memeorandum: Opposing view: Why Sam Bacile deserves arrest (Anthea Butler/USA Today)

3:35 PM ET, September 13, 2012

Top Items:

White House clarifies Obama's statement that Egypt is not an ‘ally’ — President Barack Obama didn't intend to signal any change in the U.S.-Egypt relationship last night when he said Egypt is not an “ally,” the White House told The Cable today. — In an interview with Telemundo Wednesday night …

Discussion: Power Line, Weekly Standard, Guardian, Mediaite, Wizbang, National Review, CNN, The PJ Tatler, Washington Examiner, Election 2012, Taylor Marsh and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:

Turmoil Spreads to U.S. Embassy in Yemen — SANA, Yemen — Turmoil in the Arab world linked to a contentious video denigrating the Prophet Muhammad spread on Thursday to Yemen, where hundreds of protesters stormed the United States Embassy, two days after assailants killed the American ambassador …

Wall Street Journal:

Romney Offends the Pundits — Doesn't he know he's not supposed to debate foreign policy? — Tuesday's assaults on the U.S. Embassies in Benghazi and Cairo have injected foreign policy into the Presidential campaign, but suddenly the parsons of the press corps are offended by the debate.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Althouse, Taylor Marsh, neo-neocon, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, ABCNEWS, The Caucus, Paul Krugman, Instapundit, Mediaite and Power Line

Erick Erickson / RedState:

The American Media Beclowned Themselves Yesterday — Yesterday, as the American consulate in Libya was smoking and the rioters were returning in Egypt, the President of the United States flew off to Las Vegas for a fundraiser while his spokesman was telling the American press corps that yesterday wasn't really a normal political day.

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:

REPORTS: No Live Ammo for Marines — U.S. Marines defending the American embassy in Egypt were not permitted by the State Department to carry live ammunition, limiting their ability to respond to attacks like those this week on the U.S. consulate in Cairo. — Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson …

Discussion: National Review, The Jawa Report, The Gateway Pundit and The PJ Tatler

tv.broadwayworld.com:

President Obama Chats With Telemundo's Jose Diaz Balart — Telemundo's Jose Diaz Balart met with President Barack Obama yesterday. The following is a transcript of their conversation: — Jose Diaz Balart - MR. President, Gracias. — Pres. Obama: Gracias.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway and Washington Examiner

New York Post:

The media lash out — The murders of US diplomats in Libya and the attempted storming of the US Embassy in Cairo took place 56 days before the election of America's next president. — Apparently, it is the view of much of the mainstream media and foreign-policy establishment that discussing …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, AEIdeas and Betsy's Page

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Mitt's Major Meltdown — Mitt Romney broke our deal. — Perhaps he didn't know he'd made it, although, really, I thought it was pretty clear. — He could do anything he wanted during this campaign as long as he sent out signals that once he got in the White House he was not likely to be truly crazy.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Mario Piperni dot Com, The American Conservative, Balloon Juice and Connecting.the.Dots

First Read:
First Thoughts: A tricky situation

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Fix

New York Times:
A Challenger's Criticism Is Furiously Returned

Associated Press:
FACT CHECK: Romney Misstates Facts On Attacks

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, New York Times, Middle Earth Journal, US Politics and The Moderate Voice

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Inside the public relations disaster at the Cairo embassy

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
How the media turned Obama's foreign policy bungle into a Romney gaffe

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Riehl World News and Conservatives4Palin

kforcegov.com:
NightWatch 20120913

Discussion: U.S., The Daily Beast, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller

Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo:
Portman Comes To Romney's Defense On Libya But Concedes Lack Of Awareness Of Sequence Of Events

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Media and Obama out to lunch — Romney had it right

Discussion: First Read and National Review

Roger Simon / Politico:
Mitt Romney won't stop attacking

Discussion: CNN, Swampland, CANNONFIRE, Reuters and The Atlantic Wire

Ahmed Al-Haj / Associated Press:
Protesters storm US Embassy in Yemen

Discussion: New York Post, The Week, americanthinker.com, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Shakesville, Via Meadia and Jihad Watch

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in August suggests that economic activity has continued to expand at a moderate pace in recent months. Growth in employment has been slow, and the unemployment rate remains elevated.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, Economist's View, Business Insider, National Review, Guardian, The Big Picture and The Demos Blog

