memeorandum: Trade promotion authority on its last legs (Nancy Pelosi/USA Today)

9:15 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, Mediaite, ABC News 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, The Federalist, Shot in the Dark, Althouse and Mashable

Randy Lewis / Los Angeles Times:

Neil Young: Donald Trump ‘not authorized’ to rock in the free world — Billionaire Donald Trump, a Republican, announced his bid for the presidency with Neil Young's “Rockin' in the Free World” blasting in the background, and once again a political candidate has associated himself with a rock star without the endorsement of said star.

Discussion: New York Daily News, Seven Days and The Week

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, NBC News, The Week and Ed Driscoll

Chris Good / ABC News:
Trump Says He'd ‘Win Easily’ If He Ran With Oprah

Discussion: Daily Mail and Washington Post

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, Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Mark Halperin / Bloomberg Business:
Donald Trump: An Announcement Like No Other

Discussion: Politico, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Hot Air, ABC News, Little Green Footballs, neo-neocon, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Moderate Voice

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, UT San Diego, Outside the Beltway 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

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, Washington Post, The Last Refuge, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Bob and Chez Show and Politico

Martin Matishak / The Hill:

Ex-Clinton aide didn't write Benghazi memos — Hillary Clinton's close adviser Sidney Blumenthal did not personally author or verify any of the memos he sent her about Libya or the Benghazi siege, according to the head of a House panel investigating the 2012 attacks.

Discussion: Hot Air, Bloomberg Business and New York Times

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

Discussion: Salon, The Huffington Post, BREITBART.COM, The BRAD BLOG, No More Mister Nice Blog, alicublog, NBC News, Hot Air, CNN, Washington Monthly, American Spectator 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 Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Warren Throckmorton, The Week, CNN, Vogue, ABC News and CBS Seattle

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

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

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 …

Gil Kaufman / MTV:

Meet The Valedictorian Who Turned Graduation Into A ‘Shake It Off’ Flashmob — Their parents had no idea what was coming. — The commencement speech arms race is no joke this year. It takes something pretty special to grab attention during a season when one valedictorian got …

Discussion: Ryan Seacrest and Fox News Insider

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

Paul Lewis / Guardian:

Senate passes torture ban despite Republican opposition — Despite 21 Republican senators rejecting push to prevent future administrations from enacting Bush-era CIA torture programs, bipartisan amendment passes — More than 20 Republican senators rejected a ban on the use of cruel …

Discussion: LewRockwell, Shakesville, Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress and The Agonist

Politico:
GOP rife with tensions over Obamacare-SCOTUS response

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, PoliticusUSA, US News and Talking Points Memo

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

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 …

Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg Business:

Hillary Clinton to Pitch Apprenticeships, But Not the Trump Kind — Hillary Clinton will call Wednesday for new tax credits for businesses that hire apprentices, drawing on a bipartisan idea for boosting on-the-job training. — Clinton will pitch a $1,500-per-apprentice tax credit during …

Discussion: Politico

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