memeorandum: Watchdog finds widespread fraud at U.S. Census Bureau (Sarah Westwood/Washington Examiner)

11:30 PM ET, September 18, 2015

Top Items:

Chris Littleton / Voter Gravity:

Fiorina Leads in NH in Post-CNN Debate Poll — All the talking heads were talking about Carly Fiorina's debate performance, but were the voters of New Hampshire impressed as well? — Yes, they were. — In Voter Gravity's latest presidential flash poll through touchtone phone responses …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill, Politico, Liberal Values, Power Line, The PJ Tatler and Hot Air

Reid Wilson / Morning Consult:

Poll: Fiorina Wins Debate, Trump Still Leads — Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina won Wednesday's second Republican presidential debate, according to voters who watched the Simi Valley showdown polled by Morning Consult. — It was a performance that vaulted Fiorina into the top tier of a crowded field.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, Townhall.com and Democratic Strategist

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:

Post-Debate Poll: Trump Increases Lead; Fiorina Leaps, Carson Sinks — A Morning Consult poll, released Friday, surveyed 504 registered voters who watched Wednesday's Republican primary debate and has only good news for Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina.

Discussion: UPROXX and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Willing to Spend $100 Million, Donald Trump Has So Far Reveled in Free Publicity

Discussion: Jezebel, OnPolitics and Re/code

Francis X. Rocca / Wall Street Journal:

Vatican Disputes White House Guest List for Papal Visit — Invitations to transgender activists, first openly gay U.S. Episcopal bishop and activist nun to White House event prompt pushback — On the eve of Pope Francis's arrival in the U.S., the Vatican has taken offense …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Mail, Guardian, Red Alert Politics, ThinkProgress, The Daily Signal, Rush Limbaugh, RedState, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler and Althouse

Justin Wm / Washington Post:
This Ted Cruz booster is 13, black, and just shredded Obama on clock kid

Discussion: USA Today, WJBF-TV, Mediaite and No More Mister Nice Blog

Congressman Paul Gosar / Townhall.com:
Why I Am Boycotting Pope Francis' Address to Congress

Discussion: Philly.com, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Guardian, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, OnPolitics, NPR, The Huffington Post, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Raw Story

Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:

Obama to nominate first openly gay service secretary to lead the Army — President Obama, in a historic first for the Pentagon, has chosen to nominate Eric Fanning to lead the Army, a move that would make him the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services.

Discussion: all, Joe.My.God., Right Wing Watch and The Gateway Pundit

Kristina Wong / The Hill:

Obama nominates openly gay man to lead Army — President Obama is nominating Eric Fanning to be the next Army secretary. If confirmed by the Senate, Fanning would be the first openly gay person to lead a branch of the armed services. — “Eric brings many years of proven experience …

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

Trump drops out of Heritage event after birther backlash — Donald Trump canceled his appearance Friday evening at a major campaign stop for the GOP presidential field in South Carolina as he faces criticism from both Republican and Democratic candidates over his failure to address claims …

Discussion: Politico, Patterico's Pontifications, Greenville News, RedState, Twitchy, Hot Air and Common Dreams

Justin Sink / Bloomberg Business:
Rivals Condemn Trump as Muslim Obama Suggestion Returns to Spotlight

Discussion: Politico, NBC News, Laura Ingraham and Political Insider blog

Katherine Krueger / Talking Points Memo:
Donald Trump Pulls Out Of Heritage Presidential Forum

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Adam Beam / Associated Press:

Lawyer: Clerk may have interfered with order on gay marriage — OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky county clerk may have again defied a federal judge's order by altering marriage license forms to remove her name, according to an attorney that represents one of the clerk's employees.

Discussion: Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and all

Katherine Krueger / Talking Points Memo:
AP: Deputy Kentucky Clerk's Lawyer Says Kim Davis May Have Again Defied Fed Order

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:

House votes to freeze federal funding for Planned Parenthood — The House on Friday voted along party lines to freeze federal funding for Planned Parenthood after weeks of escalating tension surrounding its use of fetal tissue. — In a 241-187 vote, nearly all Republicans …

Discussion: The Daily Signal, Politico, Hot Air, Refinery29, Jezebel, Daily Kos, The PJ Tatler, BarbWire.com and LifeNews.com

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed: Marco Rubio: Obama And Democrats To Blame For A Shutdown Over Planned Parenthood

Hannah Levintova / Mother Jones:
Republicans Hate Planned Parenthood but Want to Put One of Its Backers on the $10 Bill

Discussion: Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Right Wing Watch and Liberaland

Jason M. Breslow / FRONTLINE:

New: 87 Deceased NFL Players Test Positive for Brain Disease — A total of 87 out of 91 former NFL players have tested positive for the brain disease at the center of the debate over concussions in football, according to new figures from the nation's largest brain bank focused on the study of traumatic head injury.

