memeorandum: Polish foreign minister says country's alliance with US worthless (Guardian)

9:15 AM ET, June 23, 2014

Top Items:

Iraqi military facing ‘psychological collapse’ after losses, desertions — Iraqis prepare to fight militants — After militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took Mosul and other Iraqi cities, the government issued a call for volunteers to join the army. Many Iraqis answered.

Discussion: Guardian and Eschaton

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

Kerry in Baghdad to Urge Iraqis to Form New, Inclusive Government — BAGHDAD — Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad on Monday morning to urge the Iraqis to bridge their sectarian differences and form a new, inclusive government. — Mr. Kerry plans to meet …

Discussion: Washington Post and The Week

New York Times:

Iraq's Military Seen as Unlikely to Turn the Tide — BAGHDAD — As Iraqi Army forces try to rally on the outskirts of Baghdad after two weeks of retreat, it has become increasingly clear to Western officials that the army will continue to suffer losses in its fight with Sunni militants and will not soon retake the ground it has ceded.

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Week and American Power

Justin Sink / The Hill: Kerry in Iraq to rally factions

Alissa J. Rubin / New York Times:
Militants Take Major Border Post; Kerry Hints U.S. Is Open to a New Premier

Discussion: The Other McCain, Associated Press and Business Insider

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
Kerry Hints That U.S. Would Support New Leader for Iraq

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Liberaland

Hunter Walker / Business Insider:

Hillary Clinton Says She Isn't ‘Truly Well Off’ — Hillary Clinton's multimillion dollar fortune has caused some negative headlines during the media tour for the release of her new book “Hard Choices,” which is widely seen as a prelude to a potential 2016 presidential campaign.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers and The Right Scoop

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Some Democrats fear Clinton's wealth and ‘imperial image’ could be damaging in 2016

Discussion: ABC News, Weasel Zippers, Betsy's Page, Hot Air and Mediaite

Edward Klein / New York Post:
Clinton bristled at Benghazi deception: book

Discussion: Althouse, NO QUARTER USA NET, Weasel Zippers, CANNONFIRE and No More Mister Nice Blog

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Sotomayor on Clinton and Costco

Discussion: CNN

Philip Rucker / Washington Post: Hillary Clinton says she's unlike the ‘truly well off’

Ed Pilkington / Observer:
Hillary Clinton interview: will she or won't she run for president in 2016?

Discussion: CNN, RedState, Washington Post, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, OnPolitics, Mediaite, Politico, The Week and Fox News

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Conservatives and Climate Change — On Sunday Henry Paulson, the former Treasury secretary and a lifelong Republican, had an Op-Ed article about climate policy in The New York Times. In the article, he declared that man-made climate change is “the challenge of our time,” …

Discussion: Marginal REVOLUTION, naked capitalism, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers and Power Line

Elliott Abrams / Politico:

The Man Who Broke the Middle East — There's always Tunisia. Amid the smoking ruins of the Middle East, there is that one encouraging success story. But unfortunately for the Obama narratives, the president had about as much as to do with Tunisia's turn toward democracy as he did with the World Cup rankings.

Discussion: Instapundit

David Tovar / Walmart Corporate:

Fact Check: The New York Times “The Corporate Daddy” — We saw this article in The New York Times and couldn't overlook how wildly inaccurate it is, so we had some fun with it. I hope you will too. — Here are the links we mentioned in our edits: — 1. Associate story re …

Discussion: AEIdeas and The Daily Caller

Jedediah Purdy / The Daily Beast:

God Save the United States From This Anti-Democratic Court — Operating on elitism and mystique, America's highest court is increasingly a threat to our ideal of self-government—leading to an important debate about how to fix it. — Should a self-respecting democracy have a Supreme Court like ours …

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:

QUESTIONS MOUNT ABOUT EFFORT TO DRIVE DEMOCRAT VOTES FOR COCHRAN — CLEVELAND, Mississippi — “I still think the slaves should get their 40 acres and a mule,” LeeRoy Carter, a black preacher who's working to get out the vote among black Democrats for Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) for the GOP primary runoff, told Breitbart News on Thursday.

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Caller and Election Law Blog

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Egyptian Court Convicts 3 Al Jazeera Journalists — CAIRO — A judge on Monday convicted three journalists of conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood to broadcast false reports of civil strife in Egypt. — Two of the journalists were sentenced to seven years in prison, and the third was given 10 years …

Discussion: Guardian, The Week, Gawker, Outside the Beltway and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:

Welcome to Dave Brat's America: Majority Leader-elect Kevin McCarthy says Kill the Export-Import Bank — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL ECONOMY KEVIN MCCARTHY CORPORATE WELFARE CRONYISM EXPORT IMPORT BANK DAVE BRAT — House Majority Leader-elect Kevin McCarthy says Congress should let the Export-Import Bank expire …

Discussion: Moe Lane

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:

THE ABSOLUTIST … - ARCHIVE - WORLD CUP - DAILY COMMENT - AMY DAVIDSON - ANDY BOROWITZ - JOHN CASSIDY - MARIA KONNIKOVA - RICHARD BRODY - SHOP

Discussion: Business Insider

Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge:

Judge Who Sentenced Saddam Hussein To Death Has Been Executed By ISIS, Local Media Reports — Back in 2006, after the second US invasion of Iraq culminated if not with the discovery of the WMDs (which were the pretext for the invasion in the first place), but the unearthing (literally) …