memeorandum: The Florida Ties Behind Jeb Bush's Rise (Wall Street Journal)

8:20 AM ET, June 17, 2015

Top Items:

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Neil Young to Donald Trump: Don't Rock in My Free World — The rocker also endorses Bernie Sanders. — When Donald Trump strode on to the stage at Trump Tower on Tuesday to announce that he would enter the Republican race for president, a rock and roll anthem blared: Neil Young's “Rockin' in the Free World.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABC News, Mediaite and Raw Story

Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:

Witless Ape Rides Escalator — Donald Trump is in the race. — Donald Trump may be the man America needs. Having been through four bankruptcies, the ridiculous buffoon with the worst taste since Caligula is uniquely positioned to lead the most indebted organization in the history of the human race.

Discussion: Raw Story, Politico, Shot in the Dark, The Federalist, Althouse and Mashable

P. J. O'Rourke / The Daily Beast:

Garish Tastes, Awful Hair: Donald Trump Is America — He's the king of bad taste in a country that loves bad taste. And all the candidates (him included) are pygmies anyway. Go, Donald! — Who are these jacklegs, highbinders, wirepullers, mountebanks, swellheads, buncombe spigots …

Discussion: RedState, McClatchy Washington Bureau, NBC News, The Week and Ed Driscoll

Randy Lewis / Los Angeles Times:
Neil Young: Donald Trump ‘not authorized’ to rock in the free world

Discussion: The Week

Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Pushing Someone Rich, Donald Trump Offers Himself

Discussion: Daily Kos, UT San Diego, Outside the Beltway and Politico

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:
Why Donald Trump Isn't A Real Candidate, In One Chart

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Hinterland Gazette, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Slantpoint, Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Esther Yu-Hsi Lee / ThinkProgress: Watch Donald Trump Go Full Nativist In Presidential Campaign Launch

Tim Hanrahan / Wall Street Journal:
Why Donald Trump Is Important, in One Chart

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post and Hot Air

Martin Matishak / The Hill:

Issa escorted out of Benghazi deposition — Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) tried to crash former Hillary Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal's deposition before the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Tuesday. — Issa marched into the closed-door deposition …

Discussion: CNN, Balloon Juice, The Last Refuge, Washington Post, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Bob and Chez Show and Politico

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Blumenthal says he didn't write Libya intel he sent Clinton — Sidney Blumenthal did not write or know the source of any of the Libya intelligence he passed on to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Blumenthal told House Benghazi investigators on Tuesday, according to sources in the room.

Discussion: Vox, The Last Refuge and Washington Post

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
Donald Trump Elbows His Way into the Republican Clown Car

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Salon, BREITBART.COM, The BRAD BLOG, No More Mister Nice Blog, NBC News, alicublog, CNN, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg Business and Hullabaloo

Camille Gear Rich / CNN:

Rachel Dolezal has a right to be black — NAACP official's race questioned 5 photos — Rachel Dolezal, 37, is the head of the local chapter of the NAACP and has identified herself as African-American. But her Montana birth certificate says she was born to two people who say they are Caucasian.

Discussion: New York Times

Tamara Winfrey Harris / New York Times:
Black Like Who? Rachel Dolezal's Harmful Masquerade

Discussion: Slantpoint and Althouse

Erin McClam / NBC News:
‘I Definitely Am Not White’: Rachel Dolezal Breaks Silence

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Raw Story, Advocate, The Week, The Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Warren Throckmorton, CNN, Vogue, ABC News and CBS Seattle

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar / TIME:
Let Rachel Dolezal Be as Black as She Wants to Be

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, bet.com and Washington Post

Margaret Talev / Bloomberg Business:

Rubio, Bush, Paul Are Clinton's Top Opponents in Swing-States Poll — The findings may ramp up the rivalry between two Florida sons, Bush and Rubio. — t margarettalev — Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Rand Paul are leading the Republican pack as most electable against Democrat Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire and Naked Politics

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Walker, Bush, Rubio lead GOP field; Clinton Still Dominant — PPP's newest national Republican poll continues to find a bunched up race at the top. Scott Walker leads with 17% to 15% for Jeb Bush, 13% for Marco Rubio, 12% for Ben Carson, 11% for Mike Huckabee, 8% for Ted Cruz and Rand Paul …

Discussion: Political Wire, The Nation, Fox News, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Mark Schultz / Raleigh News & Observer:

Teacher, vice principal resign over gay fable — Teacher Omar Currie reads a copy of a complaint a parent filed after he read the book 'King & King" to his third grade students at Efland-Cheeks Elementary School. The school has upheld the use of the book, but a parent has appealed the superintendent.

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Associated Press, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate Dems give GOP 45-day highway deadline — Senate Democrats are giving Republicans 45 days to negotiate a long-term highway funding extension. — And while they aren't ruling out supporting another short-term fix when funding runs out at the end of July, they suggest it will be difficult …

Bjorn Lomborg / USA Today:

What Pope Francis should do to really help the poor: Bjorn Lomborg — How can we best aid the world's most vulnerable? — Pope Francis's concern for the poor is clear, so it is understandable that climate change is the topic of his forthcoming Encyclical — a Papal letter that is sent out to the world.

Discussion: American Thinker, Power Line and EcoWatch

Wall Street Journal:

The Florida Ties Behind Jeb Bush's Rise — Venturing out to make his name, Bush scion tapped the family network in business, politics — Jeb Bush came to Miami in 1980, stumping for his father's presidential bid and contemplating his own future. — The co-chairman of George H.W. Bush's campaign …

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Jeb Bush knocks Pope on climate change push — He makes a little news during his foray into New Hampshire. — DERRY, N.H. — A day after pledging to run, and run hard, in every state, Jeb Bush started off with the relatively easy road through New Hampshire on Tuesday.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business

Kathleen Parker / Washington Post:

What I learned from covering the Bushes for more than 30 years — If anyone should be feeling an overwhelming sense of Groundhog Day this presidential election, c'est moi. — Frankly, I've been covering Bushes for so long, I feel like I ought to be parachuting out of airplanes.

Discussion: Progress Pond

Brian Murphy / Talking Points Memo:

With Eye on Fiscal Armageddon, Texas Set to ‘Repatriate’ Its Gold To New Texas Fort Knox — Texas wants its gold back. — On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation that will create a state-run gold depository in the Lone Star State - one that will attempt to rival those operated …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Raw Story, SchiffGold.com, Mises Institute, The Bob and Chez Show and Discourse.net

Cory Bennett / The Hill:

Oversight chair wants officials fired over hack — House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) called on President Obama to fire at least two top officials from the embattled Office of Personnel Management (OPM) over their role in the massive data breach that has rattled the government.