memeorandum: Debate Stirs Over US-Taliban Captive Swap (Associated Press)

9:50 AM ET, June 2, 2014

Top Items:

Jake Tapper / CNN:

Fellow soldiers call Bowe Bergdahl a deserter, not a hero — (CNN) — The sense of pride expressed by officials of the Obama administration at the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is not shared by many of those who served with him — veterans and soldiers who call him a deserter whose …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, New York Times, The PJ Tatler, No More Mister Nice Blog, JONATHAN TURLEY, Althouse, ThinkProgress and The Reaction

Nathan Bradley Bethea / The Daily Beast:

We Lost Soldiers in the Hunt for Bergdahl, a Guy Who Walked Off in the Dead of Night — For five years, soldiers have been forced to stay silent about the disappearance and search for Bergdahl. Now we can talk about what really happened. — It was June 30, 2009, and I was in the city of Sharana …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Yahoo! News, New York Times and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:

Mixed reaction to Bergdahl's recovery by service members who consider him a deserter — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's recovery after five years in captivity has rekindled anger among some of his military peers over how he came to fall into enemy hands and the price the United States has paid to get him back.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Lawfare, Hot Air and CNN

Associated Press:

Debate Stirs Over US-Taliban Captive Swap — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl can expect a buoyant homecoming after five years in Taliban hands, but those in the government who worked for his release face mounting questions over the prisoner swap that won his freedom.

Discussion: The Agonist

Kevin Cirilli / The Hill:

Bergdahl bumps VA from spotlight — The Taliban's release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl dominated the Sunday talk shows, pushing Friday's resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki from the headlines. — The Sunday shows were packed with Republicans launching into political attacks …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Christian Science Monitor, Guardian, Talking Points Memo, New York Times and CNN

Wesley Lowery / Washington Post:
Chuck Hagel, Susan Rice defend decision to trade terror suspects for Bergdahl

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Power Line, Hot Air and Taylor Marsh

Doug Powers / Twitchy:
‘Working to free all Guantanamo prisoners’ tweet from account of released soldier's father deleted

Discussion: Daily Mail, American Thinker, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, Ed Driscoll, Washington Post and Agence France-Presse

Michael Gartland / New York Post:
The bizarre tale of America's last known POW

Discussion: Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Power Line, Joe For America and The Raw Story

Laura Barron-Lopez / The Hill:

Obama's new climate war opens — President Obama is opening a climate change war with Republicans on Monday with the Environmental Protection Agency's unveiling of sweeping new standards on carbon emissions from power plants. — The new rules are a central part of Obama's climate change agenda meant …

Coral Davenport / New York Times:
Obama to Take Action to Slash Coal Pollution

Discussion: CNN, Legal Planet, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, The BRAD BLOG and Marginal REVOLUTION

Amy Harder / Wall Street Journal:
EPA to Seek 30% Cut in Emissions at Power Plants

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Gawker, CleanTechnica, Politico, Mashable, KDVR.com, Liberaland and ThinkProgress

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

On Inequality Denial — A while back I published an article titled “The Rich, the Right, and the Facts,” in which I described politically motivated efforts to deny the obvious — the sharp rise in U.S. inequality, especially at the very top of the income scale.

Discussion: UK Blog on The Huffington Post and Daily Kos

VoxEU.org:
Is Piketty's ‘Second Law of Capitalism’ fundamental?

Discussion: Washington Center …

Catherine E. Shoichet / CNN:

Ann B. Davis, Alice on ‘Brady Bunch,’ dies — Everyone's favorite housekeeper, Alice Nelson, was played by Ann B. Davis on the sitcom. Davis died on Sunday, June 1, after suffering a subdural hematoma the day before. She never regained consciousness. Davis retired from show business in the late '70s, but popped up here and there.

Discussion: NBC News, Associated Press, KLTV-TV, Mashable, Scared Monkeys, TMZ.com, The Latest Word, The Moderate Voice, Joe. My. God., Jezebel, Liberal Values and Hollywood Life

Politico:

THE OBAMA PARADOX — The ritual started in earnest last fall in the midst of the biggest humiliation of Barack Obama's presidency, the failure of the health care website. Anytime he heard a sliver of good news, the president reacted the same way: He knocked on the polished cherry wood table in the Roosevelt Room.

Discussion: Althouse

CNN:

Spain's King Juan Carlos I to abdicate — Madrid, Spain (CNN) — After nearly 40 years on the throne, King Juan Carlos I of Spain will be stepping down, the country's prime minister said Monday. — Crown Prince Felipe, 46, will succeed his father, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced in nationally televised address.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Barcepundit and The Agonist

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

The Senate's failed, irrelevant plan to throw $20 billion at Veterans Affairs problems — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL VETERANS AFFAIRS VETERANS BERNIE SANDERS — Last February, before the Veterans Affairs health care scandal broke, Sen. Bernard Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs …

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Fox News

The Sunday Times:

Huge email cache reveals secrets of Qatar's shock victory — THE secret payments that helped Qatar to win the World Cup bid are revealed for the first time this weekend in a bombshell cache of millions of documents leaked to The Sunday Times. — The files expose how Qatar's astonishing victory …

Discussion: Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg View, Africa and Guardian

Bobby McMahon / Forbes:
How The 2022 World Cup Could Reach A Doomsday Scenario

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler and BBC

Igor Bobic / The Huffington Post:

Herman Cain Says He Might Run For President Again In 2016 — Herman Cain, don't tease us so. — The pizza magnate, who at one point topped all Republican challengers during the 2012 Republican presidential primary before dropping out amidst allegations of multiple affairs …

Discussion: Washington Post