memeorandum: ‘The Past Is Never Dead,’ Bill Faulkner Told Us—but He Didn't Know About the Iraq War (James Fallows/The Atlantic Online)

11:00 AM ET, June 18, 2014

Top Items:

The Collapsing Obama Doctrine — Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. — As the terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) threaten Baghdad, thousands of slaughtered Iraqis in their wake, it is worth recalling a few …

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Rules Out Iraq Airstrikes for Now

Discussion: Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Business Insider, Lawfare, Weasel Zippers, Fox News and Politico

New York Times:
Obama Is Said to Consider Selective Airstrikes on Sunni Militants

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite and Politico

Rod Nordland / New York Times:
Extremists Said to Take Control of Iraq's Biggest Oil Refinery

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Gawker and National Review

Lawrence Wright / News Desk: ISIS's Savage Strategy in Iraq

Mark Murray / NBC News:

NBC/WSJ Poll: Obama's Foreign Policy Rating Plummets, Even Without Iraq — And respondents are evenly divided if the details of Bergdahl's disappearance from his base in Afghanistan matter in the U.S. decision to secure his release: 47 percent say the details matter, while 46 percent say they don't.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and Business Insider

Wall Street Journal:

Poll Shows Erosion in President's Support — As clouds gather abroad, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds Mr. Obama's job approval rating at 41%, matching a previous low.

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Independent Journal Review and Washington Free Beacon

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

Ted Cruz says he'd never heard of Peter King — Rep. Peter King? Never heard of him, Sen. Ted Cruz says. — The Texas senator says he had never heard of the New York Republican who has repeatedly and harshly attacked him until recently. — “I don't know Mr. King,” Cruz, a Texas Republican, said on CNN on Tuesday evening.

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Apprehension of Ahmed Abu Khattala May Begin to Answer Questions on Assault — CAIRO — Ahmed Abu Khattala was always open about his animosity toward the United States, and even about his conviction that the Muslims and Christians were locked in an intractable religious war.

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:

Fox's Bret Baier Relentlessly Hammers Hillary Clinton on Benghazi — Fox News' Bret Baier kicked off Tuesday's joint interview with Hillary Clinton by grilling on the details of the 2012 attack in Benghazi and did not let up eight solid minutes. Beginning with today's news about the capture …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Huffington Post

Kendall Breitman / Politico:

Karl Rove: Bill Clinton revealed Hillary Clinton's health — Karl Rove is continuing to raise questions about Hillary Clinton's health and says Bill Clinton is the one who revealed new details about the extent of her lengthy recovery. — “She has a problem with the fact …

Washington Post:
Too many questions remain about Benghazi attacks, Hillary Clinton says

Discussion: Power Line and Hot Air

Fox News:
Clinton claims she had doubts about video explanation after Benghazi strike

Discussion: CNN, Guardian, Power Line, National Review and Washington Free Beacon

Dan Merica / CNN:
What we heard from Clinton

Discussion: Althouse, Taylor Marsh and Mashable

BBC:
US seizes Benghazi raid ‘ringleader’ Ahmed Abu Khattala

Discussion: The Daily Beast, National Review, Sic Semper Tyrannis and The Raw Story

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
The Benghazi suspect: What's next

Discussion: Lawfare, New York Times, Balkinization, No More Mister Nice Blog and Allen B. West

ThinkProgress:

In Landmark Decision, U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team — The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled six federal trademark registrations for the name of the Washington Redskins, ruling that the name is “disparaging to Native Americans” …

Discussion: Mediaite, SBNation.com, Mashable, Daily Kos and The Week

Theresa Vargas / Washington Post:

U.S. patent office cancels Redskins trademark registration, says name is disparaging — The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, calling the football team's name “disparaging to Native Americans.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, Patterico's Pontifications and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / USA Today:

Obama's double asterisks on IRS: Column — First, we found out agency was targeting Tea Party. Now IRS emails are missing. Cover-up? — I guess it's time to award President Obama a second asterisk. When charges came out that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups for harassment …

Discussion: TaxProf Blog, NewsBusters, Vox Popoli and Sister Toldjah

Theodore Schleifer / New York Times: Lawmakers Skeptical on Emails and I.R.S.

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

‘The Past Is Never Dead,’ Bill Faulkner Told Us—but He Didn't Know About the Iraq War — If you're anything like me, when you hear the words “wise insights about the Iraq war,” two names that immediately come to mind are Paul Wolfowitz and Scooter Libby. — Fortunately the Hertog Institute …

Discussion: The Dish, Washington Post, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, American Power and Salon

James Poulos / The Daily Beast:

Paging Rose Mary Woods: Obama's Unbelievable Missing IRS Emails — The IRS scandal's back, with Lois Lerner mislaying two years of communiqués—just like Nixon's secretary and her erased tapes. But the presidential characters couldn't be more different.

Discussion: The Daily Signal and Hit & Run

Wall Street Journal: A Tale of Two Scandals — Forty-one years ago, during a small …

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

The Conundrum of a Unified Iraq and a Unified Syria — There is much talk right now about America teaming up with Iran to push back the coalition of Sunni militias that has taken over Mosul and other Sunni towns in western Iraq and Syria. For now, I'd say stay out of this fight …

Russell Berman / The Hill:

Pennsylvania GOP struggles to wield clout in leadership race — With 13 Republican members, the Pennsylvania House delegation is now the fourth largest in the GOP conference, and it is trying to exert its clout by voting as a bloc in Thursday's leadership elections.

Discussion: Politico