memeorandum: Volunteers flock to defend Baghdad as insurgents seize more Iraqi territory (Washington Post)

10:25 PM ET, June 13, 2014

Top Items:

On Iraq, let's ignore those who got it all wrong — At noon today, President Obama issued his first statement on the deteriorating situation on Iraq. “This is not solely or even primarily a military challenge,” he said. “The United States will do our part, but understand that ultimately it's …

Discussion: Daily Kos, American Prospect, The Daily Banter, AEIdeas, emptywheel, Weekly Standard, Politico, Hullabaloo, ABC News and New York Times

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

McCain Iraq interview gets heated — Sen. John McCain continued his blistering attack on President Barack Obama's handling of Iraq on Friday, again calling for his entire national security team to be replaced and saying his decisions have been very costly. — “The president wanted …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, ABC News, Daily Kos, ABC News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air and Shakesville

Washington Post:

Volunteers flock to defend Baghdad as insurgents seize more Iraqi territory — IRBIL, Iraq — Shiite clerics called on Iraqi civilians Friday to take up arms against advancing Sunni insurgents inspired by al-Qaeda, drawing the battle lines for a major sectarian confrontation in the fracturing state.

Discussion: Business Insider, NPR, Reuters, Rational Irrationality, Booman Tribune, AEIdeas, New York Times, Committee to Protect …, Washington Monthly, Agence France-Presse, National Review and CNN

CNN:

Obama says no combat troops to Iraq; U.S. weighs airstrikes — Washington (CNN) — No troops to Iraq, but other options are being considered. — That was President Barack Obama's message Friday in response to the lightning advance by Sunni militant fighters in Iraq that could threaten …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Blazing Cat Fur, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Caller, Liberaland, Hot Air, The Lead with Jake Tapper, KFOR-TV, The Gateway Pundit and Slate

Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:
Who lost Iraq? The Iraqis did, with an assist from George W. Bush

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN, New York Times, The Dish, his vorpal sword, The Mahablog, The Week, National Review and The Daily Beast

Parisa Hafezi / Reuters:
Exclusive: Alarmed by Iraq, Iran open to shared role with U.S. - Iran official

Discussion: New York Times, Blazing Cat Fur, American Spectator, The Dish, JustOneMinute, Hot Air, Bloomberg View and Informed Comment

Washington Post:
Transcript: President Obama's remarks on the crisis in Iraq

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, National Review and TalkLeft

Paul Lewis / Guardian:
Obama ‘urgently’ considering air assault on targets in Syria and Iraq

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast and The Dish

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
U.S. won't intervene in Iraq in absence of political reform by Iraqis, Obama says

Discussion: Guardian, Little Green Footballs and Weekly Standard

New York Times:
Prime Minister Maliki Panics as Insurgents Gain

Discussion: Washington Post, Slate, The Long War Journal, Firedoglake, Politico, Hit & Run, Daily Kos and Washington Free Beacon

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Says He Will Decide on Military Support for Iraq in ‘Days Ahead’

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Politico and JustOneMinute

CNN: Iran sends forces to Iraq as ISIS militants press forward, official says

Fazel Hawramy / Guardian:
Kurdish peshmerga seize a chaotic victory in Kirkuk

Discussion: Business Insider, The Dish and RedState

Brian Umana / Washington Post:

I'm a Democrat and I helped the tea party unseat Eric Cantor — People are baffled today that Rep. Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, lost his job when he lost his GOP primary Tuesday night. A common refrain is, how could this have happened? (Sample headline: “Why Did Cantor Lose?

