memeorandum: With Eric Holder's Exit, Obama Loses a Key Ally (David A. Graham/The Atlantic Online)

4:35 PM ET, September 25, 2014

Top Items:

Carrie Johnson / NPR:

Eric Holder To Step Down As Attorney General — Eric Holder Jr., the nation's first black U.S. attorney general, is preparing to announce his resignation Thursday after a tumultuous tenure marked by civil rights advances, national security threats, reforms to the criminal justice system …

David A. Graham / The Atlantic Online:

With Eric Holder's Exit, Obama Loses a Key Ally — One of Attorney General Eric Holder's major projects has been working to shorten prison sentences for certain offenders. But now Holder is taking a step to spring a different kind of figure from the justice system: himself.

Discussion: Washington Post, Guardian and Yahoo! News

David Nather / Politico:

Eric Holder's real legacy — For someone who has been such a punching bag while in office, Attorney General Eric Holder is leaving on a more successful note: his response to the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, that may serve as a capstone for a civil rights legacy that could outlast the controversies of his tenure.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and ABC News

Benjamin Goad / The Hill:

Eric Holder to resign — Attorney General Eric Holder, one of president Obama's longest serving lieutenants, will announce his resignation Thursday, according to the Justice Department. — Holder, widely rumored to have been planning his departure before the unrest in Ferguson thrust …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico and Hot Air

Colin Campbell / Business Insider:
Al Sharpton Says He's Helping The White House Pick The Next Attorney General

Discussion: RedState and The PJ Tatler

New York Times:
Attorney General Eric Holder, Prominent Liberal Voice in Obama Administration, Is Resigning

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, JustOneMinute, Watchdog.org, The Stranger … and Balloon Juice

Ahiza Garcia / Talking Points Memo: Fox Host: Holder Ran The DOJ ‘Much Like The Black Panthers Would’

The National Interest:
Good Riddance, Eric Holder

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, National Review and Hit & Run

ABC News:
Attorney General Eric Holder to Resign

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News, PoliticusUSA and Truthdig

Reuters: U.S. Attorney General Holder, a close Obama ally, to step down

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Eric Holder to step down

Discussion: ABC News

Devlin Barrett / Wall Street Journal:
Eric Holder to Step Down as Attorney General

Discussion: Associated Press and American Thinker

CNN: Holder to resign after successor is confirmed

John Monk / The State:

VIDEO RELEASED: SC trooper charged with felony in shooting at traffic stop over seat belt violation — COLUMBIA, SC — An S.C. trooper who stopped a man for a seat belt violation outside Columbia and then shot him - apparently without provocation - was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault …

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker, RT, Hinterland Gazette, PoliticusUSA, addictinginfo.org, The Big Lead and The Daily Caller

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Video Shows South Carolina Cop Shooting Black Man Without Any Apparent Provocation

Discussion: Hit & Run, Shakesville and Daily Kos

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Yep, We Need Dashcams

Discussion: WLTX-TV and Unfogged

Kendall Breitman / Politico:

Cheney rips Obama for ‘Ferguson’ — Dick Cheney says it's “outrageous” that President Barack Obama mentioned the summer's unrest in Ferguson, Mo., while speaking about ISIL during a speech at the United Nations. — “I was stunned,” the former vice president said on Wednesday during an interview on Fox News' “Hannity.”

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Monthly

Economist:

Mission relaunched — The fight against Islamic State will help define America's role in the world — FOR more than three years, Barack Obama has been trying to avoid getting into a fight in Syria. But this week, with great tracts of the Middle East under the jihadist's knife, he at last faced up to the inevitable.

Discussion: Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Richard Grenell / Fox News:
Obama's condemnation of Ferguson, Missouri, during UN talk was a mistake

Discussion: The White House, Right Wing Watch, his vorpal sword, Bloomberg View and Wall Street Journal

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Obama's exceptional U.N. address

Discussion: Hot Air and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

New York Post:

Zoo in coverup after groundhog dropped by de Blasio dies — Mayor Bill de Blasio couldn't hold onto the Staten Island Zoo's squirming groundhog. — Mayor Bill de Blasio has groundhog blood on his hands! — A week after Hizzoner dropped Staten Island Chuck in front of a crowd of spectators on Feb. 2 …

Discussion: Business Insider, New York Times, Mediaite, Politico, Mashable, Gothamist, Gawker, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and National Review

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Romney 2016 is for real — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL 2016 ELECTIONS MITT ROMNEY — Is Mitt Romney, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination and lost in 2008, ran again and won the nomination but lost the general election in 2012, really thinking about running yet again for president in 2016?

Discussion: Mother Jones, Hit & Run, New York Times, Washington Monthly, The Federalist, The Dish, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air

Steve Benen / msnbc.com:

New GOP ad campaign: ‘Republicans Have Feelings’ — Vinny Minchillo, a Republican campaign strategist based in Texas, isn't the most famous GOP consultant in the country, but he did claim to have “reinvented political advertising” while working for Mitt Romney's failed presidential campaign in 2012.

Discussion: Daily Signal and Raw Story

Danny Vinik / The New Republic:
One of Romney's “Mad Men” Is Trying to Convince America That “Republicans Have Feelings”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, American Prospect, addictinginfo.org, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and The Huffington Post

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

A Terror Cell That Avoided the Spotlight — WASHINGTON — Some time last year, a Kuwaiti man in his early 30s who had spent more than a decade hiding from the American government arrived in northwest Syria, where he met up with other members of Al Qaeda who had begun putting down roots in a country torn by two years of death and chaos.

Discussion: Guardian, Informed Comment and The Diplomat

Jack Shafer:
War without end: The U.S. may still be fighting in Syria in 2024, 2034, 2044 . . .

Discussion: Business Insider, Hit & Run, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Dish, UK Blog on The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times and The PJ Tatler

Paul A. Offit / Wall Street Journal:

The Anti-Vaccination Epidemic — Whooping cough, mumps and measles are making an alarming comeback, thanks to seriously misguided parents. — Almost 8,000 cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough, have been reported to California's Public Health Department so far this year.

Discussion: Washington Post

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:

Gabby Giffords's Gun-Control Ads Are Being Criticized Because They're Working — Strange but true: getting shot in the head will make a person want to defeat political candidates who oppose gun control laws. Actually, getting shot in the head is usually fatal.

Discussion: National Review

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Fox Hosts Dub Female Fighter Pilot Who Bombed ISIL ‘Boobs On The Ground’ (VIDEO) — Two male co-hosts of Fox News' “The Five” cracked sexist jokes Wednesday about the United Arab Emirates' first female fighter pilot. — Kimberly Guilfoyle took a moment to salute Major Mariam Al Mansouri …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Raw Story and Gawker

Rob Davis / Oregonian:

Forest Service says media needs photography permit in wilderness areas, alarming First Amendment advocates — The U.S. Forest Service has tightened restrictions on media coverage in vast swaths of the country's wild lands, requiring reporters to pay for a permit and get permission before shooting …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Outside the Beltway, Fox News, CBS San Francisco, The Daily Caller and Hit & Run

BuzzFeed:

SD Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Somehow Plagiarized Biographical Sentence — Mary Burke had her own policies plagiarized. — Susan Wismer For South Dakota / Via Facebook: SusanForSD — Democratic gubernatorial South Dakota nominee appears to have plagiarized parts of her issues page …