memeorandum: Rand Paul calls to slow down ‘rushed’ ObamaCare repeal process (Jordain Carney/The Hill)

9:30 PM ET, June 21, 2017

Top Items:

Democrats Seethe After Georgia Loss: ‘Our Brand Is Worse Than Trump’ — Democrats seethed, second-guessed and sought to regroup on Wednesday after a disappointing special election defeat in Georgia, with the party's campaign chief in the House of Representatives outlining alternative paths to taking power …

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Pelosi faces growing doubts among Dems after Georgia loss — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats put a brave face on Wednesday morning after a disappointing loss in the Georgia special election, yet there is no disguising the unhappiness in the party ranks.

Molly Ball / The Atlantic:

Why Ossoff Lost — ATLANTA—Around midnight, hours after their candidate conceded he had lost the Most Important Special Election in History, the last remaining supporters of Jon Ossoff took over the stage where he had recently stood. One of them waved a bottle of vodka in the air.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, Shadowproof and CNN

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

This Might Be the Worst Democratic Freak-out Ever — Karen Handel's close-but-not-that-close win in Georgia's sixth district, the fourth Republican victory in four special elections, has officially made the party's failure to capture a House seat in 2017 a capital-T Thing.

Discussion: CNN, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, The Nation, The Week, rubber hose, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, twitchy.com and Mediaite

David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:

GA-06: Why Handel's Win Isn't a Disaster for Democrats — It's a devastating psychological blow for a party to spend over $30 million on a House special election and still lose. For Democrats, Jon Ossoff's defeat to Karen Handel stings, and the blame game is already raging: “Why did Ossoff run such a bland campaign?

Discussion: Vox, Washington Monthly, Politicus USA, NBC News and New York Times

Patricia Murphy / The Daily Beast:
Jon Ossoff's $23 Million Loss Shows Dems Have No Idea How to Win in the Age of Trump

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart, Infowars, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Washington Post and IJR

Charlie Spiering / Breitbart:
‘Sad CNN’ Meme Storms the Internet as Karen Handel Wins Georgia Special Election

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog and IJR

Curtis Houck / NewsBusters:
She Went There: Maddow Laments ‘Partisan Implications’ of ‘Bad Weather’ for Georgia Election

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Washington Free Beacon and New York Magazine

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Democrats reel from another special-election loss, and some point fingers at Pelosi

Discussion: Post and Courier, Washington Free Beacon, Questions and Observations, Scared Monkeys and Instapundit

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The Democrats' persistent Pelosi problem

Discussion: Business Insider and East Bay Times

Jason Sattler / USA Today:
Georgia warning to Democrats: Trump isn't the answer. Yet.

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon, Shareblue and Daily Wire

Monica Showalter / American Thinker:
How'd that referendum on Trump work out?

Discussion: RedState, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and New York Times

Alvin Chang / Vox:
4 charts showing Democrats are gaining a lot of ground

Discussion: Politico, The Root, New York Times, Hot Air and Washington Post

Paige Winfield Cunningham / Washington Post:

Senate health-care draft repeals Obamacare taxes, provides bigger subsidies for low-income Americans than House bill — Senate leaders on Wednesday were putting the final touches on legislation that would reshape a big piece of the U.S. health-care system by dramatically rolling back Medicaid …

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, New York Magazine, ACASignups.net, Politicus USA, The Week and The Last Tradition

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Rand Paul calls to slow down ‘rushed’ ObamaCare repeal process — wants to slow down how quickly legislation can get a vote as Republicans prepare to bring their bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare to the Senate floor next week. — The Kentucky Republican has reintroduced his “Read the Bills” …

Discussion: Politico and Politicus USA

Hot Air:
Ted Cruz, Key Conservative Negotiator: I Have No Idea What's In The Senate Health-Care Bill

Discussion: TheBlaze, CNBC, Business Insider and Morning Consult

Laura Litvan / Bloomberg:
GOP Health Bill Kept Secret From Senators Assigned to Write It

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Fox News Insider

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
What's in the Senate's secret Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: Axios, Gizmodo, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post, The Week, Shareblue, Raw Story and CNN

BuzzFeed:

A Bunch Of CIA Staff Got Fired For Stealing Snacks From Vending Machines — The group of employees shared a vending machine hack to steal more than $3,000 in snacks. — Several CIA contractors were kicked out of the agency for stealing more than $3,000 in snacks from vending machines …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Week, Instapundit and Gizmodo

Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Tom Cotton Intern Calls British ‘Faggots’ and Paul Ryan a ‘Cuck’ in Audio Recording — GOP Senator Tom Cotton's intern is not shy about spouting off incendiary comments, as the young Republican calls Speaker Paul Ryan “a cuck” and the British “faggots.”

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, twitchy.com and Raw Story

Kaili Joy Gray / Shareblue:

Former Homeland Security chief: The FBI had evidence of collusion with Russia — Contrary to Donald Trump's Twitter-rages and baseless accusations that he and his campaign team are the victims of a “witch hunt,” the evidence of potential collusion with Russia is real. Real enough to warrant an investigation.

