memeorandum: Most Americans back NSA tracking phone records, prioritize probes over privacy (Jon Cohen/Washington Post)

8:50 AM ET, June 11, 2013

Top Items:

Revealed: The acrobat girlfriend of NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden... who he abandoned when he fled the U.S. — Lindsay Mills, 28, is reportedly the girlfriend Edward Snowden left behind when he leaked information about PRISM surveillance — The girlfriend of NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, News Desk, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, The Next Web, Gawker, The Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain, New York Times, Guardian, Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Jeffrey Toobin / News Desk:

Edward Snowden Is No Hero — Edward Snowden, a twenty-nine-year-old former C.I.A. employee and current government contractor, has leaked news of National Security Agency programs that collect vast amounts of information about the telephone calls made by millions of Americans …

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Sen. Feinstein calls Snowden's NSA leaks an ‘act of treason’ — Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Monday said the 29-year-old man who leaked information about two national security programs is guilty of treason. — Feinstein said former National Security Agency Edward Snowden she doesn't see him as a hero or a whistle blower.

Discussion: Politico, National Review, The Huffington Post, emptywheel, Mediaite, Campaign for America's Future and Guardian

Irin Carmon / Salon:

How we broke the NSA story — Exclusive: Laura Poitras tells Salon about getting contacted by Edward Snowden, and reveals more footage is coming — Shortly after Salon's biographical sketch on Laura Poitras went live, the award-winning documentary filmmaker agreed to a phone interview …

Discussion: New York Times, Business Insider, The Impolitic, The Huffington Post, Guardian, Pressing Issues, ThinkProgress and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:

NSA leak is treason, says Feinstein — “I don't look at this as being a whistle-blower,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calf.) said. “I think it's an act of treason.” — The whereabouts of Snowden were unclear Monday as authorities ramped up an investigation that could lead to his extradition and prosecution.

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Edward Snowden's NSA leaks are backlash of too much secrecy — Keep your distance: The director of national intelligence is having intestinal distress. — “For me, it is literally — not figuratively, literally — gut-wrenching to see this happen,” James Clapper told Andrea Mitchell over the weekend …

Discussion: New York Times and Daily Kos

New York Times:
Snowden, Facing Charges, Leaves Hong Kong Hotel

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Politico, Guardian, News Desk and Blazing Cat Fur

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
17,000 sign petition urging Obama to pardon NSA whistle-blower

Discussion: Politico, National Review, Crooks and Liars, Reuters, CNN, Red Alert Politics, Post Politics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Business Insider and Gawker

Rand Paul / CNN:
Ron Paul gives thanks for leaker

Discussion: Campaign for Liberty, Politico, Activist Post and Hot Air

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Barton Gellman, Glenn Greenwald feud over NSA leaker

Discussion: Yahoo! News, FishbowlDC and Telegraph

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
Inside the ‘Q Group,’ the Directorate Hunting Down Edward Snowden

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, msnbc.com, Business Insider, Infowars, Guardian, The Raw Story, Daily Mail, Uncrunched, Hot Air, Hullabaloo and Hit & Run, more at Mediagazer »

David Edwards / The Raw Story:
Fox News analyst: ‘Bring back the death penalty’ for NSA leaker

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Washington Monthly, Los Angeles Times and The Huffington Post

Matt Schiavenza / The Atlantic Online:
Edward Snowden Shouldn't Have Gone to Hong Kong

Discussion: Daily Mail and Guardian

John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
James Clyburn: NSA Leaks Part Of Effort To “Embarrass” Obama

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Other McCain and Talking Points Memo

Douglas Rushkoff / CNN:
Edward Snowden is a hero

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, Guardian, Yahoo! News, China Real Time Report, Mashable, The Reaction, Piers Morgan, Business Insider, ABCNEWS, Blogs of War and The Week

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Majority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable Anti-terror Tactic — Public Says Investigate Terrorism, Even IF It Intrudes on Privacy — OVERVIEW — A majority of Americans - 56% - say the National Security Agency's (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans …

Discussion: Politico, Infowars, The Verge, The Week, The Monkey Cage, msnbc.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, TechCrunch, Yahoo! News, Taylor Marsh, Hit & Run, Business Insider, American Power and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Jon Cohen / Washington Post:

Most Americans back NSA tracking phone records, prioritize probes over privacy — A large majority of Americans say the federal government should focus on investigating possible terrorist threats even if personal privacy is compromised, and most support the blanket tracking of telephone records …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Maddow Blog, Capital New York, Hot Air, Althouse, The Fix, p m carpenter's commentary, Hullabaloo, The Volokh Conspiracy, Post Politics, KALW, The Reaction and Business Insider

Rand Paul / Wall Street Journal:

Big Brother Really Is Watching Us — Monitoring hundreds of millions of phone records is an extraordinary invasion of privacy. — When Americans expressed outrage last week over the seizure and surveillance of Verizon's client data by the National Security Agency, President Obama responded …

Discussion: American Power and msnbc.com

Perry Stein / Talking Points Memo:
Pew Poll: 56 Percent Of Americans Say Phone Tracking Is Acceptable Anti-Terror Tactic

Discussion: CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

New York Times:

Obama to End Effort to Restrict Morning-After Pill — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided to stop trying to block over-the-counter availability of the best-known morning-after contraceptive pill for all women and girls, a move fraught with political repercussions for President Obama.

Discussion: The Week, AMERICAblog, The Incidental Economist, The Caucus, The Talking Dog, Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune and Blue Mass Group

Sam Baker / The Hill:
Obama administration will approve ‘Plan B’ pill for women and girls of all ages

Discussion: Reuters

Guardian:
Plan B: Obama allows morning-after pill for under-17s

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Tom Hays / Associated Press: Obama Plan B Decision: Feds To Comply With NY Judge's Ruling

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Marco Rubio: In immigration reform, legalization comes first — ‘It is not conditional’ … In a Spanish-language interview Sunday with the network Univision, Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform group, made his strongest statement yet …

Discussion: Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, Conservatives4Palin and Politico

Jerry Kammer / Front page feed:
Rubio, McCain, Reid Talk Strategy on Reform Bill

Discussion: msnbc.com, Hot Air, The Plum Line and National Review

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:

IRS Caught on Tape Telling Nonprofit: “Keep Your Faith to Yourself” — The IRS scandal is deepening as a new tape has been released today showing a disturbing phone call the Internal Revenue Service placed to a non-profit organization. — Alliance Defending Freedom, a pro-life legal group …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and The PJ Tatler

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

PRISM Program: Obama Administration Held 22 Briefings For Congress On Key FISA Law — WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials held 22 separate briefings or meetings for members of Congress on the law that has been used to justify the National Security Agency's controversial email monitoring program …

Discussion: CBS News, Fox News, TalkLeft and BobCesca.com

Yahoo! News:
Intelligence chief Clapper: I gave ‘least untruthful’ answer on U.S. spying

Discussion: Firedoglake and Daily Kos

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama to rally support for immigration reform as Senate weighs bill — President Obama will hold an event Tuesday morning to rally support for comprehensive immigration reform, as the Senate begins floor debate on a bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Discussion: Reuters and Politico

Kieran Healy:

Using Metadata to find Paul Revere — London, 1772. — I have been asked by my superiors to give a brief demonstration of the surprising effectiveness of even the simplest techniques of the new-fangled Social Networke Analysis in the pursuit of those who would seek to undermine the liberty enjoyed by His Majesty's subjects.

Discussion: Doug Ross and Balloon Juice