Top Items:
Aaron Blake / Post Politics:
GOP congressman: Rate of pregnancies from rape is ‘very low’ — Another Republican congressman ventured into the realm of rape and pregnancy Wednesday, saying at a committee hearing that incidences of pregnancy from rape are “very low.” — Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) …
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Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
No, Trent Franks Is Not Todd Akin — Ever since Todd Akin exposed his boundless stupidity, and handed Democrats political gold, by insisting that raped women can't get pregnant, liberals have been looking for more Akins. They think they've found the latest one in Trent Franks, who …
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement, Booman Tribune, Outside the Beltway, Post Politics, The Week and Daily Kos
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
House GOP Set To Vote Next Week On 20-Week Abortion Ban
House GOP Set To Vote Next Week On 20-Week Abortion Ban
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and The Daily Caller
Kathryn Smith / Politico:
Trent Franks: ‘Incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low’
Trent Franks: ‘Incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low’
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, CNN and Yahoo! News
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Disapprove of Government Surveillance Programs — Americans split on whether leaker did the right or wrong thing — PRINCETON, NJ — More Americans disapprove (53%) than approve (37%) of the federal government agency program that as part of its efforts to investigate terrorism obtained records …
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Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
NSA revelations only ‘the tip of the iceberg,’ says Dem lawmaker — The federal surveillance programs revealed in media reports are just “the tip of the iceberg,” a House Democrat said Wednesday. — Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) said lawmakers learned “significantly more” …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers
Andy Sullivan / Reuters:
More Americans see man who leaked NSA secrets as ‘patriot’ than traitor: Poll — (Reuters) - Roughly one in three Americans say the former security contractor who leaked details of top-secret U.S. surveillance activity is a patriot and should not be prosecuted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Huffington Post
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Merkley waves Verizon phone, demands NSA chief share grounds for seizing data — In a dramatic exchange Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) demanded National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander explain why the agency was legally authorized to obtain his personal cell phone data.
Discussion:
Politico
Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Democratic Sen. Tester: Snowden Didn't Compromise National Security (VIDEO)
Democratic Sen. Tester: Snowden Didn't Compromise National Security (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Hot Air, Reuters, VodkaPundit and Shakesville
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Glenn Greenwald to Pete King: Bring it on — A number of commentators have already suggested that Edwards Snowden should be prosecuted for leaking explosive details about the NSA programs. But today, for the first time, a member of Congress called for prosecution of Glenn Greenwald …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Mediaite, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »
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Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Peter King Calls For Legal Action To Be Brought Against Greenwald (VIDEO) — Rep. Peter King (R-NY) on Wednesday elaborated on his call for journalists to be punished if they report on classified information, singling out The Guardian reporter at the center of the firestorm …
Discussion:
New York Times, Booman Tribune, Hit & Run and The Moderate Voice
Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
Rep. Peter King Calls For Glenn Greenwald's Arrest
Rep. Peter King Calls For Glenn Greenwald's Arrest
Discussion:
FP Passport and The Huffington Post
Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:
Congressman Wants Just One Reporter Prosecuted For NSA Leaks: 'I'm Talking About Greenwald'
Congressman Wants Just One Reporter Prosecuted For NSA Leaks: 'I'm Talking About Greenwald'
Discussion:
The Political Carnival and The Huffington Post
Brett Taylor / Twitchy:
Rep. Peter King: There's a moral and legal obligation to punish reporters who leak classified info
Rep. Peter King: There's a moral and legal obligation to punish reporters who leak classified info
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Hot Air
Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Schumer: Cornyn Border Security Amendment A ‘Non-Starter’ And We Are Not Negotiating With Him — Democrats want it to be crystal clear. They don't think Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is crucial to passing immigration reform. So they aren't negotiating with him over his non-starter amendment …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Politico, NationalJournal.com, Immigration Reform, BREITBART.COM, National Review, Yahoo! News, Washington Monthly, First Read and The Hill
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Burgess Everett / Politico:
First immigration reform votes stalled — Fewer than 24 hours after the Senate immigration bill cleared its first major hurdle, the legislation is facing its first procedural obstacle. — On Wednesday afternoon, both parties objected to the others' amendment proposals …
Discussion:
CNN and The Daily Caller
David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
Marco Rubio crafting tougher amendment on gov't benefits for immigrants
Marco Rubio crafting tougher amendment on gov't benefits for immigrants
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
How conservatives are trying to kill immigration reform
How conservatives are trying to kill immigration reform
Discussion:
Immigration Reform
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
First look: The amendment that could upend the immigration debate
First look: The amendment that could upend the immigration debate
Discussion:
Immigration Reform, Hot Air and The Daily Caller
John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
Arizona Senator's Son Used Homophobic, Anti-Semitic Language On Twitter — “He has apologized and I apologize as well,” says Senator Jeff Flake. — WASHINGTON — Sen. Jeff Flake's high school-aged son Tanner used Twitter to threaten the “faggot” who stole his bike that he “will find you …
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement, Gawker, CNN, Towleroad News #gay, The Hinterland Gazette, Balloon Juice and The Raw Story
Jia Lynn Yang / Washington Post:
NSA leaker Edward Snowden: U.S. targets China with hackers — HONG KONG — Edward Snowden, the self-confessed leaker of secret surveillance documents, claimed Wednesday that the United States has mounted massive hacking operations against hundreds of Chinese targets since 2009.