Discussion: IJR

Kyle Feldscher / Washington Examiner:
Jeh Johnson: Trump's ‘rigged’ election claims affected what DHS could say about Russia interference

Discussion: RedState and Mediaite

Paul Sperry / New York Post:

Next up: a special counsel to probe Team Obama's obstruction of justice — MORE FROM: … By using fired FBI Director James Comey to attack the new Republican administration, Democrats have opened up a legal can of worms for the Obama administration. — Under sworn questioning …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Abby Livingston / The Texas Tribune:
Texas congressman says remarks on Clintons, Vince Foster were “a step too far”

Discussion: The Root

New York Times:

ISIS Is Said to Destroy Historic Al Nuri Mosque in Mosul — BAGHDAD — The Islamic State on Wednesday night destroyed Mosul's centuries-old Al Nuri Grand Mosque and its distinctive leaning minaret, one of Iraq's most famous landmarks, according to the Iraqi and American militaries.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Reuters:
Islamic State blows up historic Mosul mosque where it declared ‘caliphate’

Discussion: The Atlantic, New York Magazine and The Week

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

Trump, Russia and a Shadowy Business Partnership — An insider describes the Bayrock Group, its links to the Trump family and its mysterious access to funds. It isn't pretty. — The special counsel's investigation of the White House has come more sharply into focus.

Discussion: Salon, Bipartisan Report, Raw Story, IJR, TheStreet and Mediaite

Theodoric Meyer / Politico:

Congressional Black Caucus expected to decline Trump meeting — The Congressional Black Caucus is expected to reject an invitation to meet with President Donald Trump, according to four sources close to the group. — The Trump administration, sources said, has done nothing to advance …

Discussion: Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Washington Post, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Bipartisan Report, Fusion, Conservative News Today, Daily Wire, Shareblue, The Daily Caller, Politicus USA, The Week, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Federal Bureau of Investigation:

Law Enforcement Shares Findings of the Investigation into the June 14 Alexandria, Virginia Shooting — Today, law enforcement officials shared findings to date of the investigation into the shooting that occurred at the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park on Wednesday, June 14, 2017.

Discussion: Politico, NPR, Business Insider, IJR and Washington Free Beacon

Darren Sands / BuzzFeed:

What Happened To Black Lives Matter? — Donald Trump's election and presidency has inspired the biggest outpouring of liberal activism in more than a decade. But Black Lives Matter seems less visible than a year ago. After a meteoric rise to prominence, the movement is struggling mightily …

Discussion: The Atlantic

Democratic Party of Montana Blog:

Montana Dems Get Gianforte New Suit for First Day in Congress — Helena - Today, convicted criminal Greg Gianforte - who, after infamously picking up another person, slamming him to the ground, and then punching him, blamed it on the victim - will be sworn into Congress.

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Washington Times

LeftOfCenter / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Mormons Shame Twelve-Year-Old Girl For Coming Out In Temple — Savannah, a twelve-year-old member of a Salt Lake City Mormon congregation, made a courageous decision to ‘come out’ in temple this past Sunday. She originally mentioned that she wanted to do this in January of this year …

Discussion: Raw Story

Laura Beth Nielsen / Los Angeles Times:

Op-Ed The case for restricting hate speech — Members of the Westboro Baptist Church picket in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Oct. 6, 2010. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) — As a sociologist and legal scholar, I struggle to explain the boundaries of free speech to undergraduates.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Donald Trump / ABC News:

ANALYSIS: 26 questions the White House has promised to answer but hasn't — Asked if President Trump believes the Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential election, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters this week he hasn't had a chance to talk to his boss the about that issue.

Discussion: Politicus USA, The New Civil Rights Movement and Associated Press

Jordan Smith / The Intercept:

Texas Couple Exonerated 25 Years After Being Convicted of Lurid Crimes That Never Happened — Twenty-five years after they were convicted of a crime that never happened, Fran and Dan Keller were formally exonerated on June 20 in Austin, Texas. — The couple's prosecution in 1992 was part …

Discussion: Raw Story

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

DeVos picks CEO of for-profit lender to run federal student loan system — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's pick to lead the department's $1.3 trillion student loan system is the CEO of a private student loan company. — A. Wayne Johnson, who was tapped as chief operating officer of Federal Student Aid …

Discussion: ED News, The Daily Caller, The Root and The FADER

Ben Hubbard / New York Times:

Saudi Arabia Rewrites Succession as King Replaces Heir With Son, 31 — BEIRUT, Lebanon — King Salman of Saudi Arabia promoted his 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman, to be next in line to the throne on Wednesday, further empowering a young, activist leader at a time when the kingdom …

Discussion: IJR, Business Insider, Daily Wire, Axios, The Daily Caller and New York Magazine

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

Sheriff Clarke Accuses Andrew Kaczynski of ‘Electronic Terrorism’ — Conservative blog Media Equalizer has been running an extensive three-part series on Sheriff David Clarke's response to CNN's Andrew Kaczynski, whose reporting sunk Clarke's would-be role at the Department of Homeland Security.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.