNN:
Scotland votes ‘no’ to independence in historic referendum

Discussion: VodkaPundit

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, Taylor Marsh, BillMoyers.com, Balloon Juice, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Power Line, The Hill and Washington Free Beacon

Angelo Codevilla / The Federalist:

Washington's Ruling Class Is Fooling Itself About The Islamic State — The American people's reaction to Muslim thugs of the “Islamic State” ritually knifing off the heads of people who look like you and me boils down to “let's destroy these bastards”—which is common sense.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Interpreting the Islamic State's jihadi logic

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Betsy's Page and The Dish

New York Times:
U.S. Faces Tough Struggle on Ground to Oust ISIS

Discussion: Washington Post, The Long War Journal and Prairie Weather

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

Discussion: Hit & Run

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 Washington Post

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

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

Does Hillary Clinton Have Anything to Say? — The presumed presidential candidate's speeches are long on pablum and short on content. This is the campaign we're in for. — Everywhere Hillary Clinton goes, a thousand cameras follow. Then she opens her mouth, and nothing happens.

Discussion: Hot Air, Taylor Marsh and CNN

Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast:
Square Deal, New Deal, and Now, From Hillary Clinton, a “Fair Shot”

Discussion: Washington Monthly and New York Times

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: ThinkProgress, iMFdirect, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly 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: Talking Points Memo, Liberal Values, Outside the Beltway, OnPolitics and Wichita Eagle

Rasmussen Reports:
Kansas Senate: Orman (I) 45%, Roberts (R) 40%

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Taegan Goddard's …

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Wisconsin Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Fires 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: American Prospect, Talking Points Memo, “The Lid”, Althouse, Watchdog.org, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Daniel Bice / JSOnline: Burke jobs plan copied portions of proposals from other Democrats

Alessandra Stanley / New York Times:

Viola Davis Plays Shonda Rhimes's Latest Tough Heroine — When Shonda Rhimes writes her autobiography, it should be called “How to Get Away With Being an Angry Black Woman.” — On Thursday, Ms. Rhimes will introduce “How to Get Away With Murder,” yet another network series from her production company …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Feministing, Mediaite, Gawker, CNN, Entertain This!, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Erin Madigan White / THE DEFINITIVE SOURCE:

8 ways the Obama administration is blocking information — The fight for access to public information has never been harder, Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee said recently at a joint meeting of the American Society of News Editors, the Associated Press Media Editors and the Associated Press Photo Managers.

Discussion: Politico, FishbowlDC, Mediaite and Hullabaloo

Mike Carter / Sacramento Bee:

Child-porn conviction is tossed: Navy surveillance is blamed — SEATTLE — Navy criminal investigators repeatedly and routinely peeked into the computers of private citizens in Washington state and elsewhere, a violation of the law so “massive” and egregious that an appeals court …

Discussion: Hot Air and Raw Story

Joaquim Moreira Salles / ThinkProgress:

Fox News Conspiracy About Undocumented Immigrants Voting Gets Debunked By Its Own Contributor — Joaquim Moreira Salles in an intern at Think Progress — Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera spent a chunk of time on Fox and Friends Friday morning arguing with co-host Steve Doocy over whether half …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

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 …