memeorandum: Xi who must be obeyed (Economist)

Gillibrand's Weight Watcher Revealed, and a Presidential Nominee Is Sunk — Good Monday morning and welcome to the inaugural edition of First Draft, your morning briefing for politics. Today, the White House is reviewing the locks on its doors, 91-year-old Bob Dole hits the campaign trail …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly and Patterico's Pontifications

The Hillary Letters — NOTE: READ THE HILLARY CLINTON-SAUL ALINSKY LETTERS HERE. — Previously unpublished correspondence between Hillary Clinton and the late left-wing organizer Saul Alinsky reveal new details about her relationship with the controversial Chicago activist and shed light on her early ideological development.

Discussion: National Review, The Federalist, Weasel Zippers and The Other McCain

Ashley Parker / New York Times:

Alaska Ad Finds a Target in Begich's Support of Gun Rights — Senator Mark Begich of Alaska was one of just five Democratic senators who voted against a bipartisan gun control bill last year, helping to ensure its failure. — But that hasn't prevented Dan Sullivan, Mr. Begich's Republican opponent …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Althouse

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Exclusive: Lois Lerner breaks silence — Employers won't hire her. She's been berated with epithets like “dirty Jew.” Federal agents have guarded her house because of death threats. And she's spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending herself against accusations she orchestrated …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, National Republican … and Instapundit

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Those Lazy Jobless — Last week John Boehner, the speaker of the House, explained to an audience at the American Enterprise Institute what's holding back employment in America: laziness. People, he said, have “this idea” that “I really don't have to work. I don't really want to do this.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Prairie Weather

Anchorage Daily News:

KTVA reporter quits on-air, reveals herself as owner of Alaska Cannabis Club — Reporter Charlo Greene quit on-air during KTVA-TV's 10 p.m. newscast Sunday, revealing herself as the owner of the medical marijuana business Alaska Cannabis Club and telling viewers that she would be using …

Discussion: WTVR-TV, Mashable and Raw Story

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Obama's October Surprise — Get ready for bombs bursting in air and this election's October Surprise - President Obama's air strikes to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS. — Last week a Fox News poll identified a phenomenon that my friend, pollster Dana Blanton, dubbed “The ISIS effect.”

Daniel C. Esty / New York Times:

Bottom-Up Climate Fix — NEW HAVEN — WORLD leaders are at the United Nations this week, at the invitation of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to “champion an ambitious vision anchored in action that will enable a meaningful global agreement” on climate change next year.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Taylor Marsh

Discussion: Watts Up With That? and Daily Kos

John Fund / National Review:

The Crumbling Climate-Change Consensus — Extremists' rhetoric heats up as their case falls apart. — Protesters at the People's Climate March in New York City, September 21. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) — The United Nations Climate Summit will begin in New York this Tuesday, but environmental activists didn't wait.

Lillian Schrock / Casper Star-Tribune:

Goshen County buys grenade launcher — OFFICIALS WOULD USE WEAPONS IN RIOTS, HOSTAGE SITUATIONS — Three grenade launchers have been moved in and out of the Goshen County Sheriff's Office in the past 65 years. — Yet not one of the weapons has been used by the county's deputies.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Associated Press

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:

Eye on presidency? Sen. Rand Paul to open office in Bay Area — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at the state GOP convention in Los Angeles. His plan to set up an office in the Bay Area may indicate a run for president. Photo: Chris Carlson, Associated Press

Discussion: Washington Post and Business Insider

Economist:

Xi who must be obeyed — The most powerful and popular leader China has had for decades must use these assets wisely — THE madness unleashed by the rule of a charismatic despot, Mao Zedong, left China so traumatised that the late chairman's successors vowed never to let a single person hold such sway again.