Top Items:
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Judge: NSA phone program likely unconstitutional — A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency program which collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from or within the United States is likely to be unconstitutional. — U.S. District Court Judge …
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Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Federal Judge Rules Against N.S.A. Phone Data Program — WASHINGTON — A Federal District Court judge ruled on Monday that the National Security Agency program that is systematically keeping records of all Americans' phone calls most likely violates the Constitution, and he ordered the government …
Discussion:
Guardian, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Mediaite, TechCrunch, SCOTUSblog, The BLT, Talking Points Memo, Mashable and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
This Is The Most Important Paragraph In The Court Decision Against The NSA
Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:
Federal Judge: NSA Program Revealed By Snowden Likely Unconstitutional
Spencer Ackerman / Guardian:
NSA officials consider Edward Snowden amnesty in return for documents
NSA officials consider Edward Snowden amnesty in return for documents
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Washington Post, CANNONFIRE, The Hinterland Gazette, AEIdeas, The Moderate Voice, Althouse, The Agonist, National Review and Hit & Run
Jessica Hopper / Sound of the City:
Read the “Stomach-Churning” Sexual Assault Accusations Against R. Kelly in Full — It has been nearly 15 years since music journalist Jim DeRogatis caught the story that has since defined his career, one that he wishes didn't exist: R. Kelly's sexual predation on teenage girls.
Discussion:
Business Insider
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Alyssa Rosenberg / ThinkProgress:
What R. Kelly Teaches Us About How Sexual Predators Choose And Silence Their Victims — On Monday, the Village Voice published a long conversation between Jessica Hopper, the music editor for Rookie, and Jim DeRogatis, now a professor at Columbia College, who, as a critic at the Chicago Sun-Times …
Michael Isikoff / NBCNews:
Climate change expert's fraud was ‘crime of massive proportion,’ say feds — The EPA's highest-paid employee and top expert on climate change engaged in “crime of massive proportions” by pretending to be working as an undercover agent for the CIA so he could avoid doing his real job for years …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Watts Up With That? and Weasel Zippers
Erik Wasson / The Hill:
In budget deal, a secret reward for Dems — The two-year budget deal approved by the House has hidden political benefits for Senate Democrats, Republicans charge. — Because it sets a top-line budget number for 2015, Democrats won't have to write and pass a budget resolution in the midterm election year.
Discussion:
ABC News, Roll Call, CNN, First Read, Washington Wire and Politico
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Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Senate Conservatives Fund: Boehner Targeting Conservatives Just Like IRS
Senate Conservatives Fund: Boehner Targeting Conservatives Just Like IRS
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Rebecca Kaplan / CBS News:
On budget deal, all eyes turn to Senate Republicans
On budget deal, all eyes turn to Senate Republicans
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, TIME, Power Line and ThinkProgress
Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
‘60 Minutes’ Trashed For NSA Piece — “60 Minutes” was trashed all over Twitter on Sunday night for a two-part story on the NSA which critics dubbed obsequious at best. — The piece was fronted by reporter John Miller, who had to tell viewers this at the top of the segment: “Full disclosure …
Discussion:
Poynter, CBS News, Mediaite and Ricochet Conversations Feed, more at Mediagazer »
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Art Swift / Gallup:
Honesty and Ethics Rating of Clergy Slides to New Low — Nurses again top list; lobbyists are worst — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' rating of the honesty and ethics of the clergy has fallen to 47%, the first time this rating has dropped below 50% since Gallup first asked about the clergy in 1977.
Discussion:
Reuters, Politico, CNN, The Hill, Post Politics, The BLT, Booman Tribune and Political MoneyLine Blog
Erica Goode / New York Times:
Sheriffs Refuse to Enforce Laws on Gun Control — GREELEY, Colo. — When Sheriff John Cooke of Weld County explains in speeches why he is not enforcing the state's new gun laws, he holds up two 30-round magazines. One, he says, he had before July 1, when the law banning the possession …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Daily Kos, VodkaPundit, Global Grind, JustOneMinute, Ed Driscoll, Liberaland, Balloon Juice and Prairie Weather
Bloomberg:
Secret Inside BofA Office of CEO Stymied Needy Homeowners — Photographer: Phelan M. Ebenhack/Bloomberg — Isabel Santamaria thought she finally caught a break in her effort to save her Florida home from foreclosure after nine frustrating months: She reached Bank of America Corp.'s Office of the CEO and President.
