Top Items:
Benny Johnson / BuzzFeed:
America's Spies Want Edward Snowden Dead — “I would love to put a bullet in his head,” one Pentagon official told BuzzFeed. The NSA leaker is enemy No. 1 among those inside the intelligence world. — Snowden's Russian refugee document. — Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
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Washington Post:
Transcript of President Obama's Jan. 17 speech on NSA reforms — President Obama delivered the following remarks on changes to National Security Agency programs Jan. 17 at the Justice Department in Washington. Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service. — PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you very much.
Discussion:
ACLU, PostPartisan, The Plum Line, PoliticusUSA, The Federalist, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Moderate Voice and Hit & Run
New York Times:
Obama Calls for Overhaul of N.S.A.'s Phone Data Collection Program — WASHINGTON — President Obama said Friday that he would require intelligence agencies to obtain permission from a secret court before tapping into a vast trove of telephone data, but he will leave the data in the hands of the government for now.
Discussion:
Religion Dispatches, Guardian, Mediaite, Washington Post, The New Republic, The Week, Taking Note, Techdirt, The Other McCain, Hinterland Gazette, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Towleroad News #gay, The Moderate Voice, Lawfare, National Review, Gawker and Online NewsHour, more at Mediagazer »
Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:
Obama's NSA ‘reforms’ are little more than a PR attempt to mollify public
Obama's NSA ‘reforms’ are little more than a PR attempt to mollify public
Brian Fung / The Switch:
Everything you need to know about Obama's NSA reforms, in plain English
Everything you need to know about Obama's NSA reforms, in plain English
Discussion:
Gigaom, Hot Air, PostPartisan, The Dish, Booman Tribune and Post Politics
Wall Street Journal:
Obama Says Mass Collection of U.S. Phone Data Will End
Obama Says Mass Collection of U.S. Phone Data Will End
Discussion:
The White House, Washington Wire and TalkLeft
Reuters:
Exclusive: Obama to announce overhaul to controversial NSA program
Exclusive: Obama to announce overhaul to controversial NSA program
Discussion:
The Hill, Hot Air, Mashable, The Verge, The Switch, Booman Tribune and Shakesville
Igor Bobic / Talking Points Memo:
READ: Obama's Full Speech On NSA Surveillance Reforms
READ: Obama's Full Speech On NSA Surveillance Reforms
Discussion:
Firedoglake, News Desk, Guardian and Balloon Juice
Karen Langley / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pennsylvania judge strikes down state's voter ID law — HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania judge has found the state's voter ID law unconstitutional. — According to the ruling from Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley, the requirement to present an acceptable form of identification when voting in person …
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune and Balloon Juice
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Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:
Initial Thoughts on Today's Ruling Striking Down Pa's Voter ID Law on State Grounds — I have now had a chance to skim the 103-page Pa. trial court ruling striking down Pa's voter id law—I will have to give a closer reading later in the day when I have the time. But here are a few initial thoughts.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Week, Guardian and MinnPost
Emily Schultheis / Politico:
Pennsylvania judge strikes down voter ID law
Pennsylvania judge strikes down voter ID law
Discussion:
The Right Scoop
Rick Lyman / New York Times:
Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Is Struck Down
ThinkProgress:
Company Behind West Virginia's Chemical Spill Files For Bankruptcy — According to the Charleston Gazette, Freedom Industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. — On January 10, a tank owned by Freedom spilled 7,500 gallons of 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM) …
Discussion:
The Impolitic, CleanTechnica and Charleston Gazette
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Kate White / Charleston Gazette:
Freedom Industries files for bankruptcy — CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Freedom Industries, the company that fouled thousands of West Virginians' water with a chemical leak last week, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. — The company's assets and liabilities are “unknown,” according to the filing.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Verge and Americans Against the …
New York Times:
The Inequality Problem — Suddenly the whole world is talking about income inequality. But, as this debate goes on, it is beginning to look as though the thing is being misconceived. The income inequality debate is confusing matters more than clarifying them, and it is leading us off in unhelpful directions.
Discussion:
Democracy in America, Business Insider, Paul Krugman, PolicyShop, Gawker, American Prospect and Talking Points Memo
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CEPR:
David Brooks' Primitive Defense of the Rich — David Brooks is sweating hard trying to defend the one percent against the rest of the country and reality. His column today desperately warns readers: — “Some on the left have always tried to introduce a more class-conscious style of politics.
Discussion:
Business Insider and Shakesville
McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:
Chris Christie's Crisis Plunges Republican Party Deeper Into The Wilderness — The establishment freaks out as another favorite son falls from grace. “There are definitely people jumping ship.” — Lucas Jackson / Reuters / Reuters — In the immediate aftermath of their emphatic defeat in 2012 …
Discussion:
Politico, Hot Air, The Week, Washington Monthly and The Fix
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Christopher Baxter / New Jersey Online:
Chris Christie bridge scandal: 20 subpoenas issued, governor hires attorney
Chris Christie bridge scandal: 20 subpoenas issued, governor hires attorney
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Daily Kos, USA Today and U.S. Senate Committee …
Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:
Club for Growth pans Lankford, Cole for Coburn seat — Oklahoma Republican Reps. Tom Cole and James Lankford could have difficulty picking up conservative support, if they try to replace retiring Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). — Coburn's retirement is likely to set off a GOP primary scramble …
Discussion:
Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Fix and Roll Call
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Politico:
Tom Coburn won't serve rest of Senate term
Tom Coburn won't serve rest of Senate term
Discussion:
American Spectator, Hot Air and Post Politics
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Hillary? Really? — This week's Time magazine splashes the question on its cover: “Can Anyone Stop Hillary?” The Weekly Standard is happy to provide our friends at Time with an answer to their query: Yes. Hillary Clinton can be stopped. How? Let us count the ways.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Althouse, Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and Right Turn
ABC News:
50 Ways to Celebrate Michelle Obama's Birthday — First Lady Michelle Obama turns 50 today, and although the big White House celebration planned by President Obama isn't until Saturday, that doesn't mean you have to wait to celebrate. — If your invite to Saturday's dance party in Washington went missing …
Gregory D. Johnsen / BuzzFeed:
60 Words And A War Without End: The Untold Story Of The Most Dangerous Sentence In U.S. History — Sunrise was still nearly an hour off when Nazih al-Ruqai climbed into his black Hyundai SUV outside a mosque in northern Tripoli and turned the key. The lanky 49-year-old had left …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Yasiin Mugerwa / Daily Monitor:
Museveni blocks Anti-Homosexuality Bill — Parliament- President Museveni has confronted Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for passing the controversial Anti-gays Bill without quorum and described homosexuals as “abnormal” beings who can be “rescued” through economic empowerment.
Discussion:
Box Turtle Bulletin, Clutch Magazine, Washington Blade, Guardian, LGBTQ Nation, AMERICAblog News and Towleroad News #gay
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Kathy Lally / Washington Post:
Putin: Gay people will be safe at Olympics if they ‘leave kids alone’ — MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said Friday that gay people have nothing to fear in Russia as long as they leave children alone. — Putin met with a group of volunteers in the Olympic mountain venue at Krasnaya Polyana …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Mashable and Hot Air
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
GOP trying to chop down Reid's amendment tree — Senate Republicans have deployed a new parliamentary tactic designed to end — or at least call attention to — the frequent Democratic ban on considering GOP amendments. — Republicans have tried it four times, without success.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and The Huffington Post
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Obama to Dems: Boehner will pass immigration reform in 2014
Obama to Dems: Boehner will pass immigration reform in 2014
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, NationalJournal.com, The Plum Line, First Read and Jammie Wearing Fools