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
Federal Reserve Finally Working Expectations Channel With Open-Ended QE

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Dylan Matthews / Washington Post:
QE3 is on! Fed to buy $85b through December, and then keep going

Discussion: Daily Kos and FT Alphaville

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
Fed Announces New Round of Bond Buying to Spur Growth

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, USA Today, Washington Post, Felix Salmon, Via Meadia and The Maddow Blog

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
QE3 Arrives, With Trumpets

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:
PRESS CONFERENCE: BEN BERNANKE DEFENDS UNLIMITED QE, AS MARKET GOES TOTALLY WILD

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Hit & Run and The Daily Dish

Glenn Thrush / Reuters:

Benjamin Netanyahu vs. Barack Obama — President Barack Obama's national security team had every reason to believe they'd be spared a Bibi eruption before Election Day. — Earlier this year, U.S. and Israeli officials had informally agreed to stop airing their well-documented disagreements …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Haaretz, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hinterland Gazette, Taylor Marsh and National Review

Ginger Gibson / Politico:
Mitt Romney tones down embassy critique in Va.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and No More Mister Nice Blog

Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:
Obama echoes Carter with ‘shoot first’ criticism of Romney

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Jammie Wearing Fools, Instapundit and Battleground Watch

BuzzFeed:

Romney's Team Turns On The Press — A frustrating week in Boston. “The polls are close, and so the media starts cheering on their guy,” says one adviser. — DULLES, Va. — As Mitt Romney finishes his second week of dismal news coverage — with slipping polls and a combustible international crisis driving …

Discussion: emptywheel and Booman Tribune, more at Mediagazer »

Chicago Tribune:

Hope spreads from bargaining table to teacher picket line — As talk of progress spread from the bargaining table to the picket line, striking Chicago teachers said this morning they hope their actions will be a good lesson not just for their students, but for other unions across the country.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Firedoglake, Washington Examiner, The Glittering Eye, The Raw Story and New York Review of Books

Christian Schneider / City Journal:
Beware of Backfire — If Wisconsin governor Scott Walker …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air and The Glittering Eye

Anthea Butler / USA Today:

Opposing view: Why Sam Bacile deserves arrest — Words have consequences. I know that because one of my tweets asking “when Sam Bacile would be arrested” drew wide attention on Wednesday. — My initial tweet about Bacile, the person said to be responsible for the film mocking the prophet Mohammed …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, Michael J. Totten's blog, Jihad Watch and Overlawyered

Daniel Klaidman / The Daily Beast:

Mitt's Veep Tax Hypocrisy — MITT'S VEEP TAX HYPOCRISY — Romney asked at least some on his VP shortlist to submit 10 years worth of tax returns, a source says. Daniel Klaidman reports on the disconnect with Mitt's own public disclosures. — Jeff Haynes / Reuters-Landov

Discussion: Firedoglake, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos and Jammie Wearing Fools

Eli Stokols / KDVR.com:

Poll shows Obama up five on Romney in Colorado — DENVER - The first poll of Colorado voters since the Democratic National Convention shows President Barack Obama with a five point lead over Republican Mitt Romney, FOX31 Denver is first to report. — The new survey by OnSight Public Affairs …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Taegan Goddard's …

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum: Has Obama neutralized Romney's advantage on the economy?

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, The New Republic, New York Times, AEIdeas, Plunderbund and GOP 12

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:

Obama alone: This president does not need intel briefers — How long had it been since President Obama attended his daily intelligence meeting in the lead-up to the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Egypt and Libya? After all, our adversaries are known to use the anniversary of 9/11 to target the United States.

Discussion: FOX5 Vegas - KVVU, AEIdeas, Atlas Shrugs and The PJ Tatler

Esquire:

Exclusive: Obama Up by 4 Points Among Likely Voters (58% of Americans Say He'd Take Romney in a Fight) — With fifty-four days to go, voter opinions are coming into focus, and Esquire and Yahoo! News have joined forces to examine how voters view the presidential candidates and how President Obama …

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Pulp and Jammie Wearing Fools

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Health Board Approves Ban on Large Sugary Drinks — Seeking to combat rising obesity rates, the New York City Board of Health approved on Thursday a ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, street carts and movie theaters, enacting the first restriction of its kind in the country.