Top Items:
Tracy Connor / NBC News:
EXCLUSIVE: Edward Snowden Tells Brian Williams the U.S. Stranded Him in Russia — In the sit-down, Snowden also fought back against critics who dismissed him as a low-level hacker — saying he was “trained as a spy” and offered technical expertise to high levels of government.
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Bill Carter / New York Times:
To Get Snowden Interview, NBC News Relied on Secrecy — Brian Williams met Edward J. Snowden in the Kempinski Hotel in Moscow last week after months of negotiations between NBC News and intermediaries for Mr. Snowden. — The conversation, which lasted more than four hours …
Discussion:
Mediaite, FishbowlDC and The Huffington Post
Erin McClam / NBC News:
EXCLUSIVE: Edward Snowden Tells Brian Williams: ‘I Was Trained as a Spy’
EXCLUSIVE: Edward Snowden Tells Brian Williams: ‘I Was Trained as a Spy’
Discussion:
PandoDaily, Business Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Dot, NPR, The Week, Gawker, The Raw Story and Mashable
Lexington Herald-Leader:
Say again, Senator, ACA unkynected? — Sen. Mitch McConnell has some explaining to do. — What in the world did he mean last week when he told reporters that repeal of the Affordable Care Act — “root and branch,” as he has demanded many times — is “unconnected” to the future of Kynect, Kentucky's health insurance exchange?
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, FatLip, Washington Post, WFPL and Daily Kos
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Joe Sonka / FatLip:
Mitch McConnell doubles down on lie that Kynect is unconnected to Obamacare
Mitch McConnell doubles down on lie that Kynect is unconnected to Obamacare
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and AMERICAblog News
Phillip M. Bailey / WFPL:
Obamacare Presents Political Dilemmas for Alison Lundergan Grimes and Mitch McConnell
Obamacare Presents Political Dilemmas for Alison Lundergan Grimes and Mitch McConnell
Discussion:
Liberal Values, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg View and Daily Kos
Margalit Fox / New York Times:
Maya Angelou, Lyrical Witness of the Jim Crow South, Dies at 86 — Maya Angelou, the memoirist and poet whose landmark book of 1969, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” — which describes in lyrical, unsparing prose her childhood in the Jim Crow South — was among the first autobiographies …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, AMERICAblog News, Outside the Beltway, Hinterland Gazette, Colorlines and Shakesville
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MyFOX8.com:
Maya Angelou dead at 86 — Dr. Maya Angelou during a Dec. 2013 interview (WGHP) — WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Award-winning author, renowned poet and civil rights activist Dr. Maya Angelou has died. She was 86. — Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines confirmed Angelou was found by her caretaker on Wednesday morning.
Discussion:
WAVE-TV, The Huffington Post, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Hinterland Gazette, Jezebel, Fox News Insider, KDVR.com, Daily Dot, Mediaite and Mashable
Emma Brown / Washington Post:
Maya Angelou, writer and poet, dies at age 86
Maya Angelou, writer and poet, dies at age 86
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, NPR and The Dish
Washington Post:
Full transcript of President Obama's commencement address at West Point — President Obama delivered the following remarks at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., commencement ceremony on May 28, 2014. Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service. — PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard and News Desk
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Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama jabs foreign policy critics
Obama jabs foreign policy critics
Discussion:
ABC News, Hot Air and JustOneMinute
Major Garrett / NationalJournal.com:
‘This Is How Wars End in the 21st Century’
‘This Is How Wars End in the 21st Century’
Discussion:
Informed Comment
CNN:
Obama answers critics
Obama answers critics
Discussion:
Bloomberg View, Hit & Run, Taylor Marsh, White House.gov Blog and The Daily Beast
Jonathan Topaz / Politico:
Richard Burr: No apology to veterans' groups — Sen. Richard Burr said on Wednesday that he isn't backing down from his recent attack on veterans' groups and even stepped up his assault, charging the organizations are more upset by his comments than they are by the scandal at the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Discussion:
Mediaite
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Jonathan Topaz / Politico:
Vietnam veterans call Richard Burr ‘insulting’
Vietnam veterans call Richard Burr ‘insulting’
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, The World's Greatest … and Liberaland
Karoli / Latest from Crooks and Liars:
Krauthammer Calls Obama's Troop Withdrawal Plan “An Act Of Personal Narcissism” — Charles Krauthammer needs some English classes so he can understand that keeping a promise is not an act of narcissism. — Predictably, conservatives have their panties in a bunch over President Obama's announcement …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and Reuters
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Randall Balmer / Politico:
The Real Origins of the Religious Right — They'll tell you it was abortion. Sorry, the historical record's clear: It was segregation. — One of the most durable myths in recent history is that the religious right, the coalition of conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, CANNONFIRE and Ricochet
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Conservative Lead on Social and Economic Ideology Shrinking — On social issues, 34% identify as conservative and 30% as liberal — PRINCETON, NJ — More Americans continue to identify themselves as conservatives than as liberals on economic and social matters.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Firedoglake, Politico, RedState and Real Clear Politics
Washington Post:
Americans overwhelmingly side with Hillary Clinton over Karl Rove in brain flap — Republican strategist Karl Rove may need a different strategy to slow Hillary Clinton's 2016 candidacy. — Two-thirds of Americans in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll disapprove of the Republican strategist …
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News, addictinginfo.org, Talking Points Memo, Real Clear Politics, Daily Kos, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog and Balloon Juice
Eric H. Cline / New York Times:
Climate Change Doomed the Ancients — THIS month, a report issued by a prominent military advisory board concluded that climate change posed a serious threat to America's national security. — The authors, 16 retired high-ranking officers, warned that droughts, rising seas and extreme weather events …
Discussion:
The Hugh Hewitt Show
Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Pro-gay marriage professor under fire from gay marriage speech police — It's clear by now that if you publicly oppose gay marriage or give money to those who oppose it, the gay speech police will try to ruin you (and may succeed). But it turns out that even supporting gay marriage …
Discussion:
Overlawyered
Jose DelReal / Politico:
Ralph Hall loses Texas GOP runoff — Seventeen-term Rep. Ralph Hall on Tuesday became the first incumbent to lose renomination this cycle, after the Texas Republican was ousted by former U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe in a primary runoff. — With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Ratcliffe led Hall, 53 percent to 47 percent.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast and Outside the Beltway
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Jose DelReal / Politico:
David Dewhurst loses another Texas GOP runoff
David Dewhurst loses another Texas GOP runoff
Discussion:
American Spectator and Outside the Beltway
David Montgomery / Argus Leader:
Bosworth attacks misogyny, media in chaotic news conference — Standing in front of a profane backdrop created by her own campaign, an emotional Annette Bosworth condemned criticism of her, blasted the media, addressed her alleged scandals and even issued a book recommendation in a free-wheeling news conference Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Fox News, Business Insider, Washington Post, Politico and Mediaite
Jacob Siegel / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: Texas VA Run Like a ‘Crime Syndicate,’ Whistleblower Says — For years, employees at a Texas VA complained that their bosses were cooking the books. For years, the VA insisted there was no widespread wrongdoing. — Editor's Note: This story has been updated with new information.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, TheBlaze.com and Washington Free Beacon
Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
The Blaze Mocks Sexual Assault With A Series Of ‘RAPE!’ Skits (VIDEO) — With the recent emphasis on the prevalence of sexual assaults on college campuses by the White House and Congress, conservatives have pounced on the definition of sexual assault and the statistics cited when discussing the issue.
Discussion:
Mediaite and The Raw Story