Vox Sentences: What the Hillary Clinton emails tell us about her handling of Libya

It's the email, the email, what what, the email.

Hillary Clinton tours the Smuttynose Brewery on May 22, 2015 in Hampton, New Hampshire. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

• The State Department has released 296 emails from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email account to the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

  [ABC News / Michael Falcone, Justin Fishel, and Erin Dooley]

• The Wall Street Journal has the full release here.

  [WSJ]

• It also liveblogged the release, including a number of highlights from the emails.

  [WSJ]

• While the emails don't contradict her contention that she didn't use her personal account for classified business, some of the emails have been classified retroactively.

  [NPR / Krishnadev Calamur]

• Among the more revealing emails: one from top Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan from August 2011 bragging about the Secretary's role in orchestrating the Western intervention in Libya.

  [Vox / Jonathan Allen]

• Another, a forward to Clinton by her aide Huma Abedin, contained an official's pessimistic assessment of prospects for the country once US-backed rebels won, predicting (correctly) that Islamist militias had grown strong enough to render the new government unstable.

  [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]

• The emails also suggest that Clinton family confidant Sidney Blumenthal was "shoveling questionable second-hand intelligence" on Libya to Clinton while she was Secretary.

  [Politico / Glenn Thrush]

• Dave Weigel: "The running theme of Blumenthal's missives to his 'old friend,' the Democratic frontrunner, is that Blumenthal is a gusher of terrible advice."

  [Bloomberg / Dave Weigel]

Irish spring

Newly married couple Anne Fox and Vincent Fox celebrate their wedding day by showing their support for the Yes campaign in favour of same-sex marriage before casting their votes in Dublin. ( Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

• Ireland is voting on a referendum that would amend its constitution to legalize same-sex marriage.

  [LA Times / Ginanne Brownell Mitic]

• The polls closed at 5 pm east coast time, and turnout is reportedly high.

  [BBC]

• Ireland is the first country to put same-sex marriage up to a national popular vote.

  [New Stateman / Aoife Moriarty]

• Most polls have shown a wide lead for the amendment, with some showing supporters outnumbering opponents two to one.

  [Reuters]

• Prime Minister Enda Kenny has urged Irishmen and women to vote for the amendment, saying, "There is nothing to fear for voting for love and equality."

  [The Guardian / Henry McDonald]

• Micheál Martin, leader of the opposition party Fianna Faíl, is also for marriage equality.

  [UTV Ireland / Marése O'Sullivan]

• While Ireland is still overwhelmingly Catholic, it's also seen church attendance fall and allegiance to Catholic doctrine wane in the wake of numerous sexual abuse and adoption scandals.

  [NYT / Douglas Dalby and Dan Bilefsky]

• About 60,000 Irish citizens living abroad are estimated to have returned to participate in the vote.

  [Vox / Libby Nelson]

Misc.

• My kingdom, for a car park!

  [The Guardian / Robert Booth]

• Carbon emissions in China are plunging. But can we trust the numbers coming out of Beijing?

  [Vox / Brad Plumer]

• The federal government subsidizes Princeton to the tune of $105,000 per student per year by not taxing its massive endowment.

  [Slate / Kellie Woodhouse]

• Warren Buffett makes the case for taxing rich people and giving the money to the poor, rather than taxing poor people's bosses and giving it to the poor.

  [WSJ / Warren Buffett]

Verbatim

• "Chinese and American styles of comedy still differ radically. Discomfort is central to American stand-up — think Richard Pryor or Bill Hicks, or even Steve Martin. But in China, it tends to backfire."

  [NYT / Christopher Beam]

• "Hi. Hello. Hello. Could I tell you about this very extraordinary can?"

  [60s-era Birds Eye Chills & Thrills commercial]

• "A group of prosecutors and veterinary service officials arrived at closing time at a Crimean zoo called Fairytale and quickly set about firing tranquilizer darts at animals. They targeted a group of monkeys they suspected may have contracted tuberculosis."

  [Moscow Times / Howard Amos]

• "The obsession with eating natural and artisanal is ahistorical. We should demand more high-quality industrial food."

  [Jacobin / Rachel Laudan]

• "To many neurotypical commentators, autism is un-personhood par excellence. A condition associated in the public’s eye mainly with small children and tales of pity and woe, few think of autistic brains as belonging to adults who vote, work, attend university or even serve in the military."

  [Haaretz / Ari Ne'eman]

• "'Must you be so clever at all times?' 'I haven't practiced the alternative.'"

  [NYT / Deborah Solomon and William F. Buckley]

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