memeorandum: QUESTIONS MOUNT ABOUT EFFORT TO DRIVE DEMOCRAT VOTES FOR COCHRAN (Matthew Boyle/BREITBART.COM)

10:50 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: Firedoglake, Hullabaloo and Eschaton

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

Dexter Filkins / New Yorker:
CHOICES AT THE TOP — President Obama won the White House …

Discussion: Fox News

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
Kerry in Baghdad to Urge Iraqis to Form New, Inclusive Government

Discussion: Washington Post and The Week

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

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: Washington Monthly, Chism Strategies and The Daily Caller

Ben Terris / Washington Post:

In Mississippi, Jenny Beth Martin and Tea Party Patriots try to prove their worth — Never mind that it's 92 degrees and nearing the end of the day: Jenny Beth Martin has started jogging between houses. — “I've gotta get my steps,” she calls back to the rented Suburban with the Florida license plates …

Discussion: New York Times and Mediaite

New York Times:

Conservatives Plan to Use Poll Watchers in Mississippi — WASHINGTON — As Senator Thad Cochran, the veteran Republican, fights for his political life in Mississippi by taking the unexpected step of courting black Democrats, conservative organizations working to defeat him are planning …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Insider blog and Gawker

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Here are the 12 most competitive Senate races in the country

Discussion: Hot Air

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: Gawker, AMERICAblog News, Bloomberg View, Marginal REVOLUTION, naked capitalism, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and Weasel Zippers

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 …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy may be the middleman in the gun-rights debate

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and SCOTUSblog

Abby W. Schachter / Greensburg Tribune-Review:

Your bedroom instead of a dorm room — President Obama gets points for properly assessing the problem with student loan debt. He acknowledges that too many students earning a bachelor's degree (71 percent) graduate with debt that is so burdensome (averaging $29,400) that many delay important milestones …

Discussion: Moe Lane

Drudge Report:

BOOK: HILLARY HAS BAD HEART — A new provocative work by bestselling author Ed Klein claims Hillary Clinton's health problems are much more severe than she has publicly revealed! — “She had managed to keep her medical history secret out of fear that, should it become public …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Ed Driscoll, Power Line and New York Post

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

Discussion: Fox News, Balloon Juice, Fox News Insider, Althouse, Weasel Zippers, NO QUARTER USA NET, CANNONFIRE and No More Mister Nice Blog

Patrick Kingsley / Guardian:

Al-Jazeera journalists jailed for seven years in Egypt — Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed of Al-Jazeera English sentenced on terrorism-related charges — An Egyptian court has convicted three journalists from Al-Jazeera English and sentenced them to seven years in prison each …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Al Jazeera English, Amnesty International and US Department of State, more at Mediagazer »

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Egyptian Court Convicts 3 Al Jazeera Journalists

Discussion: The Week, Gawker, Outside the Beltway, Poynter and Reuters

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

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: Independent Journal Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Right Scoop, Observer, The Week and Fox News

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

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

Discussion: The Daily Caller, RedState, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics and Politico

CBS News:

Poll: Many Americans wary of U.S. role in Iraq — Shares - — NEW YORK — Fifty percent of Americans think the U.S. doesn't have a responsibility to do something about the recent violence in Iraq, while fewer - 42 percent — think the U.S. does, a CBS News/New York Times poll reveals.

Discussion: Politico

Kristen Mitchell / The Columbus Dispatch:

Abortion battles may increase in Ohio — Anti-abortion-rights activists in Ohio are working on a legislative agenda for 2015 that could continue to chip away at access to abortion. — Already this year, one clinic is in danger of closing because of a provision in last year's budget and three others face the same outcome.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

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: The Daily Caller and AEIdeas

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