memeorandum: Black lawmakers want DOJ to investigate St. Louis police (Rebecca Shabad/The Hill)

2:05 PM ET, August 12, 2014

Top Items:

Exclusive: Obama Told Lawmakers Criticism of His Syria Policy is ‘Horsesh*t’ — Hillary Clinton and Congressmen alike have called on Obama to arm Syria's rebels. But the President fumed at lawmakers in a private meeting for suggesting he should've done more.

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

David Axelrod swipes at Hillary Clinton over Iraq — David Axelrod, the longtime top adviser to President Barack Obama, has taken to Twitter to slam Hillary Clinton in the wake of her comments rejecting the core of the Obama administration's self-described foreign policy principle.

Discussion: National Review

Megan McArdle / Bloomberg View:

When Obama Beat Hillary, We All Lost — For journalists, the dog days of August are the worst. Nothing happens because Congress and the rest of you are all on vacation. So now is the time for whatever quirky column has been niggling at the back of one's mind, waiting for a break in the news cycle.

Discussion: Instapundit and Booman Tribune

Jim Acosta / CNN:

After criticism of Obama policy, Hillary Clinton to party with President — Edgartown, Mass. (CNN) — Only days after offering a stinging rebuke of President Barack Obama's foreign policy, Hillary Clinton plans to attend a party in Martha's Vineyard alongside the President on Wednesday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Politico

Joe Concha / Mediaite:
Concha: From ISIS to Health Care, Hillary's Media Allies Rewriting History

Discussion: Hot Air, Speaker.gov and Politico

Trymaine Lee / msnbc.com:

Eyewitness to Michael Brown shooting recounts his friend's death — FERGUSON, Missouri — The last moments of Michael Brown's life were filled with shock, fear and terror, says a witness who stood just feet away as a police officer shot and killed the unarmed teen.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, PoliticusUSA, The Daily Banter, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, KMOV-TV, NBC News, Gawker and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:
Black lawmakers want DOJ to investigate St. Louis police

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Last Refuge

Wesley Lowery / Washington Post:
Police use tear gas on crowd in Ferguson, Mo., protesting teen's death

Discussion: The Daily Banter, Daily Kos, Feministing and Jezebel

James Hamblin / The Atlantic Online:

Robin Williams Lived Intensely — Robin Williams is dead at 63. The comedian carried insecurity and self-doubt with contagious intensity. He was so grandiose and wild that it would've irritated audiences to their cores had his eyes not betrayed an insatiable melancholy, imploring, please, I just want to be liked.

Discussion: Guardian, CNN and The Daily Banter

A. O. Scott / New York Times:

Robin Williams, an Improvisational Genius, Forever Present in the Moment — Some years ago, at a party at the Cannes Film Festival, I was leaning against a rail watching a fireworks display when I heard a familiar voice behind me. Or rather, at least a dozen voices, punctuating …

Discussion: The Great Debate and BillMoyers.com

Los Angeles Times:
Robin Williams dies in apparent suicide; actor, comic was 63

Discussion: Slate, PoliticusUSA, The Democratic Daily, CBS New York, Hollywood Reporter, WPRI-TV, Taylor Marsh, American Spectator, Inside Movies, Outside the Beltway and Daily Kos

Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:
Robin Williams, Oscar-Winning Comedian, Dies at 63 in Suspected Suicide

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The White House, Guardian, Capital New York, White House.gov Blog, The Verge, TVNewser and Shakesville

TMZ.com:
Robin Williams Dead — Commits Suicide

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Urban Daily, Western Journalism and Mashable

Steve Martin / Fox News:
Robin Williams dead at 63 in suspected suicide

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and protein wisdom

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Was an Accusation of Plagiarism Really a Political Attack? — There aren't too many worse things you can suggest about an author than that his or her work is plagiarized. It's the book-world equivalent of spreading the word that a financial adviser has cooked the books or that the parish priest has designs on the altar boys.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Hullabaloo and The Dish

Arthur Macmillan / Agence France-Presse:

Iran congratulates Iraq's PM pick, snubs Maliki AFP 1 hr ago — Tehran (AFP) - Iran officially ended its long-time allegiance to Iraq's sidelined Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday, swinging its support behind newly designated premier Haidar al-Abadi in a congratulatory message.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The PJ Tatler

New York Times:
Iraq Needs a New Prime Minister

Discussion: ThinkProgress, National Review, Foreign Policy, Institute for the Study of War and Outside the Beltway

Loveday Morris / Washington Post:
Iraqi president names Haider al-Abadi new prime minister, defying Maliki

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, Firedoglake, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler and Balkinization

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: Inside Obama's Push for Regime Change in Iraq

Discussion: The Dish, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Fox News and The Hill

New York Times:

Times Reporter Is Injured in Iraq Helicopter Crash — ERBIL, Iraq — A helicopter carrying aid from Iraq's Kurdish autonomous government to stranded Yazidi refugees in the Sinjar mountains of northern Iraq crashed on Tuesday, killing the pilot and injuring other passengers …

Discussion: Politico, Gawker, Business Insider, Mashable, Twitchy and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:

David Gregory's flight to nowhere — David Gregory wasn't supposed to host “Meet The Press” on Sunday. He was on a planned vacation in Nantucket, where, the night before, he had hosted a special presentation of the Boston Pops, sponsored by Coastal Living and Real Simple.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Power Line, TVNewser, Hot Air, National Review, NY Daily News and The Moderate Voice

Anita Kumar / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Obama's standing among voters is hurting Democrats, poll finds — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is dragging down his party and hurting the prospects of fellow Democrats as they head into midterm elections that will determine who controls Congress, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Obama's Immigration Plan Should Scare Liberals, Too

Discussion: Hot Air and No More Mister Nice Blog

Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary — Technical information: (202) 691-5870 • www.bls.gov/jlt Media contact: (202) 691-5902 JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER - JUNE 2014 — There were 4.7 million job openings on the last business day of June, little changed from 4.6 million in May …

Discussion: Economic Policy Institute, Capitol Report, Campaign for America's Future and Calculated Risk

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Dana Milbank: Obama vacations as the world burns — President Obama must really be teed off. — Hillary Rodham Clinton, his once-loyal secretary of state and his likeliest successor, has gone rogue, criticizing his foreign policy as too timid. — Dana Milbank writes about political theater in the nation's capital.

Discussion: Althouse

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Koch-linked group cancels Michigan ads — A powerfully funded group backed by the conservative Koch brothers has canceled over a million dollars' worth of Michigan ads for the month of August, according to sources tracking the 2014 air war. — Freedom Partners, which had booked …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Rick Manning / The Hill:

More lost emails — When will Democrats have enough? — Twenty different Obama administration officials have lost or destroyed a portion of their email traffic. Email traffic that was, in some cases, under subpoena or in others requested as part of a larger inquiry into the conduct of the executive branch.