memeorandum: Supreme Court Weighs Cases Redefining Legal Equality (Adam Liptak/New York Times)

12:10 PM ET, June 23, 2013

Top Items:

N.S.A. Leaker Leaves Hong Kong on Flight to Moscow — HONG KONG — The Hong Kong government announced on Sunday afternoon that it had allowed the departure from its territory of Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has acknowledged disclosing classified documents …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Associated Press, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, WikiLeaks, Guardian, No More Mister Nice Blog, ViralRead, PoliCyBear, Naked DC, Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, The Verge and American Power, more at Mediagazer »

WikiLeaks:

WikiLeaks Statement On Edward Snowden's Exit From Hong Kong — Mr Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who exposed evidence of a global surveillance regime conducted by US and UK intelligence agencies, has left Hong Kong legally. He is bound for a democratic nation via a safe route …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Red Alert Politics, Hit & Run, Business Insider, New York Times, The Raw Story, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Post Politics

James Pomfret / Reuters:

Hong Kong lets Snowden leave, with Cuba among possible destinations — (Reuters) - A former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency, charged by the United States with espionage, was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, his final destination as yet unknown, because a U.S. request …

Discussion: Xinhua News Agency, ABCNEWS, addictinginfo.org, Hit & Run, Joe. My. God., TalkLeft, Guardian, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Associated Press and New York Times

CNN:

WikiLeaks: Snowden arrives in Moscow — (CNN) — The global cat-and-mouse hunt for Edward Snowden took a dramatic turn Sunday when the man wanted on U.S. espionage charges fled Hong Kong and reportedly arrived in Russia. — WikiLeaks said in a Twitter post Sunday that Snowden had touched down in Moscow.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Guardian and Washington Free Beacon

Guardian:

Edward Snowden leaves Hong Kong for Moscow — NSA whistleblower left on Aeroflot flight to Moscow, Hong Kong government confirms, two days after US charged him with espionage — The NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has flown out of Hong Kong, where he had been in hiding since identifying himself …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Scared Monkeys, Mediaite, Boing Boing and Hit & Run

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

Schumer: Putin 'aiding and abetting Snowden's escape' — (CNN) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is harming his county's relationship with the United States by allowing NSA leaker Edward Snowden to land in Moscow, Sen. Chuck Schumer charged on Sunday. — The New York Democrat …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette

ABCNEWS:

‘This Week’ Transcript: NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander — A rush transcript of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” airing on Sunday morning, June 23, 2013 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. — GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC HOST: And we begin with that breaking news.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Sydney Morning Herald and msnbc.com

Reuters:

Snowden has ticket to Cuba, may go to Venezuela: Russian reports — MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is booked on a flight from Moscow to Cuba on Monday, Russian news agencies Interfax and Itar-Tass cited sources at Russian airline Aeroflot as saying on Sunday.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Gateway Pundit and The Hinterland Gazette

Peter Walker / Guardian:
Edward Snowden leaves Hong Kong for Moscow: live updates

Discussion: Mediaite, China Real Time Report, Blogs of War, Balloon Juice and AL.com

Emily Schultheis / Politico:
Nancy Pelosi booed, heckled at Netroots Nation 2013

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Slate, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh, AL.com, NewsBusters, Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Raw Story, The Huffington Post and The Hinterland Gazette

Jia Lynn Yang / Washington Post:
Snowden departed Hong Kong for a ‘third country,’ government says

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Moderate Voice, Gawker and Post Politics

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
NSA leaker Snowden leaves Hong Kong, arrives in Moscow

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Jake Miller / CBS News:
White House: “We expect” Hong Kong to comply with Snowden extradition

Discussion: Sky News, Firedoglake, Post Politics, New York Times, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Politico, The Verge, The Hill and AllThingsD

Richard N. Haass / New York Times:

America Can Take a Breather. And It Should. — THE United States is currently enjoying an unprecedented respite in the foreign policy arena — a temporary relief from the normal rigors of history that allows us to take stock at home and abroad. — It may seem outlandish to claim that we're …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Eric W. Dolan / The Raw Story:

Morality study finds conservatives show a ‘general insensitivity to consequences’ — When it comes to topics like abortion or assisted suicide, there seems to be no common ground between conservatives and liberals. Why is there such a noticeable rift between the two political orientations?

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Weighs Cases Redefining Legal Equality — WASHINGTON — Within days, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a series of decisions that could transform three fundamental social institutions: marriage, education and voting. — The extraordinary run of blockbuster rulings due …

Michael Gordon / The Charlotte Observer:
N.C. lawyers listen as Justice Scalia bemoans ‘moral arbiter’ on eve of gay marriage ruling

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Towleroad News #gay, Hullabaloo and Joe. My. God.

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Obama to take sweeping action on climate — President Obama will announce his intention to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, increase appliance efficiency standards and promote renewable energy development on public lands in a speech Tuesday outlining his plan to use executive powers to address climate change.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Washington Monthly, Wonkblog and BizPac Review

Juliet Eilperin / Post Politics:
Obama to announce Tuesday he will regulate existing power plants as part of climate strategy

Discussion: Right Wing News, E2-Wire, Maggie's Farm, protein wisdom, Twitchy, ThinkProgress and The Gateway Pundit

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Paul opposes current immigration bill — Sen. Rand Paul outlined his opposition to immigration reform legislation on Sunday, saying it doesn't sufficiently prioritize border security. — “I'm all in favor of immigration reform but I'm like most conservatives in the country …

Discussion: CNN

Matea Gold / Washington Post:

Conservative donors eye independent groups with new skepticism — Charlie Spies knows how to raise money. The Republican lawyer helped rake in $153 million for Restore Our Future, the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC. — But he's had a harder slog with one of his latest projects …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Booman Tribune