memeorandum: THE DRONE PAPERS … DRONES ARE A TOOL, not a policy. (The Intercept)

6:10 PM ET, October 15, 2015

Top Items:

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump threatens to pull out of next GOP debate — A Republican National Committee conference call to discuss plans for the Oct. 28 GOP debate with top advisers to the presidential campaigns spiraled into chaos on Thursday afternoon, as Donald Trump threatened to pull out of the debate …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Bloomberg.com news, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Business Insider and The Week

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Donald Trump Campaign Raises Specter of Boycotting Next Debate — An aide to Donald J. Trump has raised the possibility of the candidate not attending the next Republican presidential debate unless the criteria set by CNBC are changed, according to two people briefed on a conference call where the matter was discussed on Thursday.

Discussion: OnPolitics, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Politico, Independent Journal, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Hot Air

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

Hadas Gold / Politico:
CNBC says it's open to changing debate format

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Alexandra Jaffe / NBC News:
Donald Trump, Ben Carson Threaten to Boycott The Next GOP Debate

Discussion: Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Daily Mail, Washington Post and Deadline

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

Discussion: Townhall.com, CNN, NBC News, The Last Refuge, National Review, RedState, Hot Air, AMERICAblog News, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Monthly, BizPac Review, Daily Kos, Independent Journal, Mother Jones, Washington Post, The PJ Tatler and alicublog

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Carson puts public campaign events on hold

Discussion: Eschaton

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: Mother Jones, US News, Fox News, Sputnik International, Daily Mail, Guardian, VICE, The Week, Hullabaloo, Common Dreams, Business Insider and Hit & Run

Ken Dilanian / Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: US analysts knew Afghan site was hospital — 3 photos — WASHINGTON (AP) — American special operations analysts were gathering intelligence on an Afghan hospital days before it was destroyed by a U.S. military attack because they believed it was being used by a Pakistani operative …

Discussion: Washington Times, VICE, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, Unfogged and Guardian

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 …

The Intercept:
THE DRONE PAPERS … INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY DOCUMENTS obtained …

Discussion: The Verge, Shadowproof, Washington Times and Common Dreams

Jim Acosta / CNN:
Obama to make Afghanistan forces announcement

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, Common Dreams, Hit & Run, The Daily Signal, Rare, Scared Monkeys and Washington Post

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Why Talk of “Tyranny” Is Dangerous — So here was Ted Cruz' calm and reflective observations about the first Democratic presidential debate, as conveyed to an Iowa audience (per the Dallas Morning News' Todd Gillman): … I'm guessing a lot of observers hear this sort of thing and just shrug …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Trail Blazers Blog and Independent Journal

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

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Morning Plum: Republicans are destroying the House Benghazi probe's credibility. But will it matter?

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, BostonGlobe.com and Outside the Beltway

Dan Merica / CNN:
Another GOP congressman says Benghazi panel meant to hurt Clinton

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, NBC News, Washington Post, Slantpoint and MSNBC

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

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Washington Post, Daily Mail, Taylor Marsh, AMERICAblog News, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite and addictinginfo.org

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:

Wayne Simmons, recurring Fox News guest, charged with lying about CIA ties — Wayne Simmons, a recurring guest on Fox News who claimed to have 27 years of experience with the CIA, was arrested Thursday after being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he lied about his service.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Mother Jones, addictinginfo.org, Mediaite and Raw Story, 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: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, New York Times, Cinema Blend Television, The Verge, VICE, BizPac Review, Common Dreams, The Local, Refinery29, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Washington Times and The Week

Nancy Tartaglione / Deadline:
“'Homeland' Is Racist” Graffiti Airs On Showtime Series; Showrunner Alex Gansa Admires Act Of “Artistic Sabotage”

Discussion: New York Times and NBC News

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Huckabee Suggests Poor People Should Be Sold Into Slavery For Stealing — The United States criminal justice system could be improved if we sell poor people convicted of crimes into slavery, according to Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. — The former Arkansas governor weighed …

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, Liberal Values and Raw Story

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Rand Paul swears he's still running for president — Rand Paul wants you to know he's still running for president. In recent videos, interviews and in a memo released today, the Kentucky senator is trying to get the word out that his campaign is still breathing …

Discussion: Political Wire

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Rand Paul Campaign Releases Memo Explaining Why He Won't Drop Out Of Race

Discussion: Hit & Run

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Lindsey Graham: Democratic Debate “Made Me Sick” — “Everybody had an isolationist, disengagement policy regarding radical islam.” — Andrew Burton / Getty Images — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says Tuesday's first Democratic debate disgusted him.

Discussion: Mediaite

New York Times:
The Grown-Ups Take the Stage at the Democratic Debate

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

Science:

The Pluto system: Initial results from its exploration by New Horizons — 1Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. — 2Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303, USA. — 3National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Washington Post, Guardian, The Verge and Mashable

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:

Moon Colony Idea No Lunacy, Says a Starry-Eyed Jeb Bush — CONCORD, N.H. - It was among the most memorable campaign pledges of the 2012 presidential race: In a Newt Gingrich administration, the onetime House speaker vowed, the United States would colonize the moon. — Debate audiences laughed.

Discussion: The Verge, Daily Kos and The Week

Dan Steinberg / Washington Post:
Jeb Bush has added the Redskins to his stump speech

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mashable

Jim Webb / Washington Post:

People are criticizing my dad, Jim Webb, for killing a man. Here's what they're missing. — If you watched the Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday night, you probably heard the closing comment by my father, Jim Webb. Without hesitation he answered that the enemy he was 'most proud …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Progress Pond and Independent Journal

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Jeb cuts back — 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 the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, a top adviser attributed Bush's high energy level …

Discussion: CNN, RedState, Daily Kos, Daily Mail, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, The PJ Tatler, YouGov US Opinion Center News and National Review

Daniel Watson / U.S. Department of the Treasury:

Treasury Sends Debt Limit Letter to Congress — Dear Mr. Speaker: — I am writing to follow up on my previous letters regarding the debt limit and to provide additional information regarding the Department of the Treasury's ability to continue to finance the government.

Discussion: Mother Jones, US News, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, TaxVox and Politico

Politico:

Jeb Bush raises $13.4 million, more than Rubio and Cruz — Jeb Bush raised $13.4 million in the third quarter, outpacing both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz but falling far short of Ben Carson's reportedly $20 million haul. — Bush, according to preliminary data provided by the campaign, has $10.3 million in cash on hand.

Discussion: Bloomberg.com news

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:

The Anti-Free-Speech Movement at UCLA — A half-century ago, student activists at the University of California clashed with administrators during the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, a series of events that would greatly expand free-speech rights of people at public colleges and universities.

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com, The College Fix and Daily Bruin

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, WHNT-TV and Mashable

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:

Walker's Campaign Spent Heavily Before its Collapse — Campaign finance report shows that the famously frugal governor ended his campaign with enough money to pay the bills. — McCormickJohn — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's now-ended Republican presidential bid was spending almost …

Discussion: Politico

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