memeorandum: Rand Paul's NSA lawsuit put on hold (Josh Gerstein/Politico)

6:35 PM ET, September 22, 2014

Top Items:

Gillibrand's Weight Watcher Revealed, and a Presidential Nominee Is Sunk — Good Monday morning and welcome to the inaugural edition of First Draft, your morning briefing for politics. Today, the White House is reviewing the locks on its doors, 91-year-old Bob Dole hits the campaign trail …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Patterico's Pontifications, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Alana Goodman / Washington Free Beacon:

The Hillary Letters — NOTE: READ THE HILLARY CLINTON-SAUL ALINSKY LETTERS HERE. — Previously unpublished correspondence between Hillary Clinton and the late left-wing organizer Saul Alinsky reveals new details about her relationship with the controversial Chicago activist and shed light on her early ideological development.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Bloomberg View, The PJ Tatler, The Federalist, Blazing Cat Fur, New Hampshire Journal, Fox News, Raw Story, New York Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Daily Banter, The Other McCain and Liberal Values

Ashley Parker / New York Times:

Alaska Ad Finds a Target in Begich's Support of Gun Rights — Senator Mark Begich of Alaska was one of just five Democratic senators who voted against a bipartisan gun control bill last year, helping to ensure its failure. — But that hasn't prevented Dan Sullivan, Mr. Begich's Republican opponent …

Discussion: OnPolitics, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Althouse, The PJ Tatler, RedState, Politico, Fox News, Weekly Standard and Twitchy

Stanley Kurtz / National Review:

Why Hillary's Alinsky Letters Matter — Alana Goodman's revelation at the Washington Free Beacon of previously unknown correspondence between Hillary Clinton and Saul Alinsky shows that Clinton has not been honest about her far-left past. The lost Alinsky letters also remind us of what we ought …

Discussion: Ed Driscoll, Taylor Marsh and Washington Free Beacon

Noah Rothman / Hot Air:

Reason Magazine actually asked climate protesters what they want to do, and it's hilarious — Those in politics who spend much of their time railing about the dangers associated with anthropogenic climate change will often assert that the public largely shares their concerns about catastrophic climate shifts.

Discussion: Fox News, his vorpal sword, American Thinker, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Power Line and Hit & Run

Rebecca Leber / The New Republic:
What to Expect from the Big Climate Summit

Discussion: Washington Post, US News, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg View and New York Times

Karoli / Crooks and Liars:
The 300,000-Strong Climate Change March Media Ignored

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Feministing, Firedoglake and United Nations

John Fund / National Review:
The Crumbling Climate-Change Consensus

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
TV News Misses Yet Another Opportunity To Cover Climate Change

Discussion: EcoWatch, The Week, Raw Story, The Stranger …, New York Times, Climate Denial Crock …, skippy the bush kangaroo, Taylor Marsh and New York Magazine

Reason:
What We Saw at the People's Climate March

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Fiona Harvey / Guardian: US to put climate change ‘front and center’ of diplomatic efforts, Kerry vows

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Exclusive: Lois Lerner breaks silence — Employers won't hire her. She's been berated with epithets like “dirty Jew.” Federal agents have guarded her house because of death threats. And she's spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending herself against accusations she orchestrated …

Discussion: Daily Signal, Hot Air, Liberaland, Fox News, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, National Republican …, Scared Monkeys, Wall Street Journal and Instapundit

David Harsanyi / The Federalist:

Sorry, Politico, But Lois Lerner Is Not A Victim — Lois Lerner. Hero. Servant. Brownie-baking puppy lover. Sister of the Blessed State. — This is about all a person reading Politico's new exclusive “interview” with the former head of the I.R.S. division that oversees tax-exempt groups, might take away.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Politico, Daily Signal and Instapundit

Numbers / Pew Research Center's Religion …:

Public Sees Religion's Influence Waning — Growing Appetite for Religion in Politics — Nearly three-quarters of the public (72%) now thinks religion is losing influence in American life, up 5 percentage points from 2010 to the highest level in Pew Research polling over the past decade.

