memeorandum: Maryland man fatally shot by police ‘after imitating gun with fingers’ (Jon Swaine/Guardian)

12:25 AM ET, September 25, 2015

Top Items:

Transcript: Pope Francis's speech to Congress … Mr. Vice-President, — Mr. Speaker, — Honorable Members of Congress, — Dear Friends, — I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”.

Discussion: Politico, RedState, Refinery29, Common Dreams, Bloomberg View, Hit & Run, Religion News Service, Townhall.com, The Daily Caller, Althouse, Hot Air and whitehouse.gov

TIME:

Transcript: Read the Speech Pope Francis Gave to Congress — Pope Francis addressed a joint meeting of Congress in a historic speech Thursday morning. — Here's a full transcript of his remarks.

Discussion: Washington Post, Trail Blazers Blog, PRI, Slantpoint, National Review, The Federalist and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Jonathan Allen / Vox:

Pope Francis addresses Congress: Read the full remarks — Pope Francis became the first pontiff to deliver an address to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday. Here is the text of his remarks, as prepared for delivery: — Mr. Vice-President, — Mr. Speaker, — Honorable Members of Congress, Dear Friends,

Discussion: The Week, Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, SBNation.com, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Monthly

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Cruz takes exception to pope on death penalty

Discussion: msnbc.com, Bloomberg Business, Al Jazeera English, Slantpoint, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit

Ali Weinberg / ABC News:
Pope Francis Lines That Got the Most Applause in Historic Speech

Discussion: Red Alert Politics

David Weigel / Washington Post:
The pope name-dropped a radical Catholic activist, and Bernie Sanders couldn't be happier

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Talking Points Memo, BuzzFeed, The Mahablog, Salon and The Week

Gregory Korte / USA Today:
In meeting with nuns, Pope Francis makes quiet protest of Obamacare

Discussion: Forbes, Bloomberg View, LifeNews.com, Talking Points Memo, BizPac Review, Washington Free Beacon, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and CNN

New York Times:
Pope Francis, in Congress, Pleads for Unity on World's Woes

Discussion: NPR, New Yorker, Prairie Weather, UPROXX, 89.3 KPCC, Guardian, Associated Press, CNN, The Week, Fox News, Tablet Magazine and Washington Free Beacon

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Senate rejects effort to strip funding from Planned Parenthood — The Senate on Thursday rejected a short-term spending bill that would defund Planned Parenthood, thwarting the opening move by Republican leaders to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1. — Senators voted 47-52 on ending debate …

Discussion: Civil Beat News and Hot Air

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Boehner plots shutdown move as critics weigh options — <p>House Republican leaders will move next week to approve a "clean" government spending bill — and avert a shutdown — but only after they hold a vote on a measure to bar federal funding for Planned Parenthood …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business and Morning Consult

Reuters:
Senate stops bill defunding Planned Parenthood

Discussion: Daily Kos

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Here we go again: Cruz vs. McConnell and Boehner

Discussion: Daily Kos, NPR, Booman Tribune and Politico

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Dems on GOP coup: Republicans need to fix their own problems

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Daily Kos and Politico

Stan Collender / Forbes:
4 New Questions That Will Determine A Government Shutdown

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Monthly and Political Wire

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Critics pounce after Obama talks Crusades, slavery at prayer breakfast … President Obama has never been one to go easy on America. — As a new president, he dismissed the idea of American exceptionalism, noting that Greeks think their country is special, too.

Discussion: addictinginfo.org

Gary Emerling / Associated Press:

Pope Francis Just Echoed Obama's ‘Offensive’ Prayer Breakfast Remarks — The pontiff said all religions are susceptible to extremism and violence, just like Obama said in February. — While delivering the first address from a pontiff to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, US News, Jihad Watch, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Molly Ball / The Atlantic:
Why Pope Francis Sounds Like a Democrat

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Crux and Washington Post

Daniel Henninger / Wall Street Journal:
A Politicized Pope — The battlegrounds of secular politics …

Discussion: The Federalist and Weekly Standard

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Multiple Candidates Have a Path to the Presidency; Hillary Is Not One of Them [Updated] — Today's Quinnipiac poll contains more bad news-very bad news-for Hillary Clinton, if not necessarily for the Democrats. The poll asks basic favorable/unfavorable questions about all of the presidential candidates …

CNN:

Hillary Clinton trails Sanders in New Hampshire, even without Joe Biden in the race — Sanders drawing sharper contrasts with Clinton — In a new CNN/ORC/WMUR poll out Thursday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has 46% of the New Hampshire Democratic primary vote

Discussion: The Hill, Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, The PJ Tatler and Liberal Values

Annie Karni / Politico:
Hillary Clinton sits for interview with Lena Dunham

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

A Day of Empty Seats and Donald Trump in Full Attack — NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Donald J. Trump was never exactly a happy warrior, but with some of his Republican rivals gaining on him, he is showing clear signs of discontent. — Appearing here on Wednesday afternoon at what was billed …

Discussion: Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Defense One, Twitchy, CNN, Mediaite, Business Insider, Daily Kos and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Marco Rubio: Trump Is A “Touchy And Insecure” Guy Who's Not Informed On The Issues — “He had a really bad debate performance last week.” — Sean Rayford / Getty Images — Marco Rubio struck back at Donald Trump on Thursday, labeling Trump as a “touchy and insecure guy” who's not informed on the issues.

Discussion: CNN, The PJ Tatler, Hot Air, Business Insider, OnPolitics and Talking Points Memo

Christopher Robbins / Gothamist:

White Guy Who “Settled” Downtown Brooklyn Tells Us Why He Lashed Out At Stroller Couple — The man who was recently caught on video berating a couple after their stroller hit his leg has not yet watched the video of himself shouting about how he “settled” Downtown Brooklyn for other white people.

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Mediaite and all

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

What If Russia's Foreign Minister Conducted Official Business on an Unsecured Private Server? — Today Admiral Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, testified before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee on cybersecurity. Senator Tom Cotton asked him two questions …

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Who's “the Party” That “Decides?” — Regular readers know I enjoy expressing irreverent thoughts about The Party Decides, the 2008 tome by political scientists Marty Cohen, David Karol, Hans Noel, and John Zaller that is often quoted like Holy Writ by academicians and even some journalists …

Discussion: Democratic Strategist

Andrew Prokop / Vox: Political scientists think “the party” will stop Trump. They shouldn't be so sure.

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Hillary approved special status for aide Huma Abedin — <p>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greenlighted paperwork that changed her top aide Huma Abedin's job status to “special government employee” — a classification that allowed Abedin to work for an outside consulting firm …

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com, New York Times and RedState

Chris Moody / CNN:

Fiorina's long-held support for mandatory health insurance — From 2013: Carly Fiorina agrees with parts of Obamacare — (CNN)Carly Fiorina, who has joined other leading Republican presidential candidates in denouncing Obamacare, once backed an individual mandate to buy health insurance …

Discussion: Erick on the Radio, Hot Air, National Review and The Daily Caller

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Donald Trump wants the FCC to fine a critical Fox News pundit — Donald Trump is still refusing to appear on the Fox News Channel — but apparently his self-imposed boycott doesn't prohibit watching the channel's shows. — Trump exploded on Twitter on Wednesday night after National Review …