Top Items:
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Breakthrough in Senate immigration talks; announcement set for Thursday — Senators seeking a solution to a deadlock over border security have reached a tentative agreement they believe could win the votes of a significant number of Republican lawmakers for the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill.
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Kasie Hunt / First Read:
Senators reach border deal, smoothing path to immigration overhaul — A U.S. Border Patrol agent monitors the border structures separating Tijuana, Mexico, from San Diego. Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, The Hill and msnbc.com
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Right rips Rubio as Republican immigration votes slip away — Republican colleagues who were previously viewed as possible “yes” votes are keeping their distance from the 1,075-page measure. — On Wednesday, conservative activists ripped Rubio and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) …
Discussion:
The Hugh Hewitt Show and The Reaction
Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:
James Gandolfini Is Dead at 51; a Complex Mob Boss in ‘Sopranos’ — James Gandolfini, the Emmy Award-winning actor who shot to fame on the HBO drama “The Sopranos” as Tony Soprano, a tough-talking, hard-living crime boss with a stolid exterior but a rich interior life, died on Wednesday. He was 51.
RELATED:
Deadline.com:
R.I.P. James Gandolfini
R.I.P. James Gandolfini
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, Guardian, The Week and Althouse
CNN:
Actor James Gandolfini dead at age 51
Actor James Gandolfini dead at age 51
Discussion:
Hit & Run, New Jersey Online and Joe. My. God.
Pat Saperstein / Variety:
James Gandolfini Dead at 51
James Gandolfini Dead at 51
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, The Week, Gawker and Blazing Cat Fur
Exodus International:
Exodus International to Shut Down — Thirty-seven-year-old ministry for those with same-sex attraction marks its last national conference — Irvine, Calif. (June 19, 2013) — Exodus International, the oldest and largest Christian ministry dealing with faith and homosexuality announced tonight …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Towleroad News #gay, Joe. My. God., Outside the Beltway, Advocate, LGBTQ Nation and TBogg
RELATED:
Alan Chambers / Exodus International:
I Am Sorry — Three years ago, Leslie and I began a very public conversation with Our America's Lisa Ling, from the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) regarding some of our deeply held beliefs about Christianity and the LGBT community. Today, we have decided to carry this public conversation even further.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CNN, AMERICAblog, U.S. News, AL.com and The Raw Story
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Group That Had Aimed To “Change” Gays To Shut Down, Leader Also Offered Apology
Group That Had Aimed To “Change” Gays To Shut Down, Leader Also Offered Apology
Discussion:
The Week, Exodus International and Dependable Renegade
Tom Goldstein / SCOTUSblog:
Power — You should decide now what kind of Supreme Court you want. Don't wait until after the Justices hand down the Term's major decisions. That will be too late. Make a real choice now about how much power you think the Court should have - before your judgment is skewed by either elation or outrage at the results.
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy
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Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Strategist Out of Closet and Into Fray, This Time for Gay Marriage
Strategist Out of Closet and Into Fray, This Time for Gay Marriage
Matthew Cooper / NationalJournal.com:
The GOP Dilemma Over the Voting Rights Act
The GOP Dilemma Over the Voting Rights Act
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, No More Mister Nice Blog, AL.com, New Republic and Roll Call
Telegraph:
Barack Obama bombs in Berlin: a weak, underwhelming address from a floundering president — When John F. Kennedy delivered his “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate on June 26, 1963, 450,000 people flocked to hear him. Fifty years later a far more subdued invitation …
Discussion:
The White House, White House.gov Blog and The Heritage Foundation
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Tom Newton Dunn / The Sun:
Barack Obama keeps calling Chancellor George Osborne ‘Jeffrey’ at G8 summit …
Barack Obama keeps calling Chancellor George Osborne ‘Jeffrey’ at G8 summit …
Discussion:
BBC, National Review and Guardian
Michael Hirsh / NationalJournal.com:
Obama's Turbulent European Vacation
Obama's Turbulent European Vacation
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Yahoo! News, New York Times and CNN
Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
Virginia Lt. Gov. Candidate Says Social Programs Hurt ‘Black Family’ More Than Slavery (Video) — The Virginia GOP's nominee for lieutenant governor, E.W. Jackson, gave a speech Wednesday in which he claimed government social programs have done more harm to the “black family” than slavery.
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Todd Allen Wilson / Hampton Roads Daily Press:
E. W. Jackson marks Juneteenth at Newport News event — E.W. Jackson, republican candidate for lieutenant governor, speaks during Wednesday's Juneteenth Celebration at King Lincoln Park in Newport News. — NEWPORT NEWS - E.W. Jackson, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's … and The Raw Story
Lee Enterprises / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Illinois GOP official pens allegedly racist attack on black GOP candidate — • By Kevin McDermott kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8268 — A county Republican Party chairman in central Illinois called a black female congressional candidate the “love child” of the Democratic party …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's … and The Hinterland Gazette
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Cheryl Carpenter Klimek / BizPac Review:
Obama offends Catholics in the UK, says religious schools are divisive — The Catholic media is up in arms over comments President Obama made during a speech while in Northern Ireland for the G8 summit. Obama made what is described as “an alarming call for an end to Catholic education,” …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Catholic Culture, Conservative Intelligence …, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy, BuzzFeed and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Marie O'Halloran / The Irish Times:
Daly attacks ‘slobbering’ over Obamas
Daly attacks ‘slobbering’ over Obamas
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Hill and The Gateway Pundit
Emily Goodin / The Hill:
Democrats start transition from President Obama to Hillary Clinton — Democrats in Washington are starting to shift from the Obamas to the Clintons. — Hillary Clinton has already racked up a couple of endorsements for the 2016 presidential race — and she hasn't even announced she's running yet.
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Manchin hits back at NRA in new TV ad — Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday hit back at the National Rifle Association, accusing its leaders of shifting their stance on background checks for political gain, and unveiling a new television ad defending his bipartisan gun-control measure.
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Paranoia Strikes Deep: The Press and Rand Paul — The absurd lengths journalists have gone to portray the Kentucky senator as if he's hiding something dangerous — Critiques of democracy are as old as the excesses of the Athenian variety. Here's a classic: The unmediated masses …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Hit & Run and The Week
Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
The Do-Nothing Congress Has Done a Lot — Perhaps, like approximately 80 percent of Americans, you disapprove of Congress. Beholding the nation's capital, you are apt to see a sleazy, gridlocked mess, a Boschian hellscape of partisan acrimony and special-interest greed.
Betsy McCaughey / Investor's Business Daily:
Using ObamaCare To Create A Permanent Democratic Majority — If you have to keep it a secret, you probably shouldn't be doing it. — But the California legislature and the new Covered California health insurance exchange are conspiring to keep secret how they will dole out more than half …
Discussion:
Power Line, National Review and Overlawyered
Kevin Johnson / USA Today:
Mueller tells lawmakers FBI has used drones in U.S. — WASHINGTON — FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged Wednesday that the agency has deployed drones to conduct surveillance in the U.S., and that the bureau was developing guidelines for their future law enforcement use.
Discussion:
The Agonist and Los Angeles Times
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Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Democratic groups launching ad against McConnell — Senate Majority PAC and Patriot Majority USA are launching a sustained campaign against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), starting with a television ad launched Thursday that hammers him for his decades-long tenure in Congress.
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Report: Watchdog to testify federal security clearance vetting lacks proper oversight — According to CNN, Patrick McFarland, the inspector general for the Office of Personnel Management, will tell lawmakers that the Office of Personnel Management does not have enough funding to make sure …