Discussion: American Prospect, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, CBS DC, Towleroad News #gay and Washington Free Beacon

Associated Press:

Obama Concerned Intruder Got in His Family's Home — President Barack Obama is expressing concern that an intruder carrying a knife was able to get into the White House where his family lives. — Obama press secretary Josh Earnest says Obama is “obviously concerned” that a man got through …

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
White House Intruder Had Weapons and Ammunition in His Car

Discussion: Guardian and Washington Post

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Secret Service considers a larger buffer zone around the White House

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Hot Air, New York Times, The Daily Banter, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Yahoo! News, The Hill and CBS News

Anchorage Daily News:

KTVA reporter quits on-air, reveals herself as owner of Alaska Cannabis Club — Reporter Charlo Greene quit on-air during KTVA-TV's 10 p.m. newscast Sunday, revealing herself as the owner of the medical marijuana business Alaska Cannabis Club and telling viewers that she would be using …

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, Raw Story, WTVR-TV, Mashable, Hot Air, Shakesville and Twitchy

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Alaska TV reporter quits on-air

Discussion: The Stranger … and Washington Free Beacon

Stephen J. Bisciotti / Baltimore Ravens:

Message To Fans Regarding ESPN Story — The Ravens' response to an ESPN story about the team and Ray Rice. — We at the Ravens have promised to be open, candid and transparent with our fans, sponsors, ticket holders, and the general public. — This past Friday, ESPN.com's “Outside the Lines” …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Mashable, Talking Points Memo and SBNation.com

Kendall Breitman / Politico:

Donald Trump: GOP wants his ‘robocalls’ — Trump said his robocalls are 'listened to more than anybody else's robo.' — If you live in Kentucky or New Hampshire, that next phone call could be from Donald Trump. — Trump told Fox News' “Fox and Friends” on Monday he might be making house calls …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Post and PoliticusUSA

Julian Hattem / The Hill:
Latest congressional Wiki edit: McConnell thinks he's a turtle

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Jonah Bromwich / New York Times:

An Article on Shonda Rhimes Rightly Causes a Furor — The article on the television producer Shonda Rhimes hadn't yet appeared in Sunday's paper, but the virtual world was ablaze in protest over it on Friday after it was published online. — Written by the longtime TV critic, Alessandra Stanley …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Inside TV, Guardian, Poynter, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal:

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Draws GOP Presidential Attention — He Helped Found the Tea-Party Caucus in Congress, and Now Leads a State With Booming Economy — With Washington's reputation lurking in used-car-salesmen territory, there will be a wide lane in the 2016 presidential campaign …

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Religious Conservatives Finally Admit What They Really Want Out Of Hobby Lobby — For two and a half years, the Obama Administration has tried to strike a balance between the health needs of workers and the sensibilities of employers who object to contraceptive care on religious grounds.

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Obama's October Surprise — Get ready for bombs bursting in air and this election's October Surprise - President Obama's air strikes to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS. — Last week a Fox News poll identified a phenomenon that my friend, pollster Dana Blanton, dubbed “The ISIS effect.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Justin Kroll / Variety:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Eyes Edward Snowden Role in Oliver Stone Movie — Oliver Stone seems to have found the man to play NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in his next pic “The Snowden Files.” — Sources tell Variety that Stone has offered the part to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and that the actor has agreed to do it.

Discussion: The Verge, WJLA-TV, Guardian and The Daily Caller

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Those Lazy Jobless — Last week John Boehner, the speaker of the House, explained to an audience at the American Enterprise Institute what's holding back employment in America: laziness. People, he said, have “this idea” that “I really don't have to work. I don't really want to do this.

Discussion: Shakesville, Prairie Weather and Washington Monthly

Jessica Schulberg / The New Republic:

Guantánamo Bay Is Crumbling Into Ruins — But guards and prisoners aren't leaving any time soon — In 1995, the U.S. military built a small temporary food preparation station on the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base to feed an influx of Haitian and Cuban refugees.

Discussion: The Dish