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Lindsey Graham: ‘If I thought censoring the mail was necessary, I would suggest it’ — Sen. Lindsey Graham would propose censoring Americans' ‘snail’ mail if he thought it would help protect national security, the South Carolina Republican said Tuesday. But for now, he says he doesn't think it's necessary.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Hot Air, The Raw Story, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com and The Huffington Post
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The Solitary Leaker — From what we know so far, Edward Snowden appears to be the ultimate unmediated man. Though obviously terrifically bright, he could not successfully work his way through the institution of high school. Then he failed to navigate his way through community college.
Discussion:
Jack Shafer, News Desk, Mediaite, FP Passport, Asymmetrical Information, The Dish, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Washington Post, New Republic, Conservatives4Palin, American Prospect, Yahoo! News, Wall Street Journal, Gawker, Daily Kos, Vox Popoli, Hit & Run, p m carpenter's commentary, Althouse, Ed Driscoll, Samizdata, msnbc.com, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller and Maggie's Farm, more at Mediagazer »


Franken ‘Very Well Aware Of’ NSA Tracking Phone Records — ST. PAUL (WCCO) — US Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., says he's not surprised by revelations that federal security agencies collect phone and computer data on American citizens. — The National Security Agency secretly gathered personal data …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, JONATHAN TURLEY and Washington Free Beacon

Hoyer: No comparison between Obama, Bush on secret NSA surveillance
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Fix, PERRspectives and Weasel Zippers

Durbin: FISA declassification bill dead on arrival
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Mediaite and The Plum Line


Booz Allen fires Edward Snowden, says they didn't pay him $200K
Discussion:
en.ria.ru, Washington Free Beacon, WorldViews and Outside the Beltway

Snowden, Facing Charges, Leaves Hong Kong Hotel
Discussion:
Above the Law, ProfessorBainbridge.com, RT, The Dish and The Daily Caller

The slacker who came in from the cold
Discussion:
Hot Air, Hit & Run and Washington Post

Asking the U.S. government to allow Google to publish more national security request data — This morning we sent the following letter to the offices of the Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Read the full text below. -Ed. — Dear Attorney General Holder and Director Mueller
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Yahoo! News, New York Times, AllThingsD, GigaOM, Mashable, msnbc.com, Business Insider, KALW, ABCNEWS, TechCrunch, The Verge, Wired, Gawker, Guardian, Hit & Run, emptywheel, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller and TalkLeft, more at Mediagazer »
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A.C.L.U. Files Suit Over Phone Surveillance Program — WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration over its “dragnet” collection of logs of domestic phone calls, contending that the once-secret program — whose existence …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Hit & Run, The Political Carnival, Taylor Marsh, Business Insider, Wired, Infowars, KALW and The Gateway Pundit


ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging NSA's Patriot Act Phone Surveillance — In the wake of the past week's revelations about the NSA's unprecedented mass surveillance of phone calls, today the ACLU filed a lawsuit charging that the program violates Americans' constitutional rights of free speech, association, and privacy.
Discussion:
ACS Blog, Daily Kos, Mediaite, CBS DC, American Spectator, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, AllThingsD and Forbes


Senators: End Secret Law — Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduce Bill to Declassify FISA Court Opinions — Washington, DC - Today, Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), accompanied by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dean Heller (R-NV), Mark Begich (D-AK), Al Franken …
Discussion:
Guardian, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Taylor Marsh, Wired, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Yahoo! News, The Verge and Liberal Values


FBI sharply increases use of Patriot Act provision to collect US citizens' records — The FBI has dramatically increased its use of a controversial provision of the Patriot Act to secretly obtain a vast store of business records of U.S. citizens under President Barack Obama, according to recent Justice Department reports to Congress.
Discussion:
Digits, Hot Air, BuzzFeed, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of NSA Phone Spying Program
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Mashable and The Next Web

Former President George W. Bush's Image Ratings Improve — Views of Bush more positive than negative for first time since 2005 — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' views of former president George W. Bush have improved, with 49% now viewing him favorably and 46% unfavorably.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Yahoo! News, CNN, Washington Wire, Mediaite, Politico, Hot Air, Post Politics, The Hill and Taegan Goddard's …
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George W. Bush Gets First Positive Rating Since 2005: Poll
Discussion:
Power Line, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Hullabaloo


Wake Up! — In 2007, John McCain's “comprehensive” immigrant-legalization bill failed after opponents flooded the Senate with calls, shutting down the switchboard. Despite considerable press hype, the bill didn't even muster a majority on the crucial cloture vote. — It won't be that easy this time.
Discussion:
KALW, ThinkProgress, Hot Air and Michelle Malkin
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Senate votes 82-15 in first step to debate immigration reform
Discussion:
Politico, Conservatives4Palin and The Gateway Pundit

In 84-15 vote, Senate moves forward on immigration reform
Discussion:
American Spectator


Fire James Clapper — The Director of National Intelligence lied to Congress about NSA surveillance. What else will he lie about? — Director of National Intelligence James Clapper — If President Obama really does welcome a debate about the scope of the U.S. surveillance program …
Discussion:
Taking Note, Government Executive, National Review, The Maddow Blog, Yahoo! News, emptywheel, Weekly Standard and NBC Universal
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Wyden Statement Responding to Director Clapper's Statements About Collection on Americans
Discussion:
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Hit & Run, emptywheel, Firedoglake, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, ODNI Newsroom Feed, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and Hot Air

GOP lawmaker: US Muslim leaders ‘complicit’ in terrorist attacks — Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) on Tuesday said the failure of Muslim leaders to repudiate acts of terrorism done in the name of Islam makes them “potentially complicit” in these attacks. — “When the most devastating terrorist attacks …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Weasel Zippers
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GOP Congressman: American Muslim Leaders Are ‘Potentially Complicit’ In Terrorist Acts
Discussion:
beliefnet, The Raw Story and The Huffington Post

U.S. disrupts al-Qaeda's online magazine — U.S. intelligence operatives covertly sabotaged a prominent al-Qaeda online magazine last month in an apparent attempt to sow confusion among the group's followers, according to officials. — The operation succeeded, at least temporarily …


Hillary's sorry state of affairs — Probes into her department's sex scandals were quashed, memo says — WASHINGTON — A State Department whistleblower has accused high-ranking staff of a massive coverup — including keeping a lid on findings that members of then-Secretary Hillary Clinton's security detail …
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Ambassador responds to allegations of misconduct from State Department memo
Discussion:
Foreign Policy, Yahoo! News and Business Insider


Obama Schmoozes Reporters At Secret Meeting — The president popped into an off-the-record briefing with reporters Monday. — Via: Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP — WASHINGTON — President Obama held an off-the-record meeting with select reporters from some of the nation's largest print …
Discussion:
Mediaite and Weasel Zippers, more at Mediagazer »


Republican Nominee For Virginia Lieutenant Governor Misspells Own Book Title...On The Cover — E.W. Jackson's self-published book Ten Commandments to an Extraordinary Life has a big error on the cover. Commandments — not “comandments.”


Why Should We Even Care If the Government Is Collecting Our Data? — Kafka, not Orwell, can help us understand the problems of digitized mass surveillance, argues legal scholar Daniel J. Solove. — As people have tried to make sense of the recent revelations about the government's mass …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Mashable, The Daily Caller and New Republic

Why were roadblocks in St. Clair and Bibb counties asking for blood and DNA samples this weekend? — PELL CITY, Alabama — St. Clair and Bibb county authorities are confirming there were roadblocks at several locations in their counties Friday and Saturday asking for blood and DNA samples.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway and Red Alert Politics