Discussion: KFOR-TV, SBNation.com, abc7ny.com, USA Today, Tech Times, UPROXX and Guardian

Anthony / Tech Voice:

Reverse Engineering Ahmed Mohamed's Clock... and Ourselves. — I have something in common with Ahmed Mohamed: as a youngster, I was also an electronics enthusiast. At his age and even earlier, I frequently took apart electronic devices - anything from my own toys, to broken things around the house …

Discussion: CNNMoney, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Jezebel and Instapundit

Pamela Geller / BREITBART.COM:
Ahmed Mohamed and the ‘Islamophobia’ Clock

Discussion: The Intercept, Raw Story, LiberalAmerica.org, alicublog, Jihad Watch, Pamela Geller, Right Wing Watch and Guardian

Arturo Garcia / Raw Story:
Irving police chief admits: Cops knew Ahmed Mohamed didn't have a bomb when they arrested him

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Shakesville, Guardian, msnbc.com and Refinery29

TigerWoods.com:

Tiger undergoes successful back surgery, is hopeful to return in early 2016 — Woods' second microdiscectomy surgery was performed Sept. 16 in Park City, Utah — Tiger hopes to return to the PGA TOUR in early 2016 after a second successful microdiscectomy surgery. (Getty Images)

Discussion: USA Today, Associated Press, SBNation.com, abc7ny.com, Guardian, all and CBS Los Angeles

John Patrick Yob / Facebook:

Last night I went to a bar on Mackinac Island for the GOP Mackinac Conference. I ran into a guy named Rich Beeson, who frankly I didn't even know who it was at first because he isn't relevant in our political world. Anyway, he is Marco Rubio's national campaign manager.

Discussion: ABC News, abc7ny.com, Raw Story, Washington Post, Business Insider, Guardian, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, Politico, Detroit News, New York Post, Mashable, Mediaite, Hot Air, Daily Kos and The PJ Tatler

Ryan Felton / Guardian:
Marco Rubio official punching Rand Paul adviser caught on security video

Discussion: Slantpoint, ChrisWeigant.com, WEST MICHIGAN POLITICS, NPR, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Daily Mail and Naked Politics

Katherine Krueger / Talking Points Memo:

WATCH: Anderson Cooper Loses His Cool With Trump Supporter On-Air — CNN host Anderson Cooper got heated with a Donald Trump backer Thursday night, losing his famously calm disposition when the guest tried to explain Trump's remarks about Muslims at a campaign event.

Discussion: Vox and US News

Theodore Schleifer / CNN:

Trump declines to correct questioner who says Obama is a Muslim — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump on Thursday declined to correct a supporter of his who alleged that President Barack Obama is Muslim and not an American. — “We have a problem in this country.

WND:
O'Reilly jumps on WND terror-training camp report

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Salon, Guardian and Pamela Geller

Rex Features / BBC:

Liquid nitrogen cocktail: Lancaster's Oscar's Wine Bar fined £100k — A wine bar has been fined £100,000 after a woman drank a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen and had to have her stomach removed. — Gaby Scanlon, of Heysham, Lancashire, was served the Nitro-Jagermeister while celebrating her 18th birthday in 2012.

Discussion: Slantpoint, KFOR-TV, Refinery29 and Press Association

KDFW:

Cops: Texas dad vandalized own truck with anti-police messages — A Central Texas man who claimed anti-police vandals had attacked the family pickup truck has been arrested after police believe he vandalized the truck. — Scott Lattin, a disabled veteran, told Whitney police …

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

U.S. Begins Military Talks With Russia on Syria — LONDON — As the first Russian combat aircraft arrived in Syria, the Obama administration reached out to Moscow on Friday to try to coordinate actions in the war zone and avoid an accidental escalation of one of the world's most volatile conflicts.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post and Slantpoint