memeorandum: Cancer-stricken children, parents ejected from park near White House (Fredrick Kunkle/Washington Post)

5:10 PM ET, September 21, 2015

Top Items:

Scott Walker Said to Be Quitting Presidential Race — ALEXANDER BURNS, PATRICK HEALY AND TRIP GABRIEL — Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin has concluded he no longer has a path to the Republican presidential nomination and plans to drop out of the 2016 campaign, according to three Republicans familiar …

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:

Scott Walker Mounts a Last Stand in Iowa — It's been a thrilling—and harrowing—roller coaster ride for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. — First, the Republican presidential candidate suddenly rose and broke from the pack with a well-received speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit in January …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, National Review and Business Insider

Everett Rosenfeld / CNBC:
Gov. Scott Walker quitting GOP race

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Savanna Tomei / WKOW 27:
Walker at 0% in new national poll

Discussion: Mediaite, Democratic Strategist, Washington Post and Washington Monthly

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

Thoughts on a Dumb Conversation — So we are now in day four of the “Muslim” conversation started when Donald Trump didn't respond to a trollish question about Muslims at a town hall. A few thoughts. — 1. Donald Trump is probably right that he has no “moral obligation” to defend Barack Obama.

Discussion: New Republic, Associated Press and Slantpoint

Des Moines Register:
Cruz: Excluding Muslims from presidency is unconstitutional

Discussion: OnPolitics, Mediaite, BizPac Review, Talking Points Memo and Trail Blazers Blog

NBC News:
Ben Carson's Campaign Responds to Outrage Over Comments on Islam

Discussion: Slate, NPR, Mediaite, Raw Story, tpnn.com, Front Page Magazine, Guardian, Informed Comment, Washington Post, RT, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Atlantic

Sarah Kaplan / Washington Post:
Despite backlash, Ben Carson is not backing down from his opposition to a Muslim president

Discussion: National Review, RedState, NBC News, The Atlantic, Booman Tribune and Daily Kos

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Carson doubles down on no Muslims in the White House

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Jindal: I'd Vote For A Muslim Prez Who Honors US ‘Judeo-Christian Heritage’

Discussion: Mediaite

edwardklein.com:

OBAMA READY TO ENDORSE BIDEN—WITH CONDITIONS — The talk in Democratic Party circles is that Barack Obama has told Joe Biden that he is prepared to endorse him for president if, in return, Biden promises to let Obama have a final say in the choice of his vice presidential running mate.

Discussion: NewsMax.com, BizPac Review, CNN, Israel Matzav, Mock Paper Scissors, The Moderate Voice, Moe Lane and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Poll: Clinton's lead over Sanders grows — If Joe Biden doesn't enter the race, Clinton's lead would grow to nearly 2-to-1 over Bernie Sanders — Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton's lead in the Democratic presidential primary race has grown — and if Vice President Joe Biden decides to stay …

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail, NBC News, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Taylor Marsh, Washington Times and NPR

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:

Huckabee: Obama Is ‘The Most Anti-Christian’ President In US History — Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said on Monday that President Obama's administration is “the most anti-Christian in American history,” according to The Iowa Statesman.

Discussion: The Iowa Statesman, Telegraph, Raw Story, Religion News Service and Balloon Juice

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP braces for Pope Francis

Discussion: Washington Post and FishbowlDC

Manu Raju / CNN:
The Pope vs. the GOP

Discussion: Politico and Daily Kos

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Pope Francis' U.S. Visit Could Benefit Both Left and Right

Discussion: Slate and Guardian

Melinda Henneberger / Bloomberg Business:
Pope Francis' Political Critics Are Missing Something Fundamental

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress and The Daily Caller

Fredrick Kunkle / Washington Post:

Cancer-stricken children, parents ejected from park near White House — The U.S. Secret Service ordered hundreds of parents and their cancer-stricken children out of Lafayette Square on Saturday night, barricading the park for at least two hours and disrupting the group's plans for a candlelight vigil …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler, RT, Fox News and Twitchy

Washington Post:

Secret Service chief apologizes for how group of cancer-stricken kids was treated — The head of the Secret Service apologized for how a group of children suffering from cancer and their supporters were treated after they said they were pushed out of Lafayette Square on Saturday night.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Daily Mail:

David Cameron's debauchery laid bare in Lord Ashcroft's book Call Me Dave — Today we lift the lid on the extraordinary feud between David Cameron (left) and a billionaire Tory donor that has triggered the most explosive political biography of the decade. In the dynamite book …

Discussion: The Independent, Guardian, Spectator, Business Insider and Metro.co.uk

Daily Mail:
Drugs, debauchery and the making of an extraordinary Prime Minister: For years rumours have dogged him.

Discussion: The Daily Banter, Entertain This!, Guardian, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Mashable and Boing Boing

Daily Mail:
Cameron and an obscene act with a dead pig's head! …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Independent, BBC, Guardian, The Federalist, Spectator, The Daily Caller, Mashable and Never Yet Melted

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

Planned Parenthood called to testify — <p>The House Oversight Committee plans to call Planned Parenthood to a hearing on the undercover videos one day before the government is due to run out of money, according to Democrats on the committee.</p><p> Democratic members are demanding that David Daleiden …

Discussion: Red Alert Politics and Daily Kos

Stan Collender / Politico:
The Odds of a Shutdown Spike

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Jake Sherman / Politico:
‘Garbage men get used to the smell of bad garbage’

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News and The Daily Signal

Associated Press:

Court Suspends Pennsylvania Attorney General's Law License — Shares-

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and National Review

Bobby Doherty / New York Magazine:

Far from destroying our democracy, he's exposing all its phoniness and corruption in ways as serious as he is not. And changing it in the process. — As the summer of Donald Trump came to its end — and the prospect of a springtime for Trump no longer seemed like a gag …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather and Booman Tribune

Todd Nickerson / Salon:

I'm a pedophile, but not a monster — I'm attracted to children but unwilling to act on it. Before judging me harshly, would you be willing to listen? — I was born without my right hand. As a child, this deformity quickly set me apart from my peers.

Discussion: National Review, The Other McCain and Twitchy

Andrew Pollack / New York Times:

A Huge Overnight Increase in a Drug's Price Raises Protests — Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Business Insider, Towleroad, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Washington Post, KFOR-TV, all, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, Boing Boing, US News, Consumerist and Prairie Weather

Daily Mail:

Muslims are transforming Europe, says Art Garfunkel in warning over dangers of mass migration — While luvvies such as Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch queue up to condemn David Cameron for not allowing more migrants into Britain, one major entertainment figure has bravely voiced an alternative view.