Discussion:
Examiner, The Huffington Post, Guardian, Hot Air, Politico, The PJ Tatler, Gawker and The Raw Story
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Lydia Warren / Daily Mail:
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says U.S. government has been hacking Chinese universities …
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says U.S. government has been hacking Chinese universities …
Discussion:
Business Insider, msnbc.com, The Hill and Althouse
Thomas Drake / Guardian:
Snowden saw what I saw: surveillance criminally subverting the constitution | Thomas Drake
Snowden saw what I saw: surveillance criminally subverting the constitution | Thomas Drake
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, The Daily Beast and CNN
Greg Lindley / Facebook Newsroom:
Public Conversations on Facebook — Every day, hundreds of millions of people use Facebook to share their thoughts on big moments happening all around them. Whether it's talking about a favorite television show, cheering on a hometown sports team or engaging with friends during a breaking news event …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, CNET, The Verge, The Daily Caller, NYT Bits, Red Alert Politics and BBC
Washington Post:
CIA's deputy director to be replaced with White House lawyer — The CIA's deputy director plans to resign and will be replaced by White House lawyer and agency outsider Avril D. Haines, Director John O. Brennan said Wednesday. — Haines, who will succeed career officer Michael Morell on Aug. 9 …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Reuters, Activist Post, Hot Air, Yahoo! News, Business Insider and The Raw Story
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Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
Deputy CIA director Michael Morell retires
Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Conservative group making big ad buy in Mass. Senate race — A conservative group is launching an ad buy supporting Republican Gabriel Gomez's Senate campaign in Massachusetts. — A source affiliated with the group, Americans for Progressive Action, confirmed to The Hill that its going up with a …
Discussion:
Post Politics, Politico and KALW
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Eliana Johnson / National Review:
Blaming Cincinnati a ‘Nuclear Strike on Us,’ Says Cincy IRS Employee — A Cincinnati-based Internal Revenue Service employee is pushing back against claims by Lois Lerner and other top IRS officials that the agency's Cincinnati office was responsible for the the targeting of tea-party groups …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler
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Bernie Becker / The Hill:
Ways and Means Chairman: IRS targeting of Tea Party groups didn't start in Ohio
Ways and Means Chairman: IRS targeting of Tea Party groups didn't start in Ohio
Discussion:
Politico, The Plum Line, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress and Washington Free Beacon
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
NRA hits former ally Manchin with new ads on gun control fight — The National Rifle Association is targeting Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) with new ads urging him not to help President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) pass new gun restrictions. — The NRA is spending $100,000 …
Discussion:
CNN
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Toddstarnes / Fox News:
HGTV: Use American Flag as Table Cloth — HGTV viewers are expressing outrage after the network suggested they use American flags as table cloths for Fourth of July celebrations. Many viewers called it offensive, un-American and an insult to the American military. — FOLLOW TODD ON FACEBOOK FOR CULTURE WAR NEWS.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, LewRockwell.com Blog, The Daily Caller and NewsBusters
Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Panel rejects pulling sex assault cases from military's chain of command — The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted against removing sexual assault cases from the military's chain of command. — The panel voted 17-9 to include in the Defense authorization bill an alternative …
Discussion:
Politico and The Raw Story
Associated Press:
Grandma, 72, shoots at home intruder in California, defends actions — STANTON, CALIF. - A 72-year-old Southern California grandmother who shot at — and narrowly missed — a man trying to break into her home said Tuesday she was shocked at the attention her action was getting but does …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Hit & Run, The PJ Tatler and Fox News Insider