memeorandum: Former Secretary of Defense: Trump ‘unqualified and unfit to be commander-in-chief’ (Natasha Geiling/ThinkProgress)

4:10 PM ET, September 17, 2016

Top Items:

Sizing Up the Next Commander-in-Chief — Neither candidate has seriously addressed how he or she thinks about the military or the use of force. — You wouldn't know it from the presidential campaigns, but the first serious crisis to face our new president most likely will be international.

Discussion: Fox News Insider and Politico

Natasha Geiling / ThinkProgress:

Former Secretary of Defense: Trump ‘unqualified and unfit to be commander-in-chief’ — Robert Gates had strong words for both candidates in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. — Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates is not a big fan of either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton's ideas about foreign policy.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Taegan Goddard / Political Wire:

‘Mr. Trump Is Beyond Repair’ — Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates writing in the Wall Street Journal: — Mrs. Clinton has time before the election to address forthrightly her trustworthiness, to reassure people about her judgment, to demonstrate her willingness to stake out one or more positions …

Discussion: Politicus USA

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:

Dem senator to Trump: ‘Blood will be on your hands’ if Clinton killed — of suggesting his supporters kill Hillary Clinton — , tweeting furiously that “blood will be on your hands.” — “Hey @realDonaldTrump, if you keep suggesting your supporters kill @HillaryClinton, someone will listen.

Discussion: Joe.My.God., BizPac Review, heave-ho.org, TheStreet.com, CBS Philly and Mediaite

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

Giffords calls on Trump to renounce gun comments — Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) and her husband Mark Kelly lashed out at Donald Trump — on Friday for saying that Hillary Clinton — 's bodyguards should be “disarmed.” — “Tonight we have even more evidence …

Discussion: Raw Story, alan.com and The Week

Kristin Salaky / Talking Points Memo:
Dem Senator To Trump: If Someone Kills Clinton The Blood Is ‘On Your Hands’

Discussion: alan.com, Mike Cernovich Presents …, Hillary Clinton Speeches, gopthedailydose.com, BizPac Review and The New Civil Rights Movement

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Trump: Clinton's bodyguards should ‘disarm immediately’ and ‘see what happens to her’

Discussion: Guardian, Jihad Watch and New York Magazine

Logan Churchwell / Breitbart:

Black Dallas Cop Sues Black Lives Matter, Soros for Inciting Race War — The head of a Dallas police organization is suing a collection of Black Lives Matter figureheads and other prominent individuals for allegedly inciting racial violence against American police officers.

Robert Moran / Philly.com:
2 cops shot, suspect and bystander killed in West Philly rampage

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, Fox News Insider and The Week

Marc Ramirez / Dallas Morning News:
Dallas Police sergeant files federal lawsuit accusing Black Lives Matter leaders of inciting anti-cop violence

Discussion: The Daily Caller, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Liberty Unyielding

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:
Police officers shot in Philly, Fort Worth

Discussion: Hot Air, AOL and The Gateway Pundit

Mike Allen / Politico:

Exclusive: Here's who's playing Tim Kaine in GOP debate prep — In Mike Pence's prep sessions for the vice-presidential debate, the role of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is being played by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a top GOP source told POLITICO on Saturday. — The first mock debate has already been held.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, alan.com and Joe.My.God.

Annie Karni / Politico:
Exclusive: Robert Barnett to play Mike Pence in Tim Kaine debate prep

Discussion: alan.com

David Goldstein / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

2 Clinton supporters in '08 reportedly shared Obama ‘birther’ story — WASHINGTON — Two supporters of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign reportedly shared the claim that then-rival Barack Obama was not born in the United States and thus was not eligible to be president.

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Donald Trump Clung to ‘Birther’ Lie for Years, and Still Isn't Apologetic

Discussion: Mother Jones, Associated Press, Politicus USA, LawNewz, BizPac Review, Right Wing Watch, Media Matters for America, Daily Kos, heave-ho.org, BuzzFeed, CNBC, NBC News, Washington Post, The Times of Israel, Guardian and ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »

VICE News:

VICE News reporter arrested outside a Donald Trump campaign event — Alex Thompson, a reporter for VICE News, was arrested by Houston Police today while inquiring about press access to an event held for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Omni Westside Hotel.

Discussion: Guardian and Deadline

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

DSCC shifts dollars out of Florida and Ohio — The top group helping Democrats win Senate seats is canceling advertising in Florida and Ohio to invest more heavily in Missouri and North Carolina. — The financial rejiggering by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spells …

Discussion: Hot Air

Philip Rucker / Washington Post: As Trump rises in battleground states, Clinton moves to block his path to 270

Chris Kahn / Yahoo:

Race tightens in projected U.S. Electoral College vote: Reuters/Ipsos — NEW YORK (Reuters) - An election analysis conducted in the Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project shows that the race has tightened considerably over the past few weeks, with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump projected …

Discussion: RedState and The Week

Nassim Nicholas Taleb:

The Intellectual Yet Idiot — What we have been seeing worldwide, from India to the UK to the US, is the rebellion against the inner circle of no-skin-in-the-game policymaking “clerks” and journalists-insiders, that class of paternalistic semi-intellectual experts with some Ivy league …

Discussion: AMERICAN DIGEST

Spencer Kent / New Jersey Online:

‘Pipe bomb-style device’ explodes along military 5K route in Seaside — SEASIDE PARK — An explosive device went off in a garbage pail Saturday morning along the route of a 5K run and walk to benefit military soldiers. — Multiple devices were also found “wired together” in the same garbage pail …

Discussion: Gothamist, ABC News, Independent Journal Review, CBS Philly and BizPac Review

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

How Roger Ailes used ‘key man clauses’ for his stars to protect himself — Contracts with most of the biggest stars on Fox News contain something unusual: A “key man clause” giving them an escape hatch if the company's “key man,” CEO Roger Ailes, exited. — In July, Ailes resigned under pressure amid sexual harassment allegations.

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding and BizPac Review, more at Mediagazer »

New York Daily News:

Meat cleaver madman, a Palestinian, was in Midtown to appeal deportation order before he sliced cop — The meat cleaver maniac who hacked an off-duty cop is a Palestinian busted two months ago while screaming in Arabic outside a Brooklyn synagogue. — Suspect Akram Joudeh was only in New York …

Discussion: Power Line, Jihad Watch, Gothamist, twitchy.com, Independent Journal Review and The Daily Caller

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Travel Back to an Early Clinton Scandal — Voters have the impression Hillary isn't trustworthy. She's been reinforcing it since 1993. — The question came up this week at a political panel: Why don't people like Hillary Clinton? — Why do they always believe the worst?

Daily Mail:

‘LES DEPLORABLES!’ Trump floors cheering Miami crowd as he enters to Broadway anthem and speaks in front of giant ‘Les Mis’ video screen art — It read ‘Les Deplorables’ - and replaced French revolutionary flags with the Stars and Stripes - and a ‘TRUMP’ flag

Discussion: BizPac Review, Vox Popoli, The Gateway Pundit and AOL