memeorandum: For accused killer Dylann Roof, a life that had quietly drifted off track (Washington Post)

10:35 AM ET, June 19, 2015

Top Items:

Ed Payne / CNN:

Charleston church shooting: Questions swirl around suspect Dylann Roof — Dylann Roof has confessed to authorities to shooting and killing nine people this week at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, two law enforcement officials said Friday.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Telegraph, Guardian, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Daily Mail, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Balloon Juice and The Week

ABC News:

Shooting Suspect ‘Big Into Segregation,’ Roommate Says — Dylann Roof, the alleged gunman authorities say is responsible for killing nine people in a predominantly black Charleston, South Carolina, church Wednesday night, had been “planning something like that for six months,” according to his roommate.

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic:

Take Down the Confederate Flag—Now — Last night, Dylann Roof walked into a Charleston church, sat for an hour, and then killed nine people. Roof's crime cannot be divorced from the ideology of white supremacy which long animated his state nor from its potent symbol—the Confederate flag.

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Newsweek, The State, Vox, Common Dreams, No More Mister Nice Blog, BBC, Jezebel, Guardian, Balloon Juice, WIS-TV, Hinterland Gazette, The Moderate Voice, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Huffington Post

Washington Post:

For accused killer Dylann Roof, a life that had quietly drifted off track — GASTON, S.C. — Dylann Roof grew up in this rural town on the distant fringe of South Carolina's state capital, a quiet, shy boy who mostly kept to himself. He didn't get into trouble. He didn't especially stand out.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Shakesville and CBS Atlanta

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:

Dylann Roof Had Confederate Plates. Here's Why the Rebel Flag Still Flies in South Carolina. — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will almost certainly order flags across the state to be flown at half-mast this week in honor of the black parishioners murdered Wednesday night at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

Discussion: Slate, NBC News, Washington Post, USA Today, The Week, Portside, Big Think, Telegraph, ABC News, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast and New York Times

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:

Lindsey Graham: Charleston Shooter May Have Been ‘Looking for Christians to Kill’ — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) just happened to be scheduled to appear on The View Thursday morning. But because of the deadly mass shooting at a black church in his home state last night …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, CANNONFIRE, Booman Tribune, AMERICAblog News, Informed Comment, ABC News, The Huffington Post, Hullabaloo and No More Mister Nice Blog

Post and Courier:

Despite mourning, statehouse Confederate battle flag remains at full staff — The Confederate flag flying at the Statehouse in Columbia became part of the Charleston church shooting story Thursday after the U.S. and South Carolina flags were lowered in mourning but the rebel banner was left flying at its full height.

Discussion: New Yorker, Salon, PoliticusUSA, Political Insider blog, NBC News and Reuters

Henry Louis Gates Jr / New York Times:
Henry Louis Gates: If Clementa Pinckney Had Lived

Discussion: The Nation, Democratic Strategist, Business Insider and Slantpoint

Avianne Tan / ABC News:
Confederate Flag Flying on South Carolina Capitol Grounds Provokes Anger After Charleston Shooting

Discussion: 6abc.com and Political Wire

David Weigel / Bloomberg Business:
Rand Paul on Charleston Shooting: 'There's A Sickness in Our Country'

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Mediaite, Yahoo Politics, US News, Hit & Run, Bloomberg View and ABC News

David French / National Review:
South Carolina Suspect Caught, and the Politicization Begins

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Patterico's Pontifications and Questions and Observations

Emily Flitter / Reuters:
South Carolina church shooting suspect got gun for birthday, uncle says

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Slantpoint, The Daily Caller, Slate and WIS-TV

Wall Street Journal:
‘Loner’ Held in Charleston Church Killings

Discussion: ABC News, The Huffington Post, Crime and Consequences Blog and Media Diversified

CNN:
Who is the Charleston church shooting suspect?

Discussion: KFOR-TV, Telegraph, Washington Post, New York's PIX11, Vox, The Huffington Post, Trail Blazers Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Carimah Townes / ThinkProgress:
Fox And Friends Say More Guns Would Have Stopped The Charleston Church Massacre

Discussion: The Huffington Post, PoliticusUSA, CNN, Guardian, The Atlantic and Slantpoint

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Voodoo, Jeb! Style — On Monday Jeb Bush — or I guess that's Jeb!, since he seems to have decided to replace his family name with a punctuation mark — finally made his campaign for the White House official, and gave us a first view of his policy goals. First, he says that if elected …

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Operation Replace Jeb Bush — John Kasich is on a last-ditch mission to prove he can be the Republican establishment's dream candidate in 2016. — Getty — Sensing the window of opportunity is closing, John Kasich is on a last-minute dash across the country to convince party donors …

Discussion: Political Wire

The Hill:

A winning long-term strategy on the medical device tax — The special tax on medical devices, which was created under the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare, is public policy at its worst, but the solution is not the counterproductive immediate full repeal presently advancing through Congress.

Discussion: Hot Air and Daily Kos

Bloomberg Business:
Republican Plan to Continue Health Subsidies Would Gut Obamacare

Discussion: Daily Kos

The Hill:

House approves fast-track 218-208, sending bill to Senate — The House on Thursday took the first step toward resuscitating the White House's trade agenda by passing legislation granting President Obama fast-track authority. — The bill now goes to the Senate, where the White House …

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hit & Run, Common Dreams and Washington Post

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:
House Passes Fast-Track Trade Bill, but Senate Outcome Uncertain

Discussion: NPR and Hot Air

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Senate Passes, Then Blocks, Military Bill

Discussion: Politico

Jose A. DelReal / Washington Post:

Rick Santorum, reacting to Charleston shooting, denounces ‘assaults on our religious liberty’ — Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday called the tragic church shooting in Charleston, S.C. — which left nine people dead — a “crime of hate” and connected the event to a broader “assault on our religious liberty.”

Discussion: The Reaction, Political Wire, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Brendan James / Talking Points Memo:
Santorum Calls Charleston Shooting ‘Assault On Religious Liberty’

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, WESH-TV, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, USA Today, Esquire, Associated Press, Raw Story, CNN, Slate, WCSC-TV and CBS Atlanta

Dylan Stableford / Yahoo! News:
Charleston church shooting: 9 killed; suspect in custody

Discussion: TalkLeft

Zahira Torres / Los Angeles Times:

Nationally recognized teacher removed from class after allegations of misconduct — Attorneys for a nationally recognized Los Angeles Unified teacher, who was removed from his classroom after allegations of misconduct, are issuing an ultimatum to district administrators: publicly apologize and let him return to work, or get sued.

Discussion: Hit & Run

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Benghazi investigators ponder: Is State Dept lying, or is Hillary? — House Select Committee on BenghaziChairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. speaks to reporters before a closed door meeting in the House Visitors Center at the U.S. Capitol June 16, 2015 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Discussion: Betsy's Page