Top Items:
Barton Gellman / Washington Post:
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.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, Hillicon Valley, Crooks and Liars, New York Times, CNN, Washington Wire, Hullabaloo, emptywheel, Hit & Run, The Week, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Techdirt, americanthinker.com, The Daily Banter, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, msnbc.com, Politico, Weasel Zippers, WJLA-TV, The Verge, BBC, GigaOM, Mashable, Pat Dollard, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Right Wing News, Prairie Weather, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs, The Right Scoop, Balloon Juice, Simple Justice, The Volokh Conspiracy and Philly.com, more at Mediagazer »
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Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Court: Ability to police U.S. spying program limited — The leader of the secret court that is supposed to provide critical oversight of the government's vast spying programs said that its ability do so is limited and that it must trust the government to report when it improperly spies on Americans.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The New Republic, Hit & Run, Hillicon Valley, The Week, The Verge, Gizmodo, Techdirt and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »
Andrea Peterson / The Switch:
Remember when Obama said the NSA wasn't “actually abusing” its powers? He was wrong. — At a news conference Friday, President Obama insisted that the threat of NSA abuses was mostly theoretical: … Today our colleague Barton Gellman released new documents that contradicted Obama's claims.
Discussion:
Techdirt, Weasel Zippers, Patterico's Pontifications and The PJ Tatler
Brett LoGiurato / Business Insider:
GOP CHIEF: Mitt Romney's ‘Self-Deportation’ Quote Was ‘Racist’ And ‘Horrific’ — BOSTON — In condemning Rep. Steve King's incendiary comments on immigration, RNC chairman Reince Priebus swept in his party's presidential nominee, saying that talk of “self-deportation” was “horrific” and even “racist.”
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, The Right Scoop and The Raw Story
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Politico:
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.
Discussion:
The Plum Line
James Hohmann / Politico:
With Clinton vote, RNC pushes back on debates — BOSTON — The Republican National Committee will pass a resolution Friday to bar NBC and CNN from hosting GOP primary debates in 2016 if the networks move forward with their Hillary Clinton projects. — But the vote is not just about Clinton.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, TheBlaze.com and CNN
John Fund / National Review:
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.
Discussion:
Washington Times
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
GOP to vote Friday on banning NBC, CNN from debates
GOP to vote Friday on banning NBC, CNN from debates
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Politico
Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg:
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.”
Discussion:
Foreign Policy, Booman Tribune, National Review, Hot Air and Wonkblog
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CNN:
More clashes feared as protesters vow ‘Friday of anger’ in Egypt — Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy gather for a demonstration outside Al-Fath Mosque in Ramses Square in Cairo on Friday, August, 16. Egypt is bracing for more violence as demonstrators plan to defy …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch
Elizabeth Chuck / World News:
Egypt may avoid civil war — but bloody conflict could continue for years
Egypt may avoid civil war — but bloody conflict could continue for years
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Pat Dollard and Red Alert Politics
John Hinderaker / Power Line:
It's Official: Obama Has Surpassed Jimmy Carter
It's Official: Obama Has Surpassed Jimmy Carter
Discussion:
Reuters and Associated Press
BBC:
Egypt crisis: Deaths as Cairo violence resumes
Egypt crisis: Deaths as Cairo violence resumes
Discussion:
americanthinker.com and Blazing Cat Fur
Ralph Peters / New York Post:
This blood is on the hands of Muslim Brotherhood
This blood is on the hands of Muslim Brotherhood
Discussion:
New York Times and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
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.”
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette, RIA Novosti, CNN, Smartypants, The Hill, Poynter and Techdirt, more at Mediagazer »
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Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Edward Snowden Talks With His Father — But Lawyers for Both Sides Disapproved of the Internet Chat — MOSCOW—Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and his father spoke for the first time since late May early Thursday, going against the wishes of their lawyers …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Little Green Footballs and RIA Novosti
Mark Hosenball / Reuters:
Snowden downloaded NSA secrets while working for Dell, sources say
Snowden downloaded NSA secrets while working for Dell, sources say
Discussion:
Hot Air and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »
Philip Bump / The Atlantic Wire:
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.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and E2-Wire
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Washington Examiner:
Examiner Editorial: The ‘Great Divider’ likes political speech only when it likes him
Examiner Editorial: The ‘Great Divider’ likes political speech only when it likes him
Discussion:
Betsy's Page and Washington Post
Juliet Eilperin / Post Politics:
White House solar panels being installed this week
White House solar panels being installed this week
Discussion:
PlanetSave, John Hanger's Facts of The Day, Politico, Mercury News, The Verge, ThinkProgress and The PJ Tatler
Politicker:
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.
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared and The Daily Banter
Judy Quest / CNN:
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.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler and Outside the Beltway
New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Prairie Weather
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
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.
Jonathan Pollard / Jerusalem Post:
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 …
Discussion:
Algemeiner.com and Israel Matzav
Lara Seligman / The Hill:
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 …
Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:
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.
Discussion:
Politico, The Huffington Post and Pat Dollard