memeorandum: Equality House Hosts Gay Wedding Across From Westboro Baptist Church (Lila Shapiro/The Huffington Post)

5:40 PM ET, June 23, 2013

Top Items:

WikiLeaks Statement On Edward Snowden's Exit From Hong Kong — Mr Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who exposed evidence of a global surveillance regime conducted by US and UK intelligence agencies, has left Hong Kong legally. He is bound for a democratic nation via a safe route …

Discussion: Reuters, Crooks and Liars, Hit & Run, Guardian, News Desk, The Moderate Voice, TechCrunch, New York Times, Red Alert Politics, Business Insider, Yahoo! News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Post Politics and Politico

New York Times:

Snowden, in Russia, Said to Seek Asylum in a Third Nation — MOSCOW — Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for leaking classified documents about global American surveillance, fled his Hong Kong hide-out for Moscow on Sunday aboard …

The Huffington Post:

David Gregory's Shocking Question To Glenn Greenwald — “Meet the Press” host David Gregory asked columnist Glenn Greenwald why he shouldn't be charged with a crime for working with NSA leaker Edward Snowden. — Greenwald was on to discuss his source's Sunday morning flight from Hong Kong to Moscow.

Discussion: The Hill, NewsBusters, Ed Driscoll, The Gateway Pundit, Hullabaloo and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

You Don't Have To Like Edward Snowden — Reporters have always been comfortable ignoring their sources' motives. Now everybody else needs to get used to that. — Via: @MiriamElder — One of the most difficult features of the new news environment is that everybody gets to see the utter mess …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Verge, Guardian and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

James Pomfret / Reuters:

Hong Kong lets Snowden leave, with Cuba among possible destinations — (Reuters) - A former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency, charged by the United States with espionage, was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, his final destination as yet unknown, because a U.S. request …

Discussion: Xinhua News Agency, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Joe. My. God., addictinginfo.org, The Huffington Post, Hit & Run, Guardian, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TalkLeft, Associated Press, The Lonely Conservative and Reuters

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

Schumer: Putin 'aiding and abetting Snowden's escape' — (CNN) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is harming his county's relationship with the United States by allowing NSA leaker Edward Snowden to land in Moscow, Sen. Chuck Schumer charged on Sunday. — The New York Democrat …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Politico, USA Today and The Moderate Voice

CNN:

WikiLeaks: Snowden arrives in Moscow — (CNN) — The global cat-and-mouse hunt for Edward Snowden took a dramatic turn Sunday when the man wanted on U.S. espionage charges fled Hong Kong and reportedly arrived in Russia. — WikiLeaks said in a Twitter post Sunday that Snowden had touched down in Moscow.

Discussion: Gawker, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, neo-neocon and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

BBC:
Edward Snowden asks Ecuador for asylum

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Guardian and Outside the Beltway

Guardian:
Edward Snowden asks for asylum in Ecuador - as it happened

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Politico, Reuters, Business Insider, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, The Raw Story, Balloon Juice and Taegan Goddard's …

ABCNEWS:
‘This Week’ Transcript: NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, ABCNEWS, Guardian, msnbc.com and Firedoglake

Guardian:
Edward Snowden arrives in Moscow

Discussion: Mediaite and Towleroad News #gay

Guardian:
Edward Snowden leaves Hong Kong for Moscow

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hinterland Gazette, Scared Monkeys, Boing Boing and Hit & Run

Reuters:
Snowden has ticket to Cuba, may go to Venezuela: Russian reports

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Hinterland Gazette and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

RT:
NSA leaker Snowden arrives in Moscow en route to ‘third country’ with WikiLeaks help

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Blogs of War

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
NSA leaker Snowden lands in Moscow, seeks asylum in Ecuador

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Jia Lynn Yang / Washington Post:
Snowden departed Hong Kong for a ‘third country,’ government says

Discussion: Gawker, Post Politics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Moderate Voice, The Fix, Taylor Marsh and CBS News

BuzzFeed:

LGBT Military Group's Board Ousts Leader, Prompting Staff And Board Resignations — Allyson Robinson took over the helm of OutServe-SLDN last October, the first out transgender leader of a national LGBT rights organization whose primary focus is not solely transgender issues.

Discussion: Washington Blade, AMERICAblog and Towleroad News #gay

Bil Browning / The Bilerico Project:

OutServe/SLDN Exec Dir Fired; Senior Staff Resigns [Updated] — OutServe/SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson was fired after a board coup yesterday according to a leaked email sent to Bilerico Project. Robinson was the only transgender leader of a major LGBT organization that is not specifically trans-related.

Discussion: Advocate, LGBTQ Nation and Joe. My. God.

Eric W. Dolan / The Raw Story:

Morality study finds conservatives show a ‘general insensitivity to consequences’ — When it comes to topics like abortion or assisted suicide, there seems to be no common ground between conservatives and liberals. Why is there such a noticeable rift between the two political orientations?

Lila Shapiro / The Huffington Post:

Equality House Hosts Gay Wedding Across From Westboro Baptist Church — On Saturday night, Kimberly Kidwell, a 31-year-old EMT, married Katie Short in a wedding ceremony on the front lawn of the Equality House in Topeka, Kan. — directly across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church.

Discussion: LGBTQ Nation, Advocate, The Raw Story and Towleroad News #gay

Washington Post:

Taliban kills foreign climbers in Pakistan — PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Gunmen stormed a camp on Pakistan's second-largest mountain Sunday, killing nine foreign climbers, including a U.S. citizen, in a brazen assault that could deal a blow to the country's efforts to jumpstart its tourism industry.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, BizPac Review and The Gateway Pundit

Mickey Kaus / The Daily Caller:

One More Metaphor for the Gang of 8 — Preliminary Search for Loopholes in a Cloud: I've been trying to think of the right metaphor for the giant Corker-Hoeven amendment, the one that is reportedly giving the Gang of 8′s immigration bill enough votes to pass the Senate.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Hugh Hewitt Show