The State of Things:

We begin today in Massachusetts.  Not to knock Syria off the top, but the entry of Attorney General Martha Coakley into the race for governor shakes up a race with only one frontrunner, Treasurer Steve Grossman.  Coakley’s intro video (which includes a lot of Springfield incidentally) hit early this morning as she begins a tour of the commonwealth.  For the naysayers, Professor Ubertaccio reminds us that lots of losers became real winners in Massachusetts politics and Shira Schoenberg writes activists may forgive Coakley after all.

The dominoes begin to fall too.  With the AG’s office now open, many expect Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin to seek that office leaving Galvin’s old office open.  Jamie Eldridge a progressive champion in the State Senate has said he would run for the secretary’s position if Galvin vacates it.  Governor’s Councilor Robert Jubinville may make a bid for AG…or not.  And Dan Winslow, widely assumed to run for AG is Coakley did make the jump, announced…he’s resigning to join a law firm?  Special elections still abound in Massachusetts…

..And the World:

The United Nation’s weapons inspectors confirm that chemical weapons were used in Syria.  This comes after the Saturday announcement of a deal between the United States and Russia which would require the civil-war racked nation to declare and give up its chemical weapons stockpiles.  The BBC reports that Syria is on board.  Allies are demanding swift and strong resolution from the UN Security Council.  Meanwhile the rebels feel deflated.

Julia Gillard pens a lengthy essay for The Guardian’s Australia edition wherein she explains where she, Kevin Rudd and her Labor party went wrong and what they can do to fix it now that the Coalition has taken power in Canberra.  Meanwhile, Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister-elect, has announced his mostly male-dominated cabinet.  Not a good start for somebody whose faced charges of misogyny.

The Guardian reports on a high level meeting between the United States and Iran signaling a thaw that could resolve the nuclear standoff.

Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi has become the leader of India’s opposition and with that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for Prime Minister in next year’s general elections.  But Modi, who has been implicated in religious violence in the world’s largest democracy, has made his share of enemies over time.

From Italy, updates from NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli & The New York Times on the righting of the Costa Concordia that was shipwrecked off the resort island of Giglio in 2012.  Links at NPR for video of operation!

The Feds:

A shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, DC has killed at least thirteen people and unleashed pandemonium in the nation’s capital.

H/t to Greg Sargent for (most of) these links.  Larry Summers the onetime Treasury Secretary and Harvard President has withdrawn his name for consideration as Chairman of the Federal Reserve amid withering criticism from Democrats and a diverse crowd from Chris Hayes to The New York Times editorial board.  Janet Yellin is the preferred alternative for liberals, who distrusted and opposed Summers, but she may not get the gig.  Peter Beinart has some thoughts on what this means for the leftward shift of the Democratic party, a follow up to similar comments about the New York City mayor contest.  Incidentally…

In New York second place Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson announced his concession to and endorsement of Bill de Blasio, eliminating the need for a runoff in the primary for the city’s top job.  Thompson had been under pressure to drop any runoff campaign.  Capital New York has some details about how Governor Andrew Cuomo helped broker Thompson’s decision.

Democrats FINALLY have a candidate, a probably strong one, to run for West Virginia’s open Senate seat, which Jay Rockefeller IV is vacating.  The Secretary of State Natalie Tennant will begin her campaign tomorrow.

And a must-read editorial from the New York Times on tips and the minimum wages for servers which is $2.13 under federal law and only 50 cents higher in Massachusetts.

The State of Things (cont’d):

In the continuing drama of the Boston Mayoral race, Rep. Marty Walsh announced he would demolish and replace City Hall, although the replacement would be nearby, not in Southie.  Rivals Mike Ross, Bill Walczak and others slammed the proposal.  Ross pointedly took on Walsh, took calling the oft-proposed idea “stale.”  Boston Magazine’s David Bernstein criticizes Rob Consalvo’s pie-in-the-sky campaign promises.  Charlotte Golar Ritchie tries to inject some life into her campaign.  In Globe profiles, now you can collect them all!  Added are Charles Clemons, John Connolly, Consalvo, Richie, David James Wyatt (sorta), Charles Yancey.

Masslive has a series of articles about the Holyoke mayoral contest ahead of Tuesday’s preliminary.  They interviewed all candidates including, Daniel Boyle, incumbent Alex Morse, Jim Santiago, Jeff Stanek and Dan Szostkiewicz, a former mayor.  Additional details on the race from New England Public Radio.

More on area preliminaries from The Republican.

City Slickers:

The Planning Board has recommended that the Springfield City Council approve a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries.  The Planning Board and the Public Health Council want more time to develop regulations before allowing the facilities to operate within the city.

News has been tragically minimal on the races for Wards 1 & 5 set for tomorrow in Springfield.  Even we have been unable to do much more than get to profile Ward 1.  Hopefully, a smaller piece of ward 5 later tonight.

Twitter Chatter:

Today’s mass shooting in Washington, DC is yet another reminder of the decision our nation has made to forsake public safety for to appeal to an extreme position.  The tweets came in like a cascade as did the news.  Twitter proved a useful conduit of late-breaking developments.  Of course it also provided an important forum for criticism of our gun law posture.  David Frum, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush and a noted conservative supporter of gun control, tweeted out some “rules” about engaging in the debate of gun control following this tragedy only blocks away from the Capitol.  All of them should be read, but we have chosen rule five for its juxtaposition of the location of tyranny/freedom in context of gun laws.  Perhaps most striking is the number of replies who completely miss the heavy and effective irony Frum uses.  Either that or they are all being ironic, too.

Rule 5: Gun ownership is essential to freedom, as in Serbia & Guatemala. Gun restrictions lead to tyranny, as in Australia & Canada.

— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013