memeorandum: Al Jazeera America Launch Ratings (Alex Weprin/TVNewser)

5:15 PM ET, August 27, 2013

Top Items:

Experts to Obama: Here Is What to Do in Syria — A big group of foreign policy experts, from across the ideological spectrum, is calling on President Obama to impose “meaningful consequences on the Assad regime” for their use of chemical weapons. — “At a minimum, the United States …

Discussion: American Prospect, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Hit & Run, Booman Tribune and The Daily Caller

Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns & Money:

“Experts” Who Are Always Wrong About Everything Want to Bomb Syria — The Weekly Standard has an open letter explaining that blowing up lots of stuff in Syria is a great idea: … The “other people” include Max Boot, Paul Berman, Dr. Clifford D. May, Marty Peretz, and Danielle Pletka.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Ralph Peters / New York Post:

Obama's third war — The folly of striking Syria — You might as well try to teach a snake to juggle as hope the Obama administration will think strategically. The “peace president” is about to embark on his third military adventure, this time in Syria, without having learned the lessons …

Discussion: neo-neocon

George Packer / News Desk:

Two Minds on Syria — So it looks like we're going to bomb Assad. — Good. — Really? Why good? … Yes, I saw the videos. — And you don't want to pound the s**t out of him? — I want to pound the s**t out of him. — But you think we shouldn't do anything. — I didn't say that.

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Taylor Marsh, Truthout Stories, The Dish, Taegan Goddard's …, Mediaite, his vorpal sword, The Daily Beast and Guardian

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Military Strikes Are an Extremely Expensive Way to Help Foreigners — A few months back, I ran into one of the founders of GiveWell, the charity evaluation website, and he thanked me for having talked up GiveDirectly the charity based around helping to fight global poverty by directly transferring money to poor people.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

New York Times:
Responding to Syrian Atrocities

Discussion: Hit & Run, BillMoyers.com, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Right Wing News, CANNONFIRE, The Week, JustOneMinute, National Review and msnbc.com

Justin Sink / The Hill:
White House: We're not seeking ‘regime change’ as goal in Syria

Discussion: CNN, Politico and Outside the Beltway

Washington Post:
After Syria chemical allegations, Obama considering limited military strike

BBC:
Strike against Syria ‘catastrophic’

Discussion: WorldViews, The Agonist, VodkaPundit and Hot Air

NBCNews:
Military strikes on Syria ‘as early as Thursday,’ US officials say

New York Times:
Pentagon Sees Syrian Military, Not Chemical Sites, as Target

Discussion: Associated Press, The Shadow League, National Review and WorldViews

Reuters:
Syria strike due in days, West tells opposition: sources

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Heritage Foundation, Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, Michael J. Totten's blog, Guardian and New York Times

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

Obama, race and class — Martin Luther King and Barack Obama, the two most important black leaders in American history, operated in vastly different eras and political arenas — under a strikingly similar set of ground rules. — King and Obama — born 32 years apart …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, National Review, Mediaite, NewsBusters and The Hill

Rene Stutzman / Orlando Sentinel:
O'Mara: George Zimmerman will ask state to cover $200K-$300K of his legal bills

Discussion: Global Grind, PostPartisan, Scared Monkeys, NBCNews, msnbc.com, AL.com, National Review, PoliticusUSA and ABC News

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Conservative blacks irritated with liberal flavor of march anniversary

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, BizPac Review, BuzzFeed, Jammie Wearing Fools and Instapundit

Dan Popkey / Idaho Statesman:

Boehner visits Boise; vows to succeed with entitlement reform this fall — The House speaker predicts ‘a whale of a fight’ but he says the timing is right. — House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that getting the GOP-controlled House to agree to raising the U.S. debt ceiling will only come …

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Wire, msnbc.com, PoliticusUSA, Business Insider, Daily Kos and Goppers

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
The Debt Ceiling Is Suddenly Only 8 Weeks Away

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, Washington Wire, The Plum Line, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather and Hot Air

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Robertson: Gay People Deliberately Spread HIV/AIDS By Cutting People With Special Rings — Today on the 700 Club, Pat Robertson told co-host Terry Meeuwsen that gay men in cities like San Francisco attempt to spread HIV/AIDS to others by cutting them with a special ring when shaking hands.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Little Green Footballs, Truth Wins Out, Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

MSNBC's Karen Finney bails on Hugh Hewitt — MSNBC's Karen Finney on Monday hung up on conservative talker Hugh Hewitt after he repeatedly asked her during an interview on his radio show to say whether Alger Hiss was a communist. — Hewitt had Finney on his program to discuss her statement …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hugh Hewitt Show, National Review, Hot Air, Ed Driscoll, Weasel Zippers and The Raw Story

Jason Horowitz / Washington Post:

New Jersey's Cory Booker: A perfect senator for ‘This Town’? — UNION, N.J. — During Saturday's events for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, Cory Booker dabbed his dome with a white handkerchief on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and bellowed, “We still have work to do.”

Discussion: Wonkblog, ABC News, First Read, TheBlaze.com, msnbc.com, Towleroad News #gay, Booman Tribune and Taegan Goddard's …

Washington Post:
New Jersey's Cory Booker: A perfect senator for ‘This Town’?

Discussion: Right Wing Watch and The Raw Story

CNBC:

Obama source predicts Summers will be named Fed chief soon — A source from Team Obama told CNBC that Larry Summers will likely be named chairman of the Federal Reserve in a few weeks though he is “still being vetted” so it might take a little longer. — It's largely come …

Discussion: Wonkblog, Calculated Risk, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Taegan Goddard's …, First Read and New York Times

Joshua Green / Businessweek:
The Lucky Break That Could Land Larry Summers at the Fed

Discussion: Bloomberg

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Al Jazeera America Launch Ratings — Al Jazeera America launched last week, and we have the ratings from Nielsen Media Research for its first few days. — Not surprisingly given the low-rated channel it replaced (Current TV), and the fact that it lost a few million homes from AT&T before launch …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Washington Free Beacon and National Review, more at Mediagazer »

J.K. Trotter / Gawker:

Brian Lewis Speaks Out: Roger Ailes and Fox News Should Fear Him — Brian Lewis's attorney Judd Burstein just provided this statement to Gawker: … Fox News President Roger Ailes fired Lewis in late July following accusations of “financial irregularities” and “multiple, material and significant breaches of his employment contract.”

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post, msnbc.com, Business Insider and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

Russ Buettner / New York Times:

Officer Is Indicted on Charges of Lying About Photographer's Arrest — A New York City police officer who had arrested a photographer working for The New York Times has been indicted on three felony counts and five misdemeanors accusing him of fabricating the reasons for the arrest, the Bronx district attorney announced on Monday.

Discussion: Business Insider, Hit & Run, PDNPulse, ANIMAL and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

John Shiffman / Reuters:

Holder pressed on U.S. drug agency use of hidden data evidence — (Reuters) - Eight Democratic senators and congressmen have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to answer questions about a Reuters report that the National Security Agency supplies the Drug Enforcement Administration …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Firedoglake, Questions and Observations and AL.com

Alex Seitz-Wald / The Plum Line:

Updated: Congressman says he understands DREAMers' plight because he's from Arkansas — California Republican Rep. Gary Miller has earned a reputation as an immigration hardliner, but when confronted by a group of young immigrants Friday at a public event in Rancho Cucamonga (which had a $12 entry fee) …

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Raw Story

Fox News:

Ben Bradlee's daughter-in-law reveals (almost) all on Facebook — Ben Bradlee, one of the great men of American journalism, celebrated his 92nd birthday yesterday, and his daughter-in-law paid tribute by posting a photo of them and saying “it is a dream to be part of his family.”

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mediaite, The Raw Story and Brad DeLong, more at Mediagazer »

Sacramento Bee:

President Ford video testimony released on ‘Squeaky’ Fromme assassination attempt — On Sept. 5, 1975, at around 9:30 a.m., a young woman left her $100-a-month attic apartment at 1725 P St. and began the short stroll to the state Capitol. — Dressed in a flowing red robe and carrying …

Discussion: The Other McCain, BizPac Review, Taegan Goddard's …, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway and ABC News

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:

GOP senators want to reverse healthcare rule for congressional staff — Two Republican senators say they'll introduce legislation to reverse the Obama administration's rule change allowing the federal government to contribute to Capitol Hill employee health insurance premiums.

Discussion: Politico