memeorandum: OCE Referral Regarding Rep. Steve Stockman (Office of Congressional Ethics)

7:40 PM ET, June 11, 2014

Top Items:

Cantor's Loss a Bad Omen for Moderates — WASHINGTON — The House Republican leadership, so solid in its opposition to President Obama, was torn apart Tuesday by the defeat of its most influential conservative voice, Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader …

Reid J. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:

David Brat's Writings: Hitler's Rise ‘Could All Happen Again’ — David Brat, the Virginia Republican who shocked House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) Tuesday, wrote in 2011 that Hitler's rise “could all happen again, quite easily.” — Mr. Brat's remarks, in a 2011 issue of Interpretation …

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, Rush Limbaugh, NewsBusters, Althouse, Gawker, Little Green Footballs, The Raw Story, Twitchy, Ed Driscoll, Liberaland and The PJ Tatler

Shane Goldmacher / NationalJournal.com:

Eric Cantor's Pollster Tries to Explain Why His Survey Showed Cantor Up 34 Points — This was not the first time Cantor pollster John McLaughlin has been wrong. — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's own polling showed him with a wide lead before he lost his primary. (Liz Lynch)

Ezra Klein / Vox:

11 political lessons from Eric Cantor's loss — Eric Cantor's shocking defeat at the hands of David Brat is that rarest of things in American politics: a genuine earthquake. And like with real earthquakes, the damage will be much greater because so few were prepared. A few provisional thoughts:

Discussion: Washington Post, Balkinization, Business Insider, Guardian, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Weekly Standard, Alas, a Blog, The New Republic and Talking Points Memo

Mother Jones:

David Brat, the Libertarian Who Beat Eric Cantor, Doesn't Believe in the “Common” Good — Brat has called for slashing Social Security, Medicare, and education spending and says “rich” nations don't have to fear climate change. — When tea party challenger David Brat sent Rep. Eric Cantor …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Climate Desk, Liberal Values, Daily Kos and Liberaland

Michael Laris / Washington Post:

Brat didn't go to Princeton Univ. — Economics professor and political giant killer David Brat appears to have done a little biographical inflation on his campaign website. — One of his “About Dave” selling points: “that he tested his rural values against the intellectual elite while at Princeton.”

Discussion: The Stranger …, PoliticusUSA and Talking Points Memo

Garance Franke-Ruta / Yahoo! News:

David Brat campaign manager scrubs Facebook page after election — The campaign manager for the tea party-backed Republican who ousted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in one of the biggest upsets in congressional history is a 23-year-old class of 2013 Haverford College graduate who posted …

Discussion: Gawker, The Raw Story, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call and Joe. My. God., more at Mediagazer »

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:

Chaos erupts at Cantor's election night headquarters after his departure — RICHMOND — As if the political drama were not powerful enough, chaos erupted at election night headquarters shortly after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor conceded his stunning defeat to tea party-backed conservative David Brat.

Discussion: WTVR-TV, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress, FIRST DRAFT and NPR

Jonathan Chait Follow / New York Magazine:

Eric Cantor's Shocking, Richly Deserved Primary Defeat — In Republican country, Tea Party always finds you. — Since Republicans won control of the House in the 2010 elections, the political future of Eric Cantor has been the subject of ceaseless speculation.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Slate, Bloomberg View, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Guardian, New York Times, neo-neocon, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Real Clear Politics and National Review

Washington Post:

Eric Cantor to step down as majority leader at end of July, backs McCarthy as successor — Majority Leader Eric I. Cantor (R-Va.) will step down from his leadership post at the end of July, ending a swift rise through the ranks of national politics and upending a leadership team that has run …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, Real Clear Politics, ABC News, Trail Blazers Blog, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com and NPR

Josh Zumbrun / Wall Street Journal:
David Brat to Bernanke: Don't Underestimate the Value of Protestants

Discussion: Daily Kos

Scott Clement / Washington Post:
Did Democratic votes doom Eric Cantor?

