Top Items:
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Barack Obama's early VA response: Executive inaction — President Barack Obama wants to talk about flexing his administrative and executive power to do more. Instead, he got stuck talking about a clear administrative and executive failure that, at least so far, he hasn't done much about.
Discussion:
Hot Air
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Dems close ranks on VA — Senate Democrats are closing ranks behind Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and President Obama's decision to keep him in the cabinet despite Republican calls for his ouster. — As of Thursday afternoon, not a single Democratic senator had called for Shinseki's resignation.
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Schumer: Obama will act on immigration if GOP doesn't — Senate Democratic leaders say President Obama will act unilaterally to reform the nation's immigration system if House Republicans fail to pass legislation by the end of July. — “They have about a six-week window …
Discussion:
CBS News and The Moderate Voice
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Injured veterans program faces the ax
Injured veterans program faces the ax
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay, Daily Kos and Politico
J.D. Gordon / Fox News:
Al Qaeda terrorists at Guantanamo treated better than our vets — President Obama finally addressed the nation Wednesday about the growing scandal at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. After meeting with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki he pledged to hold folks accountable. — Thanks, Mr. President.
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics
RELATED:
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Not long ago, the left raved about the VA. — The unfolding scandal at the Veterans Health Administration was enough to drive the earnest liberals at Vox.com to mild profanity, and in a headline no less: “What the Hell Is Happening at the VA?” Here's the answer: … Damn.
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, Liberal Values, American Spectator, Mediaite, Power Line, BuzzFeed, CNN and American Prospect
Gregg Zoroya / USA Today:
Shinseki pledges to fix VA's problems — WASHINGTON — VA Secretary Eric Shinseki issued a message to veterans Thursday defending his leadership and promising to fix delays in care that have rocked his agency and the Obama administration in recent days. — The 71-year-old head of the Department …
Discussion:
National Review, The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air and Politico
New York Times:
A Surveillance Bill That Falls Short — A year ago, it would have been unimaginable for the House to pass a bill to curtail the government's abusive surveillance practices. The documents leaked by Edward Snowden, however, finally shocked lawmakers from both parties into action …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Daily Kos, NPR, Re/code, The Verge and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Spencer Ackerman / Guardian:
NSA reform bill loses backing from privacy advocates after major revisions
NSA reform bill loses backing from privacy advocates after major revisions
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Justin Amash, Shakesville, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, TalkLeft, Mashable and Los Angeles Times
Dustin Volz / NationalJournal.com:
Google, Facebook Warn NSA Bill Wouldn't Stop Mass Surveillance
Google, Facebook Warn NSA Bill Wouldn't Stop Mass Surveillance
Discussion:
Washington Post, emptywheel, Techdirt, Engadget, Booman Tribune and New York Times
The Clarion-Ledger:
MS Tea Party vice chairman arrested in Cochran case — UPDATED: Madison city court officials say that Mark Mayfield will appear before a judge today. — Also, attorney Kevin Camp, who represents Clayton Kelly, said two more arrests either have been or will be made in addition to Mayfield.
RELATED:
Scott Simmons / WAPT Channel 16:
2 more face charges in Cochran photo case
2 more face charges in Cochran photo case
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and RedState
Los Angeles Times:
Mark Cuban discusses his own prejudices in startling terms — It turns out, regarding race-related views among NBA owners, Donald Sterling may have company. — Less than a month after Sterling rocked the sports world with racist remarks, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has openly acknowledged his own prejudices.
Discussion:
CNN, ThinkProgress, Patterico's Pontifications and abc30.com
Noemie Emery / Weekly Standard:
They Had a Dream — Rule by experts comes a cropper — They had a dream. For almost a hundred years now, the famed academic-artistic-and-punditry industrial complex has dreamed of a government run by their kind of people (i.e., nature's noblemen), whose intelligence, wit, and refined sensibilities would bring us a heaven on earth.
Discussion:
The Other McCain and Roger L. Simon
Jonathan Karl / ABC News:
White House Contacted YouTube During Benghazi Attack, Darrell Issa Says — A still-classified State Department e-mail says that one of the first responses from the White House to the Benghazi attack was to contact YouTube to warn of the “ramifications” of allowing the posting of an anti-Islamic video …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, PoliticusUSA, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, Liberaland and The PJ Tatler
Mike Hudack / Facebook:
Please allow me to rant for a moment about the state of the media. — It's well known that CNN has gone from the network of Bernie Shaw, John Holliman, and Peter Arnett reporting live from Baghdad in 1991 to the network of kidnapped white girls. Our nation's newspapers have …
Discussion:
Scripting News, Althouse, Balloon Juice, Mashable, Mediaite, Gawker, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Poynter, Gigaom and Unfogged, more at Mediagazer »
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Who made the pivot to Asia? Putin. — On Wednesday, it finally happened — the pivot to Asia. No, not the United States. It was Russia that turned East. — In Shanghai, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a spectacular energy deal …
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Eric Cantor stresses support for legalization measure — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Wednesday stressed his support for a legalization measure for young undocumented immigrants in the military, after he was criticized by advocates who see him as the main obstacle to immigration reform.
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and Washington Post
RELATED:
Kate Nocera / BuzzFeed:
Senate Democrats Will Probably Block Military DREAMers Measure From Defense Bill
Senate Democrats Will Probably Block Military DREAMers Measure From Defense Bill
Discussion:
Hot Air and The Daily Caller
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
NBC News's Brian Williams interviews Snowden, Greenwald — Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy — NBC News's Lester Holt on Wednesday night anchored “NBC Nightly News,” substituting for Brian Williams, who was said to be “on assignment.”
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Week and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:
CNN:
Las Vegas, Cincinnati out of the mix for 2016 GOP convention — (CNN) - Las Vegas and Cincinnati withdrew bids to host the 2016 GOP convention, the Republican National Committee announced Thursday. — Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, and Kansas City are still in contention to host the convention …
Discussion:
Politico
RELATED:
Cincinnati.com:
Cincinnati out for 2016 GOP convention
Cincinnati out for 2016 GOP convention
Discussion:
OnPolitics, New York Times and ABC News