The Elephant in the Room: Obama vs. United States  —  The president is contemptuous of American values.  And one key nominee prefers the judgment of other countries and global elites.  —  Watching President Obama apologize last week for America's arrogance - before a French audience that owes …

Arizona State: Obama unready for degree  —  President Barack Obama may be delivering a commencement address at Arizona State University this Spring - one of three campuses where the president will send off the graduating classes of 2009 - but he won't be coming home with any degree.

Post Reporter Says It's Not His Job to Check the Accuracy of People He's Quoting  —  You rarely see the kind of full-throated defense of journalism-as-stenography that The Washington Post's Paul Kane offers up here: … This is fairly simple.  What we want is that if you're …

Kerry calls for pirate hearings as drama continues  —  The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called for hearings on the mounting piracy threat as the fate of an American cargo-ship captain remained in limbo Thursday.  —  “These acts of piracy off of Somalia's coastline may seem surreal …

Connecting the Dots: The Link Between Gay Marriage and Mass Murders  —  On April 4 the NY Times ran adjacent front-page articles on the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing ‘gay marriage’ and the gunman who murdered 13 people in New York.  That day the Times also ran an op ed article …

The President Has Become a Divisive Figure  —  Compare his start with George W. Bush's.  —  The Pew Research Center reported last week that President Barack Obama “has the most polarized early job approval of any president” since surveys began tracking this 40 years ago.

Meghan McCain's Book Sold to Hyperion For High Six Figures  —  John McCain's 24-year-old daughter Meghan has a book deal!  Sources say Hyperion has prevailed over at least three other publishers in an auction that began earlier this week, following a round of meetings during …

Bush Aides Challenge Biden's Boasts of Oval Office Slapdowns  —  Aides to former President George W. Bush are challenging the veracity of Vice President Joe Biden's claim this week of having privately castigated Bush.  —  FOXNews.com  —  Aides to former President George W. Bush are challenging …

Just 53% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism  —  Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better.  Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.

HILARIOUS PIRATE SOLUTION.  —  The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a conservative think tank that regularly blasts out press releases condemning the Obama administration's various economic depredations, but today they demonstrate their intellectual consistency by wandering into the pirates debate:

Oops!  Obama's press office has an e-mail snafu  —  (CNN) — The White House Press Office accidentally e-mailed a draft version of President Obama's Thursday schedule on Wednesday night that included the back-and-forth between White House staffers.  —  The e-mail, sent on a daily basis …

Lawmaker defends comment on Asians  —  Call for voters to simplify their names not racially motivated, Terrell Republican says  —  AUSTIN — A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”

Sabotage attacks knock out phone service  —  (04-09) 17:16 PDT SAN JOSE — Vandals cut fiber-optic cable lines belonging to AT&T at two locations early today, knocking out phones and access to 911 emergency services to thousands of residential customers and businesses in southern Santa Clara County …

Obama “Bow” To Saudis: CNN Reporter Asks White House To Clarify  —  The White House briefing room grew a bit chilly on Thursday after CNN reporter Dan Lothian asked press secretary Robert Gibbs to explain the current cause célèbre of the conservative movement …

Schumer: ‘The Hard Right, Which Still Believes’ in ‘Traditional Values’...'All That Is Over.'  —  Thank you Jillian Bandes for posting on this.  —  Schumer also says this in the clip:  —  “I think President Obama has a pretty smart strategy.  He is going to talk bipartisanship to the American people.

Economists See a Rebound in September  —  Economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey expect the recession to end in September, though most say it won't be until the second half of 2010 that the economy recovers enough to bring down unemployment.

Is Silicon Valley a Systemic Risk?  —  Treasury decides to treat venture capitalists like hedge funds.  —  The Obama administration wants to regulate venture capital firms to prevent systemic risks.  Silicon Valley residents are scratching their heads and asking: What risks?

Obama Reaches Out to ‘Moderate’ Pirate Community  —  After maintaining his silence for two days, President Obama will soon make his first public statement about the pirate attack upon an U.S.-flagged vessel off the Horn of Africa.  After several inquiries and a few well-placed bribes …

The Palins, The Johnstons, And Republican Class Politics  —  Now it gets more interesting, doesn't it?  In the Judge Judy world Sarah Palin lives in, there is always the risk of turning into Jerry Springer.  And so an already very messy family situation - the two pregnancies, Trig's and Tripp's …

C.I.A. Closing Secret Overseas Sites for Terror Detainees  —  WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency announced on Thursday that it will no longer use contractors to conduct interrogations, and that it is decommissioning the secret overseas sites where for years it held high-level Al Qaeda prisoners.

The Mysterious Case of CIA Interrogator Mark Swanner  —  There are 14 names in the confidential Red Cross report that surfaced last week on the CIA's “ill treatment” of detainees.  —  But you will not find in it the name of Manadel al-Jamadi, an Iraqi who was picked up by U.S. Navy SEALS in Baghdad and interrogated by the CIA.

The Misguided Quest for Universal Coverage  —  AMERICA'S dysfunctional health care financing system needs to be reformed.  But the goal should not be universal coverage.  Reform should simply aim to make health insurance more affordable and portable.  —  Universal coverage has so dominated …

Island DIY: Residents repair road themselves  —  (CNN) — Their livelihood was being threatened, and they were tired of waiting for government help, so business owners and residents on Hawaii's Kauai island pulled together and completed a $4 million repair job to a state park — for free.

The Tragic Democratic Class of '08  —  It made headlines a few days ago when word leaked that Oprah Winfrey had been in North Carolina to tape an interview with Elizabeth Edwards that will air in early May—just as Edwards' new book, which will supposedly address her husband's extramarital affair, is released.

Bail out journalism  —  Other democracies pay for accurate reporting, so why shouldn't the U.S.?  —  » Discuss Article This will be my last column for the L.A. Times.  After four years, I'll soon be starting a stint at the Pentagon as an advisor to the undersecretary of Defense for policy.