Top Items:
Gregg Zoroya / USA Today:
VA investigators: Delayed care is everywhere — Delaying medical care to veterans and manipulating records to hide those delays is “systemic throughout” the Department of Veterans Affairs health system, the VA's Office of Inspector General said in a preliminary report Wednesday.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, KDVR.com, Weekly Standard, The World's Greatest …, OnPolitics and The PJ Tatler
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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
Jacob Siegel / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: Texas VA Run Like a ‘Crime Syndicate,’ Whistleblower Says
Exclusive: Texas VA Run Like a ‘Crime Syndicate,’ Whistleblower Says
Discussion:
Hot Air, TheBlaze.com and Washington Free Beacon
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
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:
News Desk, Ricochet, Weekly Standard, National Review and New York Times
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Washington Post:
President Obama continues his retreat from Afghanistan
President Obama continues his retreat from Afghanistan
Discussion:
Consortiumnews.com, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly and Power Line
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Obama pivots to foreign policy, media not exactly impressed
Obama pivots to foreign policy, media not exactly impressed
Discussion:
Washington Post, NationalJournal.com and Washington Free Beacon
Karoli / Latest from Crooks and Liars:
Krauthammer Calls Obama's Troop Withdrawal Plan “An Act Of Personal Narcissism”
Krauthammer Calls Obama's Troop Withdrawal Plan “An Act Of Personal Narcissism”
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and Reuters
Mark Landler / New York Times:
‘America Must Always Lead,’ Obama Tells West Point Graduates
‘America Must Always Lead,’ Obama Tells West Point Graduates
Discussion:
Power Line, Washington Post, The White House and The Daily Beast
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama jabs foreign policy critics
Obama jabs foreign policy critics
Discussion:
ABC News and Washington Free Beacon
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:
Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, AMERICAblog News, Mashable, Hinterland Gazette, Colorlines and Shakesville
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Tim Cavanaugh / National Review:
R.I.P., Maya Angelou, Proud Gun Owner and User — Poet, author and personality Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86. Angelou was found dead this morning at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C. No cause of death has been announced. — Angelou gained literary fame with her 1969 literary memoir …
Discussion:
KDVR.com, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Guardian Liberty Voice and American Spectator
MyFOX8.com:
Maya Angelou dead at 86
Maya Angelou dead at 86
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, WAVE-TV, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Hinterland Gazette, Jezebel, Fox News Insider, 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:
Talking Points Memo, NPR, ThinkProgress and The Dish
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
To Get Snowden Interview, NBC News Relied on Secrecy
Discussion:
Mediaite, NBC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, FishbowlDC and The Huffington Post
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:
Yahoo! News, The Moderate Voice, FatLip, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Washington Post, WFPL, Liberal Values and Washington Monthly
Jessica Taylor / The Hill:
Is it Ted Cruz's Texas now? — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wasn't up for reelection this year, but his presence was felt up and down the GOP primary ballot in the Lone Star State. — The only candidate Cruz endorsed won her primary fight on Tuesday, while incumbent candidates he ignored went down to defeat.
RELATED:
Jose DelReal / Politico:
Ralph Hall loses Texas GOP runoff
Ralph Hall loses Texas GOP runoff
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo and Outside the Beltway
Jose DelReal / Politico:
David Dewhurst loses another Texas GOP runoff
David Dewhurst loses another Texas GOP runoff
Discussion:
American Spectator and Outside the Beltway
Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
The Ten Most Asinine Things About #YesAllWomen — Four men and two women were killed by a clearly disturbed individual whose deranged and evil rants indicated he hated humanity in general and women in particular. University of California at Santa Barbara students Cheng Yuan Hong, George Chen …
Discussion:
National Review, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Fox News Insider, Poynter and BuzzFeed
Politico:
Hillary Clinton allies mobilize on Benghazi — A broad array of Democrats — including Hillary Clinton's allies — are meeting this week to hammer out a united front on national security issues, including a clear response to Republicans over the Benghazi controversy.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler
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:
Questions and Observations and The Hugh Hewitt Show
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:
ABC News, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Daily Kos, Real Clear Politics, CNN, addictinginfo.org, No More Mister Nice Blog and Balloon Juice
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:
The Mahablog, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, CANNONFIRE and Ricochet
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, The Raw Story and Hullabaloo
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, RedState, Firedoglake, Politico and Real Clear Politics
WRAL-TV:
Duke student, expelled after sex assault claim, sues for degree — DURHAM, N.C. — A Duke student is suing the university after he was banned from the May 10 graduation ceremony because of another student's claim of sexual assault. — Lewis McLeod, a psychology major from Australia …
Discussion:
I Acknowledge, The Raw Story, Jezebel and Gawker