memeorandum: Leading Democrats, de Blasio Has Broad Support as Primary Nears (New York Times)

2:15 PM ET, August 30, 2013

Top Items:

Nancy Pelosi the hawk tells Barack Obama to act on Syria — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi pressed top administration officials Thursday night to take military action to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad in response to reports that he used chemical weapons in his nation's ongoing civil war.

Discussion: CNN, Hit & Run, Weekly Standard, Hullabaloo, The PJ Tatler, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, Goppers and Reuters

Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post:

U.S. military officers have deep doubts about impact, wisdom of a U.S. strike on Syria — The Obama administration's plan to launch a military strike against Syria is being received with serious reservations by many in the U.S. military, which is coping with the scars of two lengthy wars …

Discussion: Post Politics, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, Sense of Events and Israel Matzav

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

As Obama considers Syria strikes, Bush and Carter weigh in — (CNN) - Two of President Barack Obama's White House predecessors offered their views of his impending decision on Syria Friday as global support for strikes in the country faltered. — Former President George W. Bush …

Discussion: Politico, Hullabaloo and Washington Monthly

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

Unclassified Syria briefing exposes rifts among key lawmakers — Thursday night's briefing by top Obama administration officials exposed divisions among key lawmakers on what to do in Syria. — Lawmakers on the unclassified conference call said the officials made it clear that President Obama …

Discussion: Politico

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Obama Set for Limited Strike on Syria as British Vote No — WASHINGTON — President Obama is prepared to move ahead with a limited military strike on Syria, administration officials said Thursday, despite a stinging rejection of such action on Thursday by America's stalwart ally Britain and mounting questions from Congress.

Mark Murray / First Read:

NBC poll: Americans skeptical of U.S. intervention in Syria — Fifty percent of Americans say they oppose the United States taking military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad, and nearly eight-in-10 believe President Barack Obama should receive congressional approval before using any force, according to a new NBC News poll.

Discussion: Politico, The BRAD BLOG, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, CNN and New York Times

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

Aim of U.S. Attack: Restore a ‘Red Line’ That Became Blurred — WASHINGTON — The goal of the cruise missile strikes the United States is planning to carry out in Syria is to restore the smudged “red line” that President Obama drew a year ago against the use of poison gas.

Discussion: Via Meadia, The Daily Caller and emptywheel

Liam Stack / The Lede:

Facebook Post Said to Be by Assad's Son Dares Americans to Attack — A Facebook post said to be written by the 11-year-old son of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and “liked” or commented on by several people who appear to be the children and grandchildren of other senior members …

Discussion: Guardian, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Gawker, AL.com and FP Passport

Politico:
The lonely president — President Barack Obama had hoped for a quick …

Discussion: Daily Express, Taegan Goddard's …, Weekly Standard, The New Republic, NPR, Associated Press and Reuters

Mark Murray / NBCNews:
NBC poll: Nearly 80 percent want congressional approval on Syria

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, NewsMax.com, AL.com, FITSNews, Scared Monkeys, msnbc.com, National Review and Lawfare

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:
George W. Bush Talks Syria on Fox: ‘I Was Not a Fan of Mr. Assad’

Discussion: The Huffington Post and BizPac Review

Devin Dwyer / ABC News:
Obama's Off-the-Cuff ‘Red Line’ Creates Syria Dilemma

Discussion: ABC News, Hot Air, Business Insider, NetRight Daily and Associated Press

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Rand Paul: Syria ‘objective is stalemate’

Discussion: CNN and Reuters

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Prepares for Solo Strike On Syria After Britain Balks

Discussion: Washington Wire, Business Insider, Hot Air, AEIdeas and The Volokh Conspiracy

Max Fisher / WorldViews:
9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask

Discussion: Booman Tribune

CNN:
Kerry places blame on Syria

Discussion: AL.com, Business Insider, KDVR.com and Here & Now

Emily Swanson / The Huffington Post:
Syria Poll Finds Little American Support For Air Strikes

Discussion: americanthinker.com and Outside the Beltway

David Barrett / Telegraph:

David Miranda was carrying password for secret files on piece of paper — A journalist's partner who was detained carrying thousands of British intelligence documents through Heathrow airport was also holding the password to an encrypted file written on a piece of paper, the government has disclosed.

