memeorandum: Iraqi Kurds Seize Oil-Rich City Of Kirkuk As Sunni Militants Surge Toward Baghdad (Reuters)

4:30 PM ET, June 12, 2014

Top Items:

U.S. Said to Rebuff Iraqi Request to Strike Militants — WASHINGTON — As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki secretly asked the Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist staging areas, according to Iraqi and American officials.

Washington Post:

Iraq disintegrating as insurgents advance; Kurds seize Kirkuk — IRBIL, Iraq — Iraq was on the brink of disintegration Thursday as al-Qaeda-inspired fighters swept through northern Iraq toward Baghdad and Kurdish soldiers seized the city of Kirkuk without a fight.

Discussion: PandoDaily, Hot Air and RedState

Reuters:
Obama warns of U.S. action as jihadists push on Baghdad

Discussion: Daily Mail, TalkLeft and Mediaite

Politico:
GOP on Iraq: We told you so

Discussion: New York Times, Hullabaloo, Independent Journal Review, Fox News Insider, JustOneMinute, The Week and Business Insider

Washington Post:
The Middle East's mounting danger

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Gatestone Institute, New York Times, Betsy's Page, Israel Matzav and Power Line

Fazel Hawramy / Guardian:
Iraq army capitulates to Isis militants in four cities

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Telegraph, International Business Times, Business Insider, The Week, Spectator, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Independent Journal Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, BBC and Instapundit

Fred Kaplan / Slate:
After Mosul — If jihadists control Iraq, blame Nouri al-Maliki, not the United States.

Discussion: Guardian, Bloomberg, American Spectator, Informed Comment and The Dish

Dexter Filkins / News Desk:
In Extremists' Iraq Rise, America's Legacy

Discussion: Politico, Gawker and New York Times

James M. Dubik / Washington Post:
U.S. must act to prevent extremists' victory in Iraq

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hot Air, Prairie Weather, Townhall.com and Guardian

New York Times:
Iraqi Kurds Take Oil City as Militants Push Forward

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Long War Journal, Obsidian Wings, The Week, Politico and Hullabaloo

David Brat / Salon:

Libertarians' scary, new guru: Why Dave Brat is no populist hero — Some on the left may see a kindred spirit — but here's why the man who beat Eric Cantor is anything but — Both the left and the right have found reasons to celebrate the upset of Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Tuesday's Virginia primary.

Discussion: Religion Dispatches, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, Grist, The BRAD BLOG and CANNONFIRE

Norm Ornstein / NY Daily News:

With Cantor's implosion and Brat's rise, get ready for an even more extreme Republican Party — The fight in today's GOP is now between hardline conservatives and radical nihilists — There are three key questions to ask and answer about House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's stunning primary defeat Tuesday night.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico and Washington Monthly

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

After Primary Upset, G.O.P. Fears Infighting Will Take a Toll — WASHINGTON — The sudden and decisive fall of the House majority leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, at the hands of a conservative primary opponent tore open divisions among Republicans on Wednesday, setting off a new wave of fear …

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, Prairie Weather, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Week and Wall Street Journal

David Frum / The Atlantic Online:

When Will Republican Leaders Fight Back? — Eric Cantor tried to appease Republican radicals. They turned on him anyway. — John Boehner has tried to resist them. They just overwhelmed him. — Mitt Romney tried to join them—and in doing so fastened onto his party the platform that lost the presidential election of 2012.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Frank Luntz / New York Times:
Republicans Couldn't Predict Eric Cantor's Loss

Discussion: Guardian, Democratic Strategist, Althouse and Politico

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Hensarling opts out of GOP race

Discussion: ABC News, Politico and American Spectator

Politico:
The GOP's post-Cantor immigration headache

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState, Sister Toldjah and Fox News

Byron Tau / Politico:
Why Eric Cantor chose Bobby Van's

Discussion: The Week, Taylor Marsh, Newsday, OpenSecrets.org and Washington Post

David R. Baker / San Francisco Chronicle:

In S.F., Rick Perry compares homosexuality to alcoholism — Texas Gov. Rick Perry, speaking in San Francisco on Wednesday night, said the U.S. would better serve its diverse population by letting the states handle many economic and social policies, a point he perhaps inadvertently drove home …

Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times:

Rick Perry shares the love with California, Hillary Clinton — Politics Now

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Metro Weekly, Grist and The Daily Caller

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Political Polarization in the American Public — How Increasing Ideological Uniformity and Partisan Antipathy Affect Politics, Compromise and Everyday Life — Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines - and partisan antipathy is deeper and more extensive - than at any point in the last two decades.

