memeorandum: Amateurs in the Oval Office (Jonathan Rauch/The Atlantic)

6:05 AM ET, October 13, 2015

Top Items:

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Chris Wallace: Establishment groups are threatening to primary House conservatives who oppose Paul Ryan — Via Breitbart, this is the kind of claim that big-media types would sneer at as right-wing propaganda designed to build grassroots opposition to Ryan becoming Speaker ... if it wasn't a big-media type who was reporting it.

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Fox News and Washington Examiner

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Crazies and the Con Man — How will the chaos that the crazies, I mean the Freedom Caucus, have wrought in the House get resolved? I have no idea. But as this column went to press, practically the whole Republican establishment was pleading with Paul Ryan, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, to become speaker.

Discussion: driftglass and The Mahablog

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:

Latest Unease on Right: Ryan Is Too Far Left — WASHINGTON — Far-right media figures, relatively small in number but potent in their influence, have embarked on a furious Internet expedition to cover Representative Paul D. Ryan in political silt. — In 2012 when Mitt Romney picked Mr. Ryan …

Discussion: The Week, Hullabaloo and BREITBART.COM

Brian Beutler / New Republic:
The Adults Take the Stage in the Democratic Debate

Discussion: RedState and Slantpoint

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:
More Republicans Join Speakership Race as Paul Ryan's Nascent Campaign Falls Apart on the Runway

Discussion: National Review and Hot Air

Burgess Everett / Politico:
POLITICO Huddle: WHAT IT WOULD TAKE FOR RYAN TO RUN …

Discussion: Rare, The Hill, Washington Post, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, The Week and Shakesville

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Nudes Are Old News at Playboy — Last month, Cory Jones, a top editor at Playboy, went to see its founder Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion. — In a wood-paneled dining room, with Picasso and de Kooning prints on the walls, Mr. Jones nervously presented a radical suggestion: the magazine …

Discussion: Guardian, Telegraph, The Verge, Raw Story, Slantpoint, The Week, Mashable, The Daily Caller and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

New Jersey Online:

Is the Jersey Devil in Galloway Township? | Paranormal Corner — Little Egg Harbor resident Dave Black captured this photo in Galloway. He believes it may be the Jersey Devil. What do you think? (Photo provided by Dave Black) — For more than 200 years, people living …

Discussion: Rare, Slantpoint, FOX2now.com, KFOR-TV and Hollywood Life

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Obama: Those taking religion seriously are often suspicious of others — President Obama lamented the rancorous, divided state of U.S. politics in a wide-ranging interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson. — In the unusual discussion, Obama revealed …

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Weekly Standard

New York Review of Books:

Marilynne Robinson: A Conversation in Iowa — The following conversation between President Obama and Marilynne Robinson was conducted in Des Moines, Iowa, on September 14. An audio recording of it can be heard at itunes.com/nybooks. —The Editors — President Obama and Marilynne Robinson …

Discussion: CNNMoney, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Horizons, FishbowlDC, Liberty Unyielding, Daily Mail and The Daily Caller

Los Angeles Times:

Documents, former players point to Steve Sarkisian's alcohol use at Washington — Steve Sarkisian's strange behavior in the days surrounding high-pressure, high-profile college football games isn't unique to his time at USC. — Some regarded the coach's conduct, specifically the use of alcohol …

Discussion: Daily Bruin, CollegeFootballTalk, SBNation.com and The Week

10NEWS:

Florida woman Periscopes while drunk driving — LAKELAND, FL - Lakeland police believe a local woman is lucky to be alive today after going on a drunk driving trip she recorded and broadcast live on her own phone. On Saturday, LPD took in 911 calls about a possible drunk driver using …

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel, WFLA-TV, Raw Story, Mashable and Mediaite

New York Times:

U.S.-Made Weaponry Is Turning Syrian Conflict Into Proxy War With Russia — BEIRUT, Lebanon — Insurgent commanders say that since Russia began air attacks in support of the Syrian government, they are receiving for the first time bountiful supplies of powerful American-made antitank missiles.

Discussion: Reuters, Fox News, Informed Comment, Tablet Magazine and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Liz Sly / Washington Post:
Did U.S. weapons supplied to Syrian rebels draw Russia into the conflict?

