memeorandum: Obama cancels Arctic drilling lease sales (Timothy Cama/The Hill)

1:50 PM ET, October 18, 2015

Top Items:

Was George W. Bush President On 9/11? An Investigation Into The Controversy Tearing The GOP Apart — On Friday, Donald Trump generated substantial controversy when he asserted that George W. Bush was president at the time of the 9/11 attacks. — “When you talk about George Bush, I mean …

Discussion: USA Today, RedState, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice, Hot Air and addictinginfo.org

Daily Mail:

Smoking gun emails reveal Blair's ‘deal in blood’ with George Bush over Iraq war was forged a YEAR before the invasion had even started - despite claiming he wanted peace — Leaked White House memo shows former Prime Minister's support for war at summit with U.S. President in 2002

Discussion: Guardian and The Last Refuge

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:

Trump: My immigration policies would have prevented 9/11 — Donald Trump says that his immigration policies would have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks from taking place. — “I am extremely, extremely tough on illegal immigration. I am extremely tough on people coming into this country …

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

Carson: Bush ‘certainly’ not responsible for 9/11 — Ben Carson said on Sunday that he “seriously” doubts fellow 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump meant that former President George W. Bush is to blame for 9/11. — “I seriously doubt that he's saying that …

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:

Jeb Bush: ‘Does Anybody Actually Blame My Brother For 9/11?’ — Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Sunday discussed comments GOP rival Donald Trump made about his brother and former President George W. Bush. — And one point in the interview he asked …

Discussion: bradford-delong.com, Mashable, CNN, BizPac Review and NPR

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:

Mitt Romney: I'm Glad I'm Not In The 2016 GOP Race — Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president, said Sunday that he was glad that he wasn't running in the 2016 race. — Romney made an appearance on CNN's “State of the Union.” — “I can't imagine running right now.

Todd Beamon / Newsmax:
Secret Service to Protect Trump, Carson as Threats Grow

Discussion: The Hill, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit and The Last Refuge

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:
President Mitt Romney Lectures Frontrunner Donald Trump on How Republicans Win Elections

Discussion: The Hill and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Disarray has some Republicans talking about dealing with Dems — Without a viable alternative to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), some centrist Republicans say they'd have little choice but to seek Democratic help in electing a new Speaker. — The centrists have long chafed at House conservatives …

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Liberaland

Daniel Strauss / Politico: Cruz: Trump's campaign helping mine

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Will Hillary Clinton Be Pilloried by the Benghazi Committee? — WASHINGTON — HILLARY CLINTON is wrong about the Benghazi committee. — It's not the longest-running special congressional investigation ever, as the Hillary campaign tweeted. According to PolitiFact, other congressional probes …

Discussion: Althouse

Jazz Shaw / Hot Air:
Hillary's gun confiscation proposal is going to backfire in a big way

Discussion: Al Jazeera English, Instapundit, Refinery29 and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Jennifer Weiner / New York Times:

Longing for the Innocence of Playboy — YEARS ago, I remember a friend glumly confiding that her then 10-year-old son had gotten completely freaked out. What happened? He'd been at a friend's house. The boys were around an unsupervised computer, and one of them typed the word “sex” into Google.

Mike Allen / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook, presented by BP - SNL SPOOFS DEM DEBATE — TIM MILLER's SICK BURN; Rubio camp hits 'Team Jeb's epic freakout' - ‘NEW GUARD’ top women: Katie Biber, Katie Dowd, Deesha Dyer, Jill Hazelbaker, Shannon McGahn, Evan Ryan, Addie Whisenant — Good Sunday morning.

Discussion: Associated Press

Timothy Cama / The Hill:

Obama cancels Arctic drilling lease sales — The Obama administration took a number of actions Friday to restrict future offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean. — The Interior Department is canceling two lease sales it had planned over the next year and a half for Arctic drilling rights …

Jennifer A. Dlouhy / Fuel Fix:
Obama administration closes off two avenues for new Arctic drilling

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Greenpeace USA and EcoWatch

Richard Whittaker / Austin Chronicle:

Ben Carson Invites Himself to Austin ISD — AISD superintendent politely declines GOP contender's offer — There are many reasons to visit a school. Dropping kids off. Football games. PTA meetings. But when GOP presidential hopeful Ben Carson tried to drop by Gus Garcia Young Men's …

Discussion: Daily News Bin