Discussion:
Daily Kos and The Plum Line
Alex Pareene / Salon:
Hack List No. 9: Thomas Friedman — Our annual list is here! This time, we channeled each hack's unique voice — and let them “write” their own entries — A Visit to Friedman World — I was at a conference in Brussels last week and having trouble with my column.
Josh Barro / Business Insider:
Conservatives Have No Idea What To Do About Recessions — For the last five years, liberals have promoted three main economic policies to shorten or ameliorate the Great Recession and speed the recovery from it. — Deficit-financed spending to compensate for demand gaps in the private sector.
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, Washington Monthly and The New Republic
Kotaku:
Tea Party Facebook Group Posts BioShock Image Satirizing Tea Party — The National Liberty Foundation is a Florida-based group of radical conservatives associated with the right-wing group that calls themselves the Tea Party. They use their Facebook to post lots of right-wing meme images and racist links.
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Little Green Footballs and Hullabaloo
Camille Paglia / TIME:
It's a Man's World, And It Always Will Be — The modern economy is a male epic, in which women have found a productive role—but women were not its author — If men are obsolete, then women will soon be extinct—unless we rush down that ominous Brave New World path where females …
Discussion:
Rush Limbaugh and AEIdeas
Annie Linskey / Bloomberg:
Brown's Move to New Hampshire Fuels Talk of Senate Race — Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown plans to move to New Hampshire, the latest sign that he's considering a U.S. Senate bid there, which would complicate Democrats' effort to hold their majority in the chamber.
Discussion:
ABC News and First Read
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Gary Patton out in DoD sexual assault post — The Pentagon's top sexual assault prevention official is stepping down next month amid an internal investigation that he intimidated whistleblowers during a previous stint in Afghanistan. — Maj. Gen. Gary Patton is set to retire in the spring …
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Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Pentagon sexual assault prevention chief stepping down
Pentagon sexual assault prevention chief stepping down
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Betsy Rothstein / The Daily Caller:
Vice President Joe Biden gropes White House reporter — Sure, he likely didn't mean anything overtly sexual by it. But Vice President Joe Biden is a folksy kind of guy who has officially entered dirty old man territory and done something sure to elicit laughs within the White House Press Corps.
Discussion:
TheBlaze.com and The PJ Tatler
Asastaff / The American Studies Association:
ASA Members Vote To Endorse Academic Boycott of Israel — The members of the American Studies Association have endorsed the Association's participation in a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. In an election that attracted 1252 voters, the largest number of participants in the organization's history …
Discussion:
National Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit and New York Times
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Stern Words for Wall Street's Watchdogs, From a Judge — WASHINGTON — It used to be common for the federal government to prosecute prominent people responsible for debacles that rattled the financial system. Michael R. Milken, the junk bond artist, went to prison in 1991; Charles H. Keating Jr. …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather and DealBook
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Libertarian Radio Host Neal Boortz: “I'm Sorry, Santa Claus Is White, Deal With It” — “I'm gonna scream and complain because Martin Luther King is always portrayed as black,” said Neal Boortz, who was substituting for Herman Cain on his radio program Monday. — View Video ›
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, AMERICAblog News, The Hinterland Gazette and The Raw Story
Bloomberg:
Make Obamacare Cool, or Make It Hurt — Instead of outreach programs and sappy TV ads with parents imploring their kids to sign up for Obamacare, President Barack Obama needs to start thinking creatively if he wants his signature legislative achievement to be a success. What motivates kids?
Discussion:
NewsBusters, National Review and Weasel Zippers
L. Gordon Crovitz / Wall Street Journal:
Jimmy Carter's Costly Patent Mistake — His 1979 proposal has led to ill-conceived protection for software ideas and a tidal wave of litigation.
Discussion:
National Review
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Why Inequality Matters — Rising inequality isn't a new concern. Oliver Stone's movie “Wall Street,” with its portrayal of a rising plutocracy insisting that greed is good, was released in 1987. But politicians, intimidated by cries of “class warfare,” have shied away from making …
Discussion:
Power Line, The Mahablog, Daily Kos and Solutions Journalism Network