memeorandum: Republicans Tread Carefully in Criticism of Confederate Flag (Jonathan Martin/New York Times)

8:40 PM ET, June 21, 2015

Top Items:

Bill Scher / Politico:

‘Liberal’ isn't a bad word anymore — Democrats are moving left. And America may be too. — Lead image by AP Photo. — Democrats have been running away from the “liberal” label for a long time, but recent polling shows that rank-and-file Democrats are increasingly happy to pin the scarlet “L” on themselves.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Washington Post

Kyle Smith / New York Post:

Democrats veer left then blast everyone else for being ‘right wing’ — Hillary Clinton knows she has more baggage than Newark Airport. She doesn't care, because she is counting on two strong forces to carry her to victory: Demographics and the leftward turn in American culture.

Discussion: TheMoneyIllusion

Frank Bruni / New York Times:
Gay Marriage's Moment

Discussion: LGBTQ Nation and Towleroad

Chuck Todd / NBC News:

Chuck Todd on the Gun Violence Video — We've gotten a lot of feedback about the gun video we showed on Meet the Press today. Some were upset it only featured African-American men talking about their regrets of pulling a trigger. All of the men in the piece volunteered to be a part …

Discussion: Raw Story and Firedoglake

Samantha Page / ThinkProgress:

‘Meet The Press’ Shows Anti-Gun Montage Of All Black Shooters Following South Carolina Rampage — While the country — and South Carolina, in particular — is once again debating racism in America, NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday offered a video of men in prison expressing regret for their own gun violence.

Discussion: Slantpoint, Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Republicans Tread Carefully in Criticism of Confederate Flag — WASHINGTON — The massacre of nine African-Americans in a storied Charleston church last week, which thrust the issues of race relations and gun rights into the center of the 2016 presidential campaign, has now resurfaced another familiar …

Discussion: The Post and Courier, BREITBART.COM, Hot Air, Washington Post, Philly.com, New York's PIX11, JSOnline, The Atlantic, Raw Story, Political Wire, Slantpoint and The Stranger …

Taylor Swift:

To Apple, Love Taylor — I write this to explain why I'll be holding back my album, 1989, from the new streaming service, Apple Music. I feel this deserves an explanation because Apple has been and will continue to be one of my best partners in selling music and creating ways for me to connect with my fans.

Discussion: New York Times, RedState, FOX31 Denver, 9to5Mac, Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Verge, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Mashable and VentureBeat, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Jason Chaffetz strips Meadows of subcommittee chairmanship — The House Republican crackdown on bucking the leadership reaches new levels of severity. — The House Republican crackdown has reached a new level of severity. — House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Political Wire and Hot Air

Matt Fuller / Roll Call:
Rule Vote Retribution Continues; Chaffetz Takes Away Subcommittee Gavel

Discussion: Instapundit

Kevin Cirilli / The Hill:
After ‘no’ vote on trade, Meadows loses subcommittee chair

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Barbara Ross / New York Daily News:

EXCLUSIVE: Presidential candidate Donald Trump has ignored five jury summonses in past nine years — Presidential candidate Donald Trump's road to the White House skipped several scheduled stops — for jury duty. — The Donald, who entered the sprawling GOP primary field last week …

Discussion: Daily Mail and Hot Air

Gregory Pratt / Chicago Tribune:

Man, 21, dies shielding mother during South Chicago shooting — Get 6 months of complimentary access to chicagotribune.com

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette and The Week

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Pope Francis' Call to Action Goes Beyond the Environment — IN Pope Francis' sprawling new encyclical, “Laudato Si',” there are many mansions: A meditation on biblical ecology, a discussion of environmental policy, a critique of consumerism, even a reflection on the perils of social media.

Discussion: New York Post, Forbes, The Mahablog, Power Line and JustOneMinute

WXYZ-TV:

1 dead after 10 people shot at birthday party on Detroit's west side — Detroit police are investigating a deadly shooting that happened at a child's birthday party on the city's west side. — Detroit Police Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt said shots were fired around 8:30 p.m. at the basketball courts …

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, Daily Mail, theGrio and The Daily Caller

Philip Pullella / Reuters:

World News — Italy's prime minister and France's president put on a show of unity on Sunday, dismissing suggestions of tensions between their countries over handling the waves ... By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - Thousands of people rallied in front of parliament in Athens on Sunday …

Discussion: Power Line

Jordan Schachtel / BREITBART.COM:

Ohio ISIS Recruit Was Ready to ‘Cut Off the Head of His Non-Muslim Son’ — To show his devotion to the Islamic State terror group, and to Islam as a whole, an Ohio man arrested on Friday told an informant that he would cut off the head of his own biological son—akin to the beheadings carried …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

Michael Oren / Foreign Policy:
How Obama Opened His Heart to the ‘Muslim World’

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Wall Street Journal:

A Bow to Charleston — A Northerner bows, deeply, to the South: — I have never seen anything like what I saw on television this afternoon. Did you hear the statements made at the bond hearing of the alleged Charleston, S.C., shooter? — Nine beautiful people slaughtered Wednesday …