memeorandum: Boehner's likely successor credits Benghazi committee for lowering Hillary Clinton's poll numbers (David Weigel/Washington Post)

7:20 PM ET, September 30, 2015

Top Items:

Boehner's likely successor credits Benghazi committee for lowering Hillary Clinton's poll numbers — Sean Hannity was pushing hard, asking House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to name some promises his Republicans had actually delivered on. He scoffed when McCarthy said the party …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, addictinginfo.org, No More Mister Nice Blog, Liberal Values and AMERICAblog News

Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg Business:

Clinton Camp Senses Moment to Expose Benghazi Committee — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy unleashes the perfect talking point for Democrats pushing for the panel to be dismantled and investigated. — Hillary Clinton and her fiercest defenders couldn't have said it better themselves.

Discussion: ABC News, Correct The Record, Washington Monthly, The Last Tradition, NBC News and TalkLeft

Steve Benen / msnbc.com:

GOP leader accidentally tells the truth about Benghazi committee — Even die-hard GOP partisans sometimes find it difficult to justify the House Republicans' Benghazi committee. The party struggled to explain why it was necessary in the first place - the deadly 2012 attack was already examined …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Post and Taylor Marsh

Lauren French / Politico:

Democrats doubt McCarthy can quell Republican rebellions — Congressional Democrats knew what they were getting when they battled with Speaker John Boehner, for better or worse. — With Kevin McCarthy, they'd be dealing with a virtual unknown - and top Democrats are worried about what that will mean …

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg Business and Daily Kos

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:

Kevin McCarthy, House Speaker Favorite, Under Fire for Benghazi Comment — WASHINGTON — As Speaker John A. Boehner set leadership elections for the House of Representatives next week, the top candidate to replace him found himself under a harsh glare for comments he made suggesting …

Discussion: Mediaite, Guardian, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post

Politico:
Boehner secretly urged Gowdy to run for leader

Discussion: ABC News, Fox News, Townhall.com, NY State of Politics, Conservative Intelligence …, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, RedState, The Week and US News

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Hoyer hoping Boehner goes big in his last month

Discussion: National Review

Jay Olstad / KARE-TV:

Guest gets bill after not showing up to wedding — Wedding guests billed for missed meals — GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - It was a couple weeks ago, Jessica Baker was getting ready to go to a wedding with her husband when she got a call from her mom. — “She called at the last minute …

Discussion: Slantpoint and Refinery29

David Edwards / Raw Story:

'This wasn't an abortion': CNN forces anti-Planned Parenthood group to admit Fiorina was wrong — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — David Daleiden, the project lead Center for Medical Progress' anti-Planned Parenthood campaign, admitted on Wednesday that an alleged fetus on a table …

Discussion: TIME, Refinery29, Hullabaloo, addictinginfo.org, AMERICAblog News and Liberaland

Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns & Money:

Fake But Inaccurate — Ross Douthat asserts that Carly Fiorina was confused rather than dishonest: … This is...problematic: … Jen Gunter: … So, in summary, Fiorina's description of video evidence of Planned Parenthood is fundamentally unexceptionable even though the footage 1) …

Discussion: New Republic, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Dr. Jen Gunter, Slate and GetReligion

Ana Marie Cox / The Daily Beast:
Car-Lying: Carly Fiorina Lies Like a Boss

Discussion: Salon, Conservative Intelligence …, Guardian and Christian Science Monitor

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
The GOP still has nothing to show for its anti-Planned Parenthood campaign

Discussion: New York Magazine, Slate, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, National Review, Prairie Weather and BuzzFeed

New York Daily News:
Democrats: The party of abortion, not the party of women

Discussion: Instapundit

New York Times:

Pope Francis Met With Kim Davis, Kentucky County Clerk, in Washington — ROME — Pope Francis met privately in Washington last week with Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who defied a court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, adding a new element to an American tour …

ABC News:

EXCLUSIVE: Kim Davis Recounts Secret Meeting With Pope Francis

Discussion: America | Papal Visit 2015, BuzzFeed, Guardian, Shakesville, NPR, The Last Tradition, National Review, Towleroad, Jezebel, The Daily Caller and abc7.com

John L. Allen Jr / Crux:
What it means that Pope Francis met Kim Davis

Discussion: New York Times, GetReligion, Washington Monthly, Slantpoint, Walid Shoebat, BarbWire.com, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit and Guardian

Emma Green / The Atlantic:
Pope Francis Met With Kim Davis: What Does It Mean?

Discussion: New York Times, Mashable, ThinkProgress, Towleroad and Talking Points Memo

CNBC:

CNBC Republican Debate Criteria — Candidate criteria for the October 28, 2015 CNBC Republican Debate is as follows:

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Outside the Beltway, Caffeinated Thoughts, Slantpoint, New York Times, Hot Air, Business Insider, Independent Journal and National Review

USA Today:

Poll: Donald Trump still on top as outsiders Fiorina, Carson rise — WASHINGTON — Billionaire businessman Donald Trump has strengthened his lead at the top of the USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll while two other outsider candidates, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, have gained ground over rivals with electoral experience.