Discussion: Politico, BuzzFeed, Business Insider, Joe. My. God. and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Robert Booth / Guardian:
UK took three weeks to act over data at New York Times, says Guardian

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Switch, more at Mediagazer »

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

White House, Republican senators give up on budget talks — The Obama administration and a group of Republican senators abandoned efforts Thursday to hammer out a budget deal and avoid a showdown over the national debt, saying they had failed to resolve their long-standing dispute over taxes.

Discussion: Hot Air and Hullabaloo

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
A Test of GOP Resolve on ObamaCare

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Ben Terris / NationalJournal.com:
Pelosi: I Don't Want to Be Speaker Again

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Weasel Zippers and Yahoo! News

IC ON THE RECORD:

DNI Clapper Directs Annual Release of Information Related to Orders Issued to Telecom Providers Under National Security Authorities — August 29, 2013 — In June, President Obama directed the Intelligence Community (IC) to declassify and make public as much information as possible …

Discussion: Hillicon Valley, GigaOM, The Switch, AL.com, The Verge, emptywheel, epic.org and Techdirt

Washington Post:
NSA paying U.S. companies for access to communications networks

Discussion: Firedoglake, BBC, Prairie Weather, Secrecy News and emptywheel

Washington Post:

What ‘The Butler’ gets wrong about Ronald Reagan and race — Steven F. Hayward, Paul Kengor, Craig Shirley and Kiron K. Skinner are Ronald Reagan historians. — One cold evening in Dixon, Ill., in the early 1930s, a young man known as Dutch Reagan brought home two African American teammates from his Eureka College football team.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Power Line and Ed Driscoll

M. Alex Johnson / NBCNews:

Federal judge orders VA to obey Supreme Court on same-sex benefits — The Department of Veterans Affairs can no longer rely on its unique reading of federal law to refuse to provide full benefits to a California veteran in a same-sex marriage, a federal judge declared in a ruling filed late Thursday.

Discussion: Washington Blade, Advocate, Taylor Marsh, BuzzFeed, Hot Air and SCOTUSblog

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Federal Judge Strikes Down Law Barring Same-Sex Couples From Receiving Veterans' Benefits

Discussion: ThinkProgress and U.S. Department …

Bryce Covert / ThinkProgress:

Poverty Has Same Effect On The Brain As Constantly Pulling All Nighters — The mental strain of living in poverty and thinking constantly about tight finances can drop a person's IQ by as much as 13 percent, or about the equivalent of losing a night of sleep, according to a new study.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

sciencemag.org:
Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR and Gawker

Alex Morales / Bloomberg:

Global Warming Slowdown Data Sought in Leaked UN Climate Report — U.S. and European Union envoys are seeking more clarity from the United Nations on a slowdown in global warming that climate skeptics have cited as a reason not to “panic” about environmental changes, leaked documents show.

New York Times:

Leading Democrats, de Blasio Has Broad Support as Primary Nears — Frustration with New York City's unaffordability and its aggressive police tactics is elevating Bill de Blasio, once dismissed as a left-leaning long shot, into the lead of the Democratic mayoral primary field …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Newsday, Politico, Capital New York and Taegan Goddard's …

John Eligon / New York Times:

New Neighbor's Agenda: White Power Takeover — LEITH, N.D. — The bearded man with thinning, gray-and-bleach-blond hair flapping down his neck first appeared in this tiny agricultural town last year, quietly and inconspicuously roaming the crackly dirt roads.

Discussion: The Week, Global Grind and Althouse

Stephen Lurie / The Atlantic Online:

How the Senate Exploits Unpaid Interns — Barely a third of U.S. senators pay their interns — and embarrassingly for Democrats, a party focused on workplace welfare, most of them are Republicans. — If you walk into any of the 100 Senate offices spread across Capitol Hill, there is one consistent element.

Discussion: Althouse

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Conservatives ready another try to unseat Lindsey Graham — SOUTH CAROLINA 2014 ELECTIONS LINDSEY GRAHAM — ANDERSON, S.C. — On a Monday night in late August, Sen. Lindsey Graham was traveling with a congressional delegation in Africa when the three Republicans who are challenging …