memeorandum: East Texas firefighter terminated after comment praising Charleston murders (Stephanie Frazier/KLTV-TV)

2:53 AM ET, June 22, 2015

Top Items:

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: The Huffington Post, Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice

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

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, Philly.com, New York's PIX11, BREITBART.COM, Hot Air, Raw Story, The Stranger …, The Atlantic, Washington Post and Slantpoint

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

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.

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

Discussion: Washington Post, LGBTQ Nation and Towleroad

Jon Swaine / Guardian:

Leader of group cited in ‘Dylann Roof manifesto’ donated to top Republicans — The leader of a rightwing group that Dylann Roof allegedly credits with helping to radicalise him against black people before the Charleston church massacre has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans …

Discussion: CofCC, Daily Mail, New York Times, American Renaissance, No More Mister Nice Blog and Slantpoint

New York Times:

Defiant Show of Unity in Charleston Church That Lost 9 to Racist Violence — CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Emanuel A.M.E. Church has survived antebellum laws barring black worship, an angry white mob that burned down its original edifice, and the execution of its founder and dozens of others planning a slave revolt.

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: Guardian, Re/code, New York Times, Fusion, Taylor Marsh, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Outside the Beltway, RedState, FOX31 Denver, Mashable, The Week, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal and VentureBeat, more at Mediagazer »

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: Liberaland, Daily Mail and Hot Air

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: The Gateway Pundit and Power Line

Reed Abelson / New York Times:

Health Insurers Brace for Supreme Court Ruling — Their industry already upended with the passage of the federal health care law, insurance companies are facing another upheaval if the Supreme Court rules that millions of Americans are not eligible for subsidies to help defray the cost of their coverage.

Discussion: Josh Blackman's Blog

Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
Why does President Obama criticize the Supreme Court so much?

Discussion: Josh Blackman's Blog

Matt Fuller / Roll Call:

Rule Vote Retribution Continues; Chaffetz Takes Away Subcommittee Gavel — And the payback keeps on coming. — After three conservative House Republicans were kicked off the whip team as a result of voting against a rule for trade legislation on June 11, a new round of punishment is being meted out …

Discussion: Instapundit

Politico:
Jason Chaffetz strips Meadows of subcommittee chairmanship

Discussion: Hot Air, Booman Tribune, BREITBART.COM and The Hill

Sarah Pulliam Bailey / Washington Post:

Billy Graham's grandson steps down from Florida megachurch after admitting an affair — Billy Graham's grandson Tullian Tchividjian has resigned from his pulpit at Coral Ridge Presbyterian, a high-profile church in south Florida, after admitting he had an affair.

Discussion: Associated Press and NBC News