memeorandum: Iraq crisis: Militants ‘seize Tikrit’ after taking Mosul (BBC)

8:45 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, Rush Limbaugh, Talking Points Memo, NewsBusters, Althouse, Little Green Footballs, Gawker, The Raw Story, Twitchy, Ed Driscoll, Liberaland and The PJ Tatler

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, The Daily Beast and Talking Points Memo

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)

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

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, Daily Kos, Liberal Values, Liberaland and American Thinker

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: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Balkinization, Business Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Alas, a Blog, Weekly Standard, The Dish, Guardian, The New Republic, Talking Points Memo 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, Trail Blazers Blog, Daily Kos, Real Clear Politics, ABC News, msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, Outside the Beltway and NPR

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 and FIRST DRAFT

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, The Daily Beast, American Prospect, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, The Week, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Gawker, Hinterland Gazette, The Raw Story, Joe. My. God., The Daily Banter, 24Ahead and Outside the Beltway

Jonathan Chait Follow / New York Magazine:
Eric Cantor's Shocking, Richly Deserved Primary Defeat

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

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

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

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 New Republic, The Federalist, The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online, New York Times, The Dish, Political Insider blog, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and Wall Street Journal

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

Discussion: Real Clear Politics and Hot Air

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 and No More Mister Nice Blog

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

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

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

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

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, RedState, NPR, JustOneMinute, The Raw Story and The Hill

John Cassidy / Rational Irrationality:
Cantor Loses, and Washington Goes Ape

Discussion: Politico, msnbc.com, The Daily Beast, Sister Toldjah, CNN, The Hill, ABC News, Washington Post, Fox News, The Daily Banter, Guardian and American Spectator

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

Politico:
Eric Cantor to leave leadership post

Discussion: Newsday, New York Times, Mashable, Diane Ravitch's blog and NPR

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

Discussion: OnPolitics and PoliticusUSA

BBC:

Iraq crisis: Militants ‘seize Tikrit’ after taking Mosul — Paul Wood: “The speed of the jihadis advance has shocked the Iraqi government and its western allies” — Islamist insurgents in Iraq have seized the city of Tikrit, their second major gain after capturing Mosul on Tuesday, security officials say.

Discussion: BBC, Telegraph, Business Insider, Reuters, The Dish, Gawker, The Gateway Pundit and The Long War Journal

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, iom.int, BBC and KFOR-TV

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.

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

Discussion: Balloon Juice and The Daily Banter

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Right Wing Watch and The Raw Story

Rob Morris / themooredaily.com:
Throwing the First Stone: State House District 91 Candidate Expresses Extreme Views on Gays

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, Joe. My. God. and The Week

Stephanie McCrummen / Washington Post:

Bergdahl's writings reveal a fragile young man — Before he became a Taliban prisoner, before he wrote in his journal “I am the lone wolf of deadly nothingness,” before he ever joined the Army, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard for psychological reasons …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Pat Dollard, New York Times, Gawker, NPR, Liberaland, CBS DC and The Daily Beast

Yahoo! News:
Bergdahl Was Discharged from the Coast Guard for Psychological Reasons Before He Joined the Army

Discussion: Washington Post and NPR

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 Lid” and The PJ Tatler

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

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