memeorandum: Spain's King Juan Carlos I to abdicate (CNN)

8:00 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: Weekly Standard, Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog, Althouse, The Reaction and Washington Post

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: The Daily Beast, Christian Science Monitor and Guardian

Wesley Lowery / Washington Post:

Chuck Hagel, Susan Rice defend decision to trade terror suspects for Bergdahl — National security adviser Susan Rice and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel defended the Obama administration's decision to trade five Taliban-affiliated terrorism suspects for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Power Line, Liberaland and Hot Air

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

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Power Line, Joe For America and The Raw Story

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

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

New York Times:
Bowe Bergdahl, American Soldier, Freed by Taliban in Prisoner Trade

Discussion: The Long War Journal, PoliticusUSA, ABC News, TIME, Josh Blackman's Blog, JONATHAN TURLEY, defense.gov, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications and Taylor Marsh

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Susan Rice responds to political debate over negotiations for soldier's release

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Hinterland Gazette, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Lawfare and Althouse

Associated Press: Hagel: Soldier's health required urgent action

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, Mashable, Scared Monkeys, TMZ.com, The Moderate Voice, Joe. My. God., Jezebel, Liberal Values and Hollywood Life

Amy Harder / Wall Street Journal:

EPA to Seek 30% Cut in Emissions at Power Plants — The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a plan for power plants that will seek a 30% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.

Discussion: CleanTechnica, Politico, KDVR.com, Talking Points Memo, Liberaland and ThinkProgress

Coral Davenport / New York Times:

Obama to Take Action to Slash Coal Pollution — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Monday will announce one of the strongest actions ever taken by the United States government to fight climate change, a proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulation to cut carbon pollution …

Discussion: Legal Planet, Washington Monthly, Mashable, The BRAD BLOG and Marginal REVOLUTION

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

Bobby McMahon / Forbes:

How The 2022 World Cup Could Reach A Doomsday Scenario — The Sunday Times story of “Mohamed bin Hamman's secret campaign to bring the World Cup to the Gulf,” is another episode in a narrative that that will not die. — The series of articles published earlier today details the lengths that Bin Hamman …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler and BBC

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

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

GOP group launches anti-Clinton e-book — “Hard Choices,” meet “Failed Choices.” — The Republican opposition research group America Rising will release an e-book on Hillary Clinton's tenure at the State Department, describing her own book about her service as “spin” aimed at a presidential campaign.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Raw Story

Michael K. Lavers / Washington Blade:

Efforts to force referendum on Md. trans rights law fail — Del. Neil Parrott (R-Washington County) failed to collect enough signatures to prompt a referendum on Maryland's trans rights law. (Photo public domain) — Opponents of Maryland's transgender rights law have failed …

Discussion: The Raw Story and PinkNews.co.uk

David Freedlander / The Daily Beast:

Conservative Senator Kicks Tea Party to the Curb — At the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans this week, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson tried to distance himself from the Tea Party groups that helped elect him in 2010. — If Ron Johnson was running any faster from the Tea Party he'd leave skid marks.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo