memeorandum: Cheney calls Snowden a ‘traitor,’ defends NSA surveillance programs (Erik Wasson/The Hill)

3:35 PM ET, June 16, 2013

Top Items:

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Cheney calls Snowden a ‘traitor,’ defends NSA surveillance programs — Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday defended the National Security Agency's data surveillance programs and labeled admitted leaker Edward Snowden as a “traitor.” — “I think he's a traitor...I think he has committed crimes …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Scared Monkeys

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Dick Cheney Laughs Off Privacy Concerns Over Government Surveillance — Former Vice President Dick Cheney (R), whose false statements helped propel the United States into an eight year war in Iraq, said Sunday that citizens should simply “trust” the federal government on matters of privacy and security.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Prairie Weather

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Cheney defends NSA surveillance

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hinterland Gazette

Ben Geman / The Hill:
McDonough: Obama will speak about NSA

Discussion: Politico

Associated Press:
Officials: NSA programs broke plots in 20 nations

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker and CNN

Declan McCullagh / CNET:

NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants — National Security Agency discloses in secret Capitol Hill briefing that thousands of analysts can listen to domestic phone calls. That authorization appears to extend to e-mail and text messages too.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Doug Ross, The PJ Tatler, americanthinker.com, Althouse, Balloon Juice, Ed Driscoll, Little Green Footballs, The Verge, Guardian, The Huffington Post, National Review and Patterico's Pontifications

Barton Gellman / Washington Post:

U.S. surveillance architecture includes collection of revealing Internet, phone metadata — On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. Comey and the Justice Department's top leadership reached the brink of resignation over electronic surveillance orders that they believed to be illegal.

Discussion: New York Times, Mediaite, emptywheel, Hullabaloo, Lawfare, The Verge, The Volokh Conspiracy, Balloon Juice and Post Politics

Julian Sanchez:
Nadler and Mueller on Analysts Getting Call and E-mail Content

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, emptywheel and Hit & Run

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:
U.S. spy agency paper says fewer than 300 phone numbers closely scrutinized

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and emptywheel

Ramzy Mardini / New York Times:

Bad Idea, Mr. President — AMMAN, Jordan — ACCORDING to Bill Clinton, Barack Obama risks looking like a “fool” if he decides not to intervene militarily in Syria's continuing civil war. Likening the situation to his decision to intervene in Kosovo in 1999, Mr. Clinton said Tuesday …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Jerusalem Post and The Huffington Post

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

Rubio: Obama ‘failed’ in Syria — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) hailed efforts to arm opposition forces seeking to topple Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, but said President Obama's decision to aid the rebels may have come too late. — “Timing matters and these were options that were there for us …

Discussion: Politico

Robert Fisk / The Independent:
Iran will send 4,000 troops to aid Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria

Discussion: BBC and Israel Matzav

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Menendez: Time to ‘tip the scales’ in Syria

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

The Boston Globe:

A 13-point gap with 10 days to go, but disengaged voters remain unpredictable — Democrat Edward J. Markey holds a solid lead over his Republican rival, Gabriel E. Gomez, as the two enter the final week of the special US Senate campaign, according to a new Boston Globe poll.

Discussion: CNN and Outside the Beltway

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:
Gabriel Gomez endorses ENDA

Discussion: Blue Mass Group and Towleroad News #gay

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:

Jeb on 2016: ‘Split ballot’ among his parents — Former President George H.W. Bush wants son Jeb to make his own run for the White House, the former Florida governor hinted in an interview that aired Sunday. — Jeb Bush's mother, Barbara, said earlier this year that there have been …

Discussion: CNN

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Bill Schools Barry on Syria — WASHINGTON — NOT only is President Obama leading from behind, now he's leading from behind Bill Clinton. — After dithering for two years over what to do about the slaughter in Syria, the president was finally shoved into action by the past and perhaps future occupant of his bedroom.

Discussion: Althouse and Prairie Weather

Telegraph:

Barack Obama opens up about his absent dad on Father's Day — US President Barack Obama gives a candid weekly address on Father's Day, saying he wants to be the dad his father never was. — In a weekly address wishing Americans a Happy Father's Day, Barack Obama tried to emphasise the importance of involved fathers for children.

Discussion: Business Insider and The Hinterland Gazette

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

Sen. Rubio says most of immigration reform bill in ‘perfect shape’ — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Sunday said that much of the Gang of Eight's immigration reform bill was in “perfect shape,” but added he would insist on tougher border security measures. — Rubio, one of the authors of the bill …

Discussion: CNN and Politico