memeorandum: Ben Carson Puts Public Campaign Events on Hold for 2 Weeks (Katherine Faulders/ABC News)

1:20 PM ET, October 15, 2015

Top Items:

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Second Republican Congressman Admits Benghazi Committee Was ‘Designed To Go After’ Clinton — A second House Republican has now conceded that the overarching purpose of the House Select Committee on Benghazi has been to attack former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, AMERICAblog News, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, Slantpoint, addictinginfo.org and Refinery29

Dan Merica / CNN:

Another GOP congressman says Benghazi panel meant to hurt Clinton — Las Vegas (CNN)Another Republican lawmaker says the House Select Committee on Benghazi is meant to go after the reputation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. — Rep. Richard Hanna, R-New York …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Hot Air, NBC News and The Huffington Post

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Keeping His Distance from the RINOizer — In recent days, I've had a very hard time figuring out whether we're in a ‘Paul Ryan considering phase’ in the House leadership drama or in a ‘GOP caucus in epic denial’ phase of the same. Frankly, I'm not sure anyone quite knows. Ryan has said he's not running for Speaker.

Discussion: bradford-delong.com

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Republican: Benghazi probe ‘designed to go after’ Hillary

Discussion: Mediaite

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:

Ben Carson Puts Public Campaign Events on Hold for 2 Weeks — Republican presidential contender Dr. Ben Carson has put his public campaign events on hold for two more weeks to go on book tour for his new tome “A More Perfect Union” and catch up on fundraising events.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, RedState, AMERICAblog News, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Hot Air, National Review, BizPac Review, Washington Post and The PJ Tatler

NBC News:
First Read: Explaining the Ben Carson Phenomenon

Discussion: Post On Politics, ABC News, Political Wire, American Spectator and alicublog

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Rand Paul, It Is Time to Take Your Campaign Out Back and Shoot It — “Go home to Kentucky, Senator, and save your Senate seat before Kentucky's voters take the incompetence of your Presidential campaign as a reflection on you and your Senate campaign.” — What is the most endearing moment …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Progress Pond, Business Insider and Washington Post

Russ Choma / Mother Jones:
Ron Paul Gives Fiery Testimony in Trial of Two Indicted Top Aides

Discussion: Raw Story, Slantpoint and MSNBC

Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:

Obama Announces Halt of U.S. Troop Withdrawal in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — The United States will halt its military withdrawal from Afghanistan and instead keep thousands of troops in the country through the end of President Obama's term in 2017, Mr. Obama announced on Thursday …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Slantpoint, Defense One, The Diplomat, Algemeiner.com, Scared Monkeys, Washington Post, NPR, Politico and JustOneMinute

Carol E. Lee / Wall Street Journal:
In Major Afghanistan Shift, Obama Drops Plan to Withdraw Most U.S. Forces

Discussion: Defense One, Bloomberg Business, Just Security, Outside the Beltway, EveryJoe, The Week and New York Times

Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
Obama expected to announce new plan to keep 5,500 troops in Afghanistan

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Free Beacon, Unqualified Offerings and New York Times

New York Times:

The Grown-Ups Take the Stage at the Democratic Debate — It was impossible not to feel a sense of relief watching the Democratic debate after months dominated by the Republican circus of haters, ranters and that very special group of king killers in Congress.

Discussion: Washington Post, naked capitalism, The Daily Caller, Associated Press and Outside the Beltway

Washington Post:
After years of hesitation, Democrats rally around calls for gun control

Discussion: Doug Ross, New York Times, Hot Air and Capitol View

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Actually, only Democrats are sick and tired of hearing about Clinton's e-mails

Discussion: Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, Slate, The Atlantic and The Moderate Voice

Wall Street Journal:

FBI, Justice Department Investigating Daily Fantasy Sports Business Model — FBI agents have been contacting customers of DraftKings to ask them about their experiences — The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are probing whether the business model …

Discussion: Mashable, The Hill, Poynter., Consumerist, New York Times, The Verge, FOX2now.com and The Big Lead, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Cash Drops and Keystrokes: The Dark Reality of Sports Betting and Daily Fantasy Games

Discussion: The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Heba Amin:

“Arabian Street Artists” Bomb Homeland: Why We Hacked an Award-Winning Series — What's wrong with Homeland's political message? The very first season of “Homeland” explained to the American public that Al Qaida is actually an Iranian venture. According to the storyline …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Deadline, Common Dreams, The Local, Refinery29, Guardian, NBC News, The Verge, New York Times and The Week

