Really wish Dave Brat would have favored us with a short, punchy manifesto succinctly explaining his religious, economic and political views before running for Congress. Dude has a vast number of reasons for shouting “No!”

Here are some midday amuses bouche, some not very amusing:

* Kurds seize Kirkuk as Iraq teeters on edge of “disintegration.”

* First neutral post-primary poll in Oregon shows Jeff Markley up over Monica Wehby by 18 points.

* Kevin Drum concludes that in the end, the main contributor to the alternative universe of U.S. conservatism remains Fox News.

* Hard-core conservatives scramble for new Majority Leader candidate as Hensarling bows out.

* In a classic Politico take, Byron Tau defends Eric Cantor’s choice of a pricey steakhouse for fundraisers.

And in non-political news:

* Preview of World Cup opening ceremonies (featuring Pitbull!), scheduled to begin in a few minutes.

As we break for lunch, here’s more Return to Forever, with “Sorceress.”

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.