Discussion: The Last Tradition, OnPolitics, FishbowlDC, BREITBART.COM, The Brody File, JP Updates, SaintPetersBlog, Independent Journal, Bloomberg Business, Joe.My.God., CNN and Political Wire

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:
Carly Fiorina's ‘Super PAC’ Aids Her Campaign, in Plain Sight

Discussion: Althouse

Fox News:

Russians tell US to remove warplanes from Syria, senior official says — EXCLUSIVE: Russian officials have demanded that American warplanes exit Syrian airspace immediately, a senior U.S. official told Fox News early Wendesday. — The official told Fox News that Russian diplomats sent …

Discussion: RT, CNN, The Daily Beast, Sydney Morning Herald, BizPac Review, Washington Post, New York Times, RedState, Patterico's Pontifications, ABC News, Fox News Insider, The Gateway Pundit, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Pamela Geller, Scared Monkeys and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Roland Oliphant / Telegraph:
Vladimir Putin defies West as Russia bomb ‘Syrian rebel targets instead of Isil’ - live updates

Discussion: The Daily Caller, USA Today, The Last Tradition, NO QUARTER USA NET, Independent Journal and Vox Popoli

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Jeb Bush Got $100,000 From Washington ‘Redskins’ Owner, Says Team Name Not Offensive — Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) said on a Sirius XM interview this week that, despite numerous calls from Native American groups to do so, he does not believe the Washington NFL team needs to change its name.

Discussion: Daily Kos and USA Today

Candace Smith / ABC News:
Why Jeb Bush Sees Himself as the John McCain of 2016

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Rick Klein / ABC News:
Jeb Bush on Washington Redskins Team Name: 'I Don't Think It Should Change'

Discussion: The Hill, PR Newswire, abc7.com, OnPolitics, CBS DC, The Week and Mashable

Caitlin Dewey / Washington Post:

Everyone you know will be able to rate you on the terrifying ‘Yelp for people’ — whether you want them to or not — You can already rate restaurants, hotels, movies, college classes, government agencies and bowel movements online. — So the most surprising thing about Peeple …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Week, Unfogged and KOIN-TV

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

House invokes ‘martial law’ to speed vote on spending bill — For the second time in a month, the House on Tuesday invoked “martial law” to allow more expeditious consideration of a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1. — The use of martial law refers to bypassing …

Discussion: CNBC and Hot Air

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
House moves toward final funding vote

Discussion: Daily Kos

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:

Top Secret Service official urged release of unflattering information about congressman — An assistant director of the Secret Service urged that unflattering information the agency had in its files about a congressman critical of the service be made public, according to a government watchdog report released Wednesday.

Discussion: Mediaite

Jonathan Handel / Hollywood Reporter:

Sexually Explicit Casting Contract for HBO's ‘Westworld’ Extras Has SAG-AFTRA Concerned — Fully-nude bareback riding and “genital-to-genital touching” are among the acts that background performers on the show may be tasked with at a Wednesday shoot. — Background actors — extras …

Discussion: Mashable, Mediaite and Independent Journal

WXIA-TV:

Kelly Renee Gissendaner executed by lethal injection — JACKSON, GA (WXIA) — Kelly Renee Gissendaner, the only woman on Georgia's death row, was executed at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson early Wednesday. She was the first woman to be executed in the state in the past 70 years.

Discussion: USA Today, NBC News, Refinery29, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CNN, Religion News Service, Independent Journal, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, Hollywood Life and Jezebel

Alessandra Codinha / Vogue:

Blake Lively Is Shuttering Preserve—Why She's Taking the News Public and What's Next — Let it be known: For all of the inevitable snark that follows her every move, Blake Lively—yes, she of the should-be-insured-if-it's-not- already golden mane, enviable physique, and increasingly serious acting roles …

Discussion: The Federalist, Refinery29, Jezebel, Mashable, Slantpoint and New York Magazine

Jia Tolentino / Jezebel:

Olympic-Level Troll Hijacks HLN Segment on Edward Snowden to Defend Edward Scissorhands — Today is a really great day. — In this video, HLN anchor Yasmin Vossoughian dials up Jon Hendren, known by his Twitter handle @fart, for a segment on America's best top fugitive Edward Snowden's recent appearance on Twitter.

Discussion: VICE, Gothamist, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Mashable, Mediaite and USA Today

Michael Gartland / New York Post:

City Council honors Ethel Rosenberg for ‘great bravery’ — City Council member Mark Levine, City Council member Daniel Dromm, Robert Meeropol, Michael Meeropol and Gail Brewer on the steps of City Hall. — Ethel Rosenberg, who was executed with her husband for treason in 1953 …

Discussion: US News, Mediaite and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Joe Millitzer / FOX2now.com:

Mistaken text message leads to love for St. Louis couple — Missing Attachment Missing Attachment — ST. LOUIS (AP) - A married St. Louis couple is sharing their unlikely love story about three years after the mistaken text message that forged their relationship.

Discussion: WGN-TV