Discussion: TheBlaze.com

Kyle Rothenberg / Fox News:
Cochran campaign says senator just joking when claimed ignorance of Cantor loss

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Washington Monthly, The Week, WJTV and MSNewsNow.com

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:
THAD COCHRAN: I GREW UP DOING ‘ALL KINDS OF INDECENT THINGS WITH ANIMALS’

Discussion: New York Times, The Other McCain, Liberaland, The Week, Riehl World News and The Daily Caller

Kevin Bohn / CNN:
First on CNN: Chamber mounting new effort for embattled Cochran

Discussion: Washington Post

New York Times:
David Brat and Jack Trammell show unease in the spotlight

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Post

Geoff Pender / The Clarion-Ledger:
Cochran ‘indecent things with animals’ creates buzz

Discussion: Doug Ross, Liberaland, The Raw Story, Hinterland Gazette, Riehl World News, BuzzFeed, PoliticusUSA and Hot Air

waysandmeans.house.gov:

IRS Claims to Have Lost Over 2 Years of Lerner Emails — f t # e — Washington, DC - Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement regarding the Internal Revenue Service informing the Committee that they have lost Lois Lerner emails from a period of January 2009 - April 2011.

Discussion: Associated Press, Power Line, Washington Free Beacon, Ed Driscoll, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal and NewsBusters

Patrick Howley / The Daily Caller:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claimed Friday that it cannot produce Lois Lerner's emails to and from the White House and other administration departments due to a supposed computer crash. — The IRS previously agreed to hand over all of the ex-IRS official's emails from 2009 to 2011 …

Politico:

Chelsea Clinton paid $600K by NBC — Chelsea Clinton earned an annual salary of $600,000 at NBC News before switching to a month-to-month contract earlier this year, sources with knowledge of the agreement told POLITICO. — Clinton, who joined NBC News as a “special correspondent” …

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Hillary Clinton: ‘Liberating’ to speak my mind — Hillary Clinton said Friday that she's “totally done” curbing her speech for political reasons and finds her new perspective “liberating,” following a week of bruising headlines over missteps in her first round of interviews to promote her new book.

Discussion: CNN and Washington Post

Congressman Raul Labrador:

LABRADOR ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER — “I want a House Leadership that reflects the best of our Conference” — BOISE, ID - Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-ID) announced his candidacy today to serve as House Majority Leader. He released the following statement:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics, Daily Kos, The Daily Signal, Hot Air, Washington Post, The Week and National Review

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
The absurdity of electing Kevin McCarthy to replace Eric Cantor as House majority leader

Discussion: The New Republic, Hot Air, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, New York Times, RedState and Wall Street Journal

ABC News:
House GOP Conservative in Long-Shot Leadership Bid

Discussion: Politico and Outside the Beltway

JSOnline:

Scott Walker declines to define stand on gay marriage today — For years, Gov. Scott Walker has been a rock-solid proponent of traditional marriage between one man and one woman. — As Milwaukee County executive, he opposed efforts to provide health care benefits to the gay partners of county employees.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Althouse, Metro Weekly and Daily Kos

Todd Richmond / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Wisconsin attorney general: Prosecutors could charge clerks for issuing gay marriage licenses

Discussion: Atlas Left, JSOnline and Talking Points Memo

WSB-TV:

Police: Waffle House employee shoots, kills customer — FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Police say a Waffle House cook shot and killed a customer after an argument Friday morning. — Officers said they were called to the restaurant on Fulton Industrial Boulevard and Shirley Drive just after 4:30 a.m.

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Liberaland, Blazing Cat Fur, The Raw Story and WTVR-TV

Stephanie Simon / Politico:

The fall of teachers unions — As the two big national teachers unions prepare for their conventions this summer, they are struggling to navigate one of the most tumultuous moments in their history. — Long among the most powerful forces in American politics, the unions are contending …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Diane Ravitch's blog and New York Times

John Amato / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Alex Jones & Larry Pratt: Obama Training Military To Attack Tea Party — Conspiracy nut Alex Jones says the Obama administration has been hot on the heels of the Tea Party movement and will use tanks, drones and everything else to mount an attack on them. — Ever since the Bush administration …

Discussion: Liberaland and Right Wing Watch

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Hillary Clinton's Gay-Marriage Problem — Until 2013, she held a position that lots of Democratic voters now regard as deeply wrongheaded. Some even insist that it is hateful and bigoted. — Hillary Clinton didn't refrain from supporting same-sex marriage for political reasons-prior to last year …