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, NPR, American Prospect, Daily Kos, The Week, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Gawker, Hinterland Gazette, The Raw Story, Joe. My. God., 24Ahead, The Daily Banter and Outside the Beltway

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Poll: Immigration didn't doom Eric Cantor

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNN, CBS DC, ABC News, Hot Air, The Daily Banter, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Huffington Post, The Week, The New Republic and RealClearPolicy

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
The guy who beat Eric Cantor penned a scathing, seemingly unpublished book about the economics profession

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Guardian, No More Mister Nice Blog and Hit & Run

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
White House: Cantor's Problem Was Cantor, Not Immigration

Discussion: Real Clear Politics and Hot Air

Timothy B. Lee / Vox:
Eric Cantor's loss is bad news for the NSA

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Daily Caller, Grist, Techdirt, emptywheel, The Hill and Belmont Club

Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Midterm Calculus: Did Democratic Voters Defeat Eric Cantor? Probably Not

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Jia Lynn Yang / Washington Post:
Why Cantor's loss is especially bad news for big business

Discussion: The Federalist, The Moderate Voice, Rational Irrationality, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic Online, The Hill, Political Insider blog, New York Times, Fox News, The Dish, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Wall Street Journal

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Eric Cantor to Step Down as House Majority Leader

Discussion: Washington Post, The Federalist, OpenSecrets.org, Talking Points Memo, BillMoyers.com, JustOneMinute, NPR and The Raw Story

Dave Brat for Congress:
About Dave — Dave Brat presents a major problem for liberals …

Discussion: New York Times, Gawker, neo-neocon, NPR, American Spectator and National Review

Reid J. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:
Rand Paul on Immigration Reform: 'Amnesty Is a Word That's Trapped Us'

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
House Republicans up late weighing strategy in wake of Cantor's shocking defeat

Discussion: The Dish, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg View and ABC News

John B. Judis / The New Republic:
Dave Brat and the Triumph of Rightwing Populism

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller, The Dish, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Hot Air

Erick Erickson / RedState:
Why Eric Cantor Lost

Yahoo! News:
Defeated Cantor says he won't try a write-in campaign

Discussion: OnPolitics and PoliticusUSA

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
For Barack Obama, Eric Cantor loss comes with a price

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Hill, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice

Politico:
Eric Cantor faces the press

Discussion: Mashable, Diane Ravitch's blog and NPR

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Oklahoma GOP Candidate OK With Stoning Gay People To Death — A Republican candidate for the Oklahoma state House who boasts that he's looking forward to “applying Biblical principles to Oklahoma law” is okay with gay people being stoned to death — even if he won't legislate the practice himself.

Discussion: themooredaily.com, Mediaite and The Week

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
Oklahoma Tea Party Candidate Supports Stoning Gay People to Death

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Daily Banter and Joe. My. God.

Sarah Stewart / KFOR-TV:
Oklahoma political candidate expresses extreme views on homosexuality

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Right Wing Watch and The Raw Story

Agence France-Presse:

Jihadists ‘bulldoze berm’ dividing Iraq from Syria — Baghdad (AFP) - The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant posted pictures online of militants bulldozing a berm dividing Iraq and Syria, symbolising its goal of uniting its forces in the two countries.

CNN:
Militants overrun two Iraqi cities

Discussion: ThinkProgress, BBC, iom.int and KFOR-TV

Yahoo! News:

Bergdahl Was Discharged from the Coast Guard for Psychological Reasons Before He Joined the Army — Bowe Bergdahl's armed forces troubles started in 2006, when he was discharged from the Coast Guard for “psychological reasons,” leading to the question: How did he end up in the Army?

Discussion: Washington Post and NPR

Stephanie McCrummen / Washington Post:
Bergdahl's writings reveal a fragile young man

Discussion: Pat Dollard, Liberaland, New York Times, NPR, Gawker and CBS DC

Travis Gettys / The Raw Story:

Creationist asks ‘hard question’: ‘If evolution is true, is rape wrong?’ — Creationist Darek Isaacs said during an online broadcast posted Monday that evolutionary theory excused rape. — He said during an episode of “Creation Today” that he had studied works by Richard Dawkins …

Discussion: Mediaite and Shakesville

Fox News:

US spy agencies heard Benghazi attackers using State Dept. cell phones to call terrorist leaders — Sept. 11, 2012: The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames during a terrorist attack.Reuters — The terrorists who attacked the U.S. consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi on September 11 …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Office of Congressional Ethics:

OCE Referral Regarding Rep. Steve Stockman — OCE Referral Regarding Rep. Steve Stockman (PDF 16MB) — On March 13, 2014, the Office of Congressional Ethics transmitted a referral to the Committee on Ethics of the United States House of Representatives regarding Rep. Steve Stockman — Nature of Review

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Yahoo! News

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Gohmert Uses House Hearing To Debate Whether Non-Christians ‘Go To Hell’ (VIDEO) — Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Tuesday repeatedly confronted a faith leader — who also happens to be a noted church-state separatist — about his Christian beliefs during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on religious freedom.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs