memeorandum: U.S. to Evacuate Many Staff Members From Baghdad Embassy (New York Times)

6:50 PM ET, June 15, 2014

Top Items:

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

5 Principles for Iraq — THE disintegration of Iraq and Syria is upending an order that has defined the Middle East for a century. It is a huge event, and we as a country need to think very carefully about how to respond. Having just returned from Iraq two weeks ago …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

David Atkins / Washington Monthly:

The brutal neoconservative legacy in Iraq — When we take stock of American policy in Iraq and its effects over the last decade, reasonable and humane people tend to focus on the devastating toll in blood, treasure and reputation. Hundreds of thousands dead, even more injured …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Booman Tribune

Mark Townsend / Guardian:

Tony Blair: west must intervene in Iraq — Ex-PM says allies should consider military options short of sending troops after denying 2003 invasion led to Isis crisis — Tony Blair has urged western governments to recognise that it needs to take an active role in the Middle East …

Discussion: skippy the bush kangaroo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Week

The Office of Tony Blair:

Iraq, Syria and the Middle East - An essay by Tony Blair — The civil war in Syria with its attendant disintegration is having its predictable and malign effect. Iraq is now in mortal danger. The whole of the Middle East is under threat. — We will have to re-think our strategy towards Syria …

Discussion: Telegraph, Guardian, CANNONFIRE and Mediaite

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

How enthusiastic are Democrats about Clinton as nominee? — Washington (CNN) - Most Democrats say they'd support Hillary Clinton if she wins their party's nomination, but a new national survey indicates only a minority are excited about that prospect. — The CNN/ORC International poll released Sunday …

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette

Rick Klein / ABC News:

Five Stories You'll Care About In Politics This Week — It's choosing time: Did primary voters in Virginia deliver an earthquake or a tornado? Would you rather have a steak with Eric Cantor or a drink with Rick Perry? Is a race for House leadership more “House of Cards” or “Election”?

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Des Moines Register:

Last Slide — Rand Paul told Iowans today that change is needed before the GOP can win the next presidency. — “You guys have a strong force here,” he told the 1,400 delegates at the Republican state convention today, “but frankly the president won Iowa twice. So we can't do the same ole same old.”

Discussion: The Week

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Paul: Clinton not fit to be president

Discussion: BuzzFeed and PoliticusUSA

Dana Davidsen / CNN:
Cantor reflects on primary loss, says ‘of course’ he'll vote for Brat in November

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:

U.S. to Evacuate Many Staff Members From Baghdad Embassy — ERBIL, Iraq — The American Embassy in Baghdad plans to evacuate a substantial number of its personnel this week in the face of a militant advance that rapidly swept from the north toward the capital, the State Department announced on Sunday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Gawker, Mediaite and Guardian

Variety:

Casey Kasem, Shaggy on ‘Scooby-Doo,’ Voice of ‘American Top 40,’ Dies at 82 — Casey Kasem, the resonant voice of Top 40 radio and a vocal fixture on cartoon programs for the past 40 years, has died, according to his daughter. He was 82. — Kasem died Sunday of Lewy body disease, a common form of progressive dementia.

Discussion: New York Times, Scared Monkeys, his vorpal sword, Outside the Beltway, Liberal Values and The Verge

David Hinckley / NY Daily News:
Casey Kasem dead at 82

Discussion: Liberaland, The Huffington Post and BuzzFeed

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:

Eric Cantor loss gives Republicans chance to become people's party — REPUBLICAN PARTY CAMPAIGN FINANCE ERIC CANTOR WALL STREET DAVE BRAT — Eric Cantor's single largest source of campaign contributions was Blackstone Group, the high-rolling financial titan in Midtown Manhattan.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Times and Conservatives4Palin

New York Times:
A Cantor Effect for Businesses and the G.O.P.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Business Insider and Hot Air

Greg Miller / Washington Post:

U.S. officials scrambled to nab Snowden, hoping he would take a wrong step. He didn't. — While Edward Snowden was trapped in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport last year, U.S. officials were confronting their own dearth of options in the White House Situation Room.

Discussion: Business Insider, Prairie Weather and Althouse

James Hohmann / Politico:

Iowa GOP takeover: The implications for 2016 — DES MOINES, Iowa — Establishment forces officially wrested control of the Iowa Republican Party from supporters of Rand Paul on Saturday, a development the victors said would help save the state's first-in-the-nation presidential caucus …

Discussion: Independent Journal Review