Discussion: Business Insider and Bwog

Daniel W. Drezner / Washington Post:
The one question that hawks need to answer about Syria

Discussion: CNN, Mother Jones, The Mahablog and Washington Monthly

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Donald Trump strikes sour note at No Labels — MANCHESTER, N.H.—The event organizers called for problem-solving and civility, policy substance over sideshows. But Donald Trump just couldn't help himself.President Barack Obama "bombed" on a recent "60 Minutes" appearance.

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Week

Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo: Trump Defends Tea Party, Cuts Off Woman Asking About His Record With Women

Jonathan Rauch / The Atlantic:

Amateurs in the Oval Office … The presidency, it's often said, is a job for which everyone arrives unprepared. But just how unprepared is unprepared enough? — Political handicappers weigh presidential candidates' partisanship, ideology, money, endorsements, consultants, and, of course, experience.

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

Russia and Iran running neck-and-neck in Obama-humiliating sweepstakes — Iran and Russia are competing to see which nation can humiliate President Obama more. Russia got off to a flying start with its intervention in Ukraine and its “assistance” to Obama in the non-enforcement …

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Front Page Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Rare:

On Tuesday Rand Paul will become the first candidate to live stream an entire day on the campaign trail — Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hit the campaign trail with a presidential candidate? Typically, only staffers, maybe a few select reporters and the candidate themselves would know.

Discussion: Mashable, Hit & Run and The Week

Rebecca Ford / Hollywood Reporter:

Volkswagen Scandal Movie in the Works From Paramount, Leonardo DiCaprio — The film will be based on a proposal for a book by Jack Ewing. — The Volkswagen scandal is heading to the big screen. — Paramount and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way have acquired the rights to a book proposal by Jack Ewing.

Discussion: Daily Mail and Mashable

Robert A. Cronkleton / Kansas City Star:

Two firefighters dead after building collapse in Kansas City — Apartment building in 2600 block of Independence Avenue burns, then collapses — Some people rescued from the burning building with ladders … Two firefighters were killed and two hurt after a burning building …

Discussion: Associated Press and Slantpoint

Barbara Starr / CNN:

U.S. delivers 50 tons of ammunition to Syria rebel groups — (CNN)U.S. military cargo planes gave 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups overnight in northern Syria, using an air drop of 112 pallets as the first step in the Obama Administration's urgent effort to find new ways to support those groups.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Washington Post

Sarkis Zeronian / BREITBART.COM:

Trump: Merkel ‘Insane’, Predicts German Riots, Says Migrants Look Like Prime Time Soldiers — German Chancellor Angela Merkel's invitation to migrants to come to her country has been described as “insane” by U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has predicted more violence will follow in the country as a result.

Discussion: Vox Popoli and The Gateway Pundit

Michael Kinsley / Vanity Fair:

The Serious Problem with Treating Donald Trump Seriously — Media outlets and candidates alike are pondering how to take down Donald. Michael Kinsley writes that the answer might be quite simple. — The trouble with Donald Trump is not, as Jeb Bush and others would have it, that he's not a true conservative from any perspective.

Ari Melber / MSNBC:

Exclusive: Ex-Benghazi investigator alleges Rep. Gowdy violated federal law — The legal battle between the House Benghazi Committee and its former investigator, Todd Podliska, escalated Monday afternoon, when Podliska's lawyers alleged that Chairman Trey Gowdy violated government confidentiality rules and federal law.

Discussion: NBC News, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

While at State, Clinton chief of staff held job negotiating with Abu Dhabi — For the four years that Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary of state, her longtime friend and adviser Cheryl D. Mills served next to her as chief of staff. Clinton has said Mills helped her run …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Hot Air and Talking Points Memo

Richard Fausset / New York Times:

Confrontation With Black Partygoers Leads to Gang Charges for White Group — DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — In an unusual legal maneuver, the district attorney in this suburb of Atlanta said Monday that he had won indictments against 15 supporters of the Confederate battle flag, accusing them of violating …

Discussion: Mediaite, NPR, Towleroad and Talking Points Memo

Michael Rapoport / Wall Street Journal:

NYCC 2015: Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong Ponder the ‘Star Trek’ Economy — Talk about the final frontier: In the future world of “Star Trek,” everyone's material needs are satisfied, and money doesn't exist. What would the economy of such a world look like?

Malcolm Gladwell / New Yorker:

Thresholds of Violence — On the evening of April 29th last year, in the southern Minnesota town of Waseca, a woman was doing the dishes when she looked out her kitchen window and saw a young man walking through her back yard. He was wearing a backpack and carrying a fast-food bag …

Discussion: Prairie Weather