Discussion: American Prospect, Washington Post, Political Insider blog, Politico, Prairie Weather, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Bloomberg View, The Dish, The Democratic Daily and Hot Air

Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Polarization Is Dividing American Society, Not Just Politics

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Politico and The Other McCain

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:
Political Polarization in the American Public

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and The Huffington Post

Elon Musk / Tesla Motors:

All Our Patent Are Belong To You — Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Discussion: The Verge, The Daily Caller, Boing Boing, Re/code and The Week

Kevin Bohn / CNN:

Bush 41 jumps on his 90th birthday — Programming note: CNN will air “41ON41,” a film about President George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, based on interviews with 41 people who know him best, Sunday at 9 and 11 p.m. ET — (CNN) - Former President George H.W. Bush Thursday celebrated …

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway and ABC News

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
CNN/ORC Poll: Bush 43 now on par with Obama

Discussion: Politico and Gallup

Meghan Daum / Los Angeles Times:
Column Hillary Clinton's money trouble

Discussion: NewsBusters

Associated Press:
90-YEAR-OLD EX-PRESIDENT TO MAKE PARACHUTE JUMP

Discussion: Business Insider

Christopher Ketcham / The New Republic:

The Troubling Case of Chris Hedges — Pulitzer winner. Lefty hero. Plagiarist. — In early 2010, the editors at Harper's Magazine began reviewing a lengthy manuscript submitted by Chris Hedges, a former New York Times reporter. In the piece, Hedges had turned his eye to Camden …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Banter, National Review, susiemadrak.com and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Tony Plohetski / KVUE-TV:

Travis County prosecutor fired over remarks about juror — AUSTIN — A top Travis County felony prosecutor was fired Wednesday after comments he made about a juror during a recent court proceeding for a convicted killer about to go to trial on a related charge. — Travis County prosecutor fired over remarks about juror KVUE

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Raw Story

Damien McElroy / Telegraph:

Repent or die: al-Qaeda forces announce rules for Iraqi territory they now control — ISIS, the al-Qaeda group that has swept through northern Iraq, releases list of rules that citizens must live by: including ‘repent or die’ — The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham has set out a list …

Discussion: The Long War Journal

Richard Fernandez / Belmont Club:
The Day of Reckoning — Ernest Hemingway observed …

Discussion: AMERICAN DIGEST, neo-neocon and VodkaPundit

Farnaz Fassihi / Wall Street Journal:

Iran has deployed Revolutionary Guard forces to fight al Qaeda-inspired militants in Iraq, Iranian security sources said — Iran has deployed Revolutionary Guard forces to fight al Qaeda-inspired militants that have overrun a string of Iraqi cities and has helped Iraqi troops win back control …

Discussion: Hot Air, Business Insider, The Jawa Report, Blazing Cat Fur, The Week and National Review

NBC News:

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Heading Back to U.S. — Two senior defense officials say the freed Taliban prisoner will arrive at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio sometime after midnight.

Discussion: CNN, Guardian, Gawker, Liberaland, Weekly Standard, NPR and National Review

ThinkProgress:

Impoverished Mother Dies In Jail Cell Over Unpaid Fines For Her Kids Missing School — A housing unit at the Berks County Jail where Eileen DeNino died. — CREDIT: Berks County, PA — A mother of seven died in a Pennsylvania jail over the weekend while serving a two-day sentence.

Discussion: Associated Press and Reading Eagle