memeorandum: President Obama weighs in on information-gathering (Washington Post)

9:50 AM ET, August 10, 2013

Top Items:

President Obama weighs in on information-gathering — EVER SINCE Edward Snowden leaked a series of documents on the National Security Agency (NSA) information-gathering programs, President Obama has praised the notion of more debate on what information — and when — the government can collect about Americans.

Washington Post:

Obama announces proposals to reform NSA surveillance — President Obama announced plans Friday to pursue reforms that would open the legal proceedings surrounding the National Security Agency's surveillance programs to greater scrutiny, the administration's most concerted response yet to a series of national security disclosures.

Discussion: Prairie Weather, The Switch, The Reaction, The Impolitic, Forbes, Hit & Run, The Verge, American Prospect, The Fix, Reuters and Lawfare

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:

Obama: Putin looks like ‘bored kid in the back of the classroom’ — President Obama on Friday insisted he doesn't have a bad personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. — Obama, who cancelled a meeting next month in Moscow with Putin over Russia's granting of asylum …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

Edward Snowden, patriot — President Obama's news conference today was ... weird. — Binyamin Appelbaum, an economics reporter for the New York Times, summed it up sharply on Twitter: “Obama is really mad at Edward Snowden for forcing us patriots to have this critically important conversation.”

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Switch, Prairie Weather, Techdirt, First Read and WorldViews

Guardian:
NSA loophole allows warrantless search for US citizens' emails and phone calls

Discussion: Senator Wyden's Press Feed, FP Passport, Hullabaloo, Politico, VentureBeat, emptywheel, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Techdirt, Lawfare, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, Boing Boing and Samizdata

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
Obama Administration Launching NSA Transparency Website

Discussion: Bangor Daily News, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, The Week and ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama heads to vacation with defense of National Security Agency, ObamaCare

Discussion: Politico

Jacob Fischler / BuzzFeed:
Obama: “I Don't Think Mr. Snowden Was A Patriot”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

New York Times:
President Moves to Ease Worries on Surveillance

Discussion: The Caucus, Washington Monthly, Hot Air and TalkLeft

Jana Winter / Fox News:
NSA head says agency working to reduce leaks by replacing people with machines

Discussion: protein wisdom and The PJ Tatler

Washington Post:

TRANSCRIPT: President Obama's August 9, 2013, news conference at the White House — By Washington Post Staff, — President Obama took questions from reporters at the White House on Aug. 9, 2013. — PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody. Please have a seat.

Discussion: Electronic Frontier Foundation, National Review and News Desk

Washington Post:
TRANSCRIPT: President Obama's August 9, 2013, news conference at the White House

Discussion: Hot Air

EndPlay / KGTV-TV:

Chief of Staff Lee Burdick says Mayor Bob Filner entered therapy a week early, completed program — SAN DIEGO - San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's chief of staff confirmed to 10News that the mayor began his therapy a week early and has already completed the program.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Most Recent, Voice of San Diego, Firedoglake, The Hill, CNN and National Review

boxer.authoring.testing.senate.gov:
Boxer Sends Open Letter to San Diego Mayor Bob Filner

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Voice of San Diego, ThinkProgress and Politico

Stuart Oldham / Variety:

Jay Leno's Last ‘Tonight Show’ to Air Feb. 6 — NBC to pull latenight host on the eve of Olympics coverage — Jay Leno's last “Tonight Show” on NBC will air Feb. 6, sources confirm to Variety. — “Tonight Show” exec producer Debbie Vickers made the announcement today to employees of the show …

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Deadline.com:

Leno's Last ‘Tonight Show’ To Air Feb. 6; Staff Paid Until September — EXCLUSIVE: Jay Leno-hosted Tonight Show will air its last episode on February 6th, and, per terms of his show exit deal with NBC, the cast and crew will be paid until his contract expires in September.

Discussion: Mediaite and TVbytheNumbers

Seth Koenig / Bangor Daily News:

LePage in fighter jet simulator: ‘I want to find the Press Herald building and blow it up’ — NORTH BERWICK, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage — who earlier this summer told his commissioners to stop speaking to reporters from the Portland Press Herald and its two sister papers after he objected …

Discussion: CNN and The Huffington Post

Eric Russell / Portland Press-Herald:
LePage says he'd like to blow up Press Herald

Discussion: Politico and Poynter

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:

In Leaked Audio, Cuccinelli Affirms Support For E.W. Jackson — Ken Cuccinelli, the attorney general and Republican nominee for governor in Virginia, told supporters recently they should have no question about his support for E.W. Jackson, the GOP's polarizing nominee for lieutenant governor in that state.

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Social Security Payments Limited To Same-Sex Married Couples Living In States That Recognize Marriage Equality — For a same-sex couple legally married in Massachusetts, who live in Texas and “meet all other factors of entitlement,” the Social Security Administration told employees Friday, “Hold the claim.”

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy and Joe. My. God.

Decca Aitkenhead / Guardian:

Labour must shout louder or risk election defeat, warns Andy Burnham — Shadow health secretary says time is running out for coherent Labour challenge to the coalition — Labour's leadership must put its cards on the table before next spring and produce a set of policies which define …

Discussion: Spectator, BBC and National Updates

Bill Carter / New York Times:

Fox May Produce Clinton Biopic Reviled by G.O.P. — The script for the proposed mini-series on the life of the possible presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton hasn't even been written but we may already have a plot twist. — While NBC has come under heavy fire, especially from Republican critics …

Discussion: National Review

Robert Costa / National Review:

Cantor: ‘No One Is Advocating a Government Shutdown’ — As the fall's fiscal drama nears, a group of conservative lawmakers are urging Republican leaders to use Obamacare as a bargaining chip. Behind the scenes, they're warning Speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Wonkblog

Kashmir Hill / Forbes:

Lavabit's Ladar Levison: ‘If You Knew What I Know About Email, You Might Not Use It’ — Ladar Levison, 32, has spent ten years building encrypted email service Lavabit, attracting over 410,000 users. When NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was revealed to be one of those users in July …

Discussion: Boing Boing, Business Insider and The Daily Caller

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Harry Reid: Conference would lead to ‘win’ — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) declared Friday that the Senate's immigration bill would “win” if the two chambers ever went into bicameral negotiations to pass a comprehensive reform bill. — During an interview on KNPR …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Plum Line, The Daily Caller and ModBee.com