Politico:

Jeb cuts back — Eager to show cost consciousness, the Bush campaign's “high life has ended.” … On the first day of a two-day Iowa swing back in August, Jeb Bush flew from Davenport to Ankeny in a private plane. The next day, after he spent more than four hours bounding around …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Medium, Washington Monthly, Fox News, Washington Post, National Review and The Hill

Bethany Mandel / New York Post:

Guns ‘n’ Moses: Why more Jews are packing heat — An Israeli man fires a weapon at a shooting range in Tel Aviv. — A Jewish suburban mom, a doctor and a cop walk into a shooting range. — That's no setup to a punch line; it's who you might find at the kind of New Jersey gun range …

Discussion: Algemeiner.com

Alan E. Steinweis / New York Times:
Ben Carson Is Wrong on Guns and the Holocaust

Discussion: Liberaland

Jason MeisnerContact / Chicago Tribune:

Lawyers for Dennis Hastert could reveal Thursday if plea deal reached … Lawyers for former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert could tell a federal judge Thursday if they have reached a plea deal with prosecutors that would keep bombshell allegations of hush-money payments from ever being aired in a public trial.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, USA Today, KFOR-TV, Political Wire, Towleroad and The Week

Danny Vinik / Politico:

Obama's effort to ‘nudge’ America — The government tried using behavioral science to shape people's behavior. Here's what happened.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Dan Steinberg / Washington Post:

Jeb Bush has added the Redskins to his stump speech — Forty-plus years of debates over the Redskins name have finally taken us to October 2015, when a major presidential candidate began using the team name as part of his stump speech. — During a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Wednesday …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mashable

Fraidy Reiss / New York Times:

America's Child-Marriage Problem — IN the United States today, thousands of children under 18 have recently taken marital vows — mostly girls married to adult men, often with approval from local judges. In at least one case, a 10-year-old boy was legally married. — How is this possible?

Discussion: Unfogged

Gov. Bobby Jindal / Associated Press:

It's time to retire the filibuster — In an episode of “The West Wing,” fictitious Senator Howard Stackhouse filibusters President Bartlet's signature health care legislation, in order to increase funding for autism research. Realizing his intentions are worthy, the White House sends support …

Discussion: RedState

Christopher Ingraham / Washington Post:

People are getting shot by toddlers on a weekly basis this year — This week a 2-year-old in South Carolina found a gun in the back seat of the car he was riding in and accidentally shot his grandmother, who was sitting in the passenger seat. This type of thing happens from time to time …

Discussion: RedState, Refinery29, Daily Wire, Telegraph, Daily Kos and Boing Boing

Doug Stewart / FOX CT:

‘She loves us’: Nephew speaks out on aunt's lawsuit brought against him … BRIDGEPORT -The aunt and the nephew she who sued for damages said they loved each other and the firestorm around the case was very upsetting during an appearance on the Today Show Thursday morning.

Discussion: FOX5 San Diego, WTVR-TV, Mashable and fox8.com

Michael D'Antonio / Politico:

The Quiet Power Behind the Trump Throne — Ivanka Trump is her father's most influential adviser, his most powerful surrogate—and his total opposite. — Getty — You will not find a wall adorned with framed magazine covers in Ivanka Trump's office. For that sort of thing you'll …

Discussion: CNN, Business Insider, Althouse and Daily Mail

The Intercept:

THE DRONE PAPERS … DRONES ARE A TOOL, not a policy. The policy is assassination. While every president since Gerald Ford has upheld an executive order banning assassinations by U.S. personnel, Congress has avoided legislating the issue or even defining the word “assassination.”

Discussion: Guardian, Washington Times, Business Insider, Common Dreams, The Week, Hit & Run, Sputnik International, CNN and AMERICAblog News

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:

Hillary Clinton's Take on Banks Won't Hold Up — The Democratic frontrunner seems to be counting on America's ignorance about the 2008 crash — The inaugural Democratic debate Tuesday night was a strange show. It felt like two different programs. — One was a screwball comedy starring …

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, CNN, New York Times and CNNMoney

Eliot A. Cohen / The American Interest:

Inadvisable — What is the point of making strategic recommendations to someone who has not the slightest interest in hearing them? — Criticize the Administration's Syria policy without providing alternative recommendations, and the President will dismiss you for mere carping.

Discussion: JustOneMinute