NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds  —  The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

Taking Back the GOP Debates  —  The summer meetings of national political parties are usually quiet affairs, but this week's Republican National Committee meeting in Boston is full of controversy about who should moderate and run the 2016 GOP presidential-primary debates.

What Obama Misunderstands About Egypt  —  This morning, President Barack Obama condemned the Egyptian military's slaughter of Muslim Brotherhood members and sympathizers, and canceled joint military exercises scheduled for next month.  He said that the violence should stop and that “a process of national reconciliation should begin.”

Eve of Destruction  —  It is almost impossible to find an establishment Republican in town who's not downright morose about the 2013 that has been and is about to be.  Most dance around it in public, but they see this year as a disaster in the making, even if most elected Republicans don't know it or admit it.

Edward Snowden To HuffPost: Media Being Misled  —  NEW YORK — National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden wants to set the record straight after individuals associated with his father have, in his words, “misled” journalists into “printing false claims about my situation.”

Defying Reagan, Obama Returns Solar Panels to the White House  —  Now that the tedium of the 2012 campaign is over, President Obama is making good on his 2010 pledge to put solar panels on top of the White House.  The panels (American-made, of course) will be the second set the building has ever seen.

Anthony Weiner's Relationship With Former Staffer Raises Questions  —  Anthon Weiner.  (Photo: Getty)  —  Before he married his wife, former Congressman Anthony Weiner had a previously undisclosed relationship with an on-again-off-again congressional and campaign aide nearly two decades his junior.

A real clown wouldn't mock Obama  —  Editor's note: Judy Quest is a board member and past president of Clowns of America International, an organization of clowns that promotes the craft.  She has been a clown for 32 years and has trained hundreds of clowns.  She writes regularly for clown journals.

No Banker Left Behind  —  The Detroit bankruptcy case has been cast as a contest between bondholders and pensioners that can be resolved only by shared sacrifice.  —  In principle, we have no problem with that, though in practice, the pensioners' fair share will have to take into account …

Moment of Truthiness  —  We all know how democracy is supposed to work.  Politicians are supposed to campaign on the issues, and an informed public is supposed to cast its votes based on those issues, with some allowance for the politicians' perceived character and competence.

Axelrod: More ObamaCare changes likely on the way  —  Former Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod suggested Friday that further changes to the president's signature health care law are on the horizon.  —  Asked on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” if the administration would tweak the law after it is implemented …

Michael Savage Predicts He Will Replace Hannity at Cumulus, Limbaugh Likely to Stay  —  Conservative radio host Michael Savage teased a “major announcement” on his website earlier today, and tonight, he delivered.  Savage predicted that he will be replacing Sean Hannity's time slot on Cumulus Media's network of stations.

Restoring Israel to greatness  —  Speaking up for the first time in 28 years, Pollard reserves some tough words for Israel; says that a country with no respect for the dead has no respect for the living.  —  When tragedy strikes anywhere in the world, the State of Israel is always among …