Right demands tougher fight  —  Conservatives are demanding that Senate Republicans take a harder line on Sonia Sotomayor, with new signs of tension between the Hill GOP and elements of the Republican base over the direction the opposition should move in the Supreme Court fight.

Sources: No 3rd Governor Term For Pawlenty  —  Watch The News Conference LIVE On WCCO.COM At 2 p.m.  —  ST. PAUL (WCCO) ― Two sources have confirmed that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will announce that he will not seek re-election in 2010.  —  The sources confirmed …

CNN Poll: Many Americans hold unfavorable view of Muslim world  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hours before President Barack Obama departs for a trip to the Middle East, a new national poll suggests that only one in five Americans has a favorable view of Muslim countries.

Obama to Name N.Y. Congressman the Army Secretary  —  Representative John M. McHugh, a Republican congressman from New York, will be nominated by President Obama to be secretary of the Army, according to officials, as the administration continues to reach into the ranks of the opposition for executive appointments.

Obama says Iran's energy concerns legitimate  —  LONDON — President Barack Obama suggested that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it proves by the end of the year that its aspirations are peaceful.  —  In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, he also restated plans …

Palin links Tiller, Long slayings  —  Sarah Palin today picked up a widely heard theme on the right, using the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller to call attention to the murder of an army recruiter in Arkansas, allegedly by a self-styled Islamic militant:

Recruiter Shooting Suspect Under FBI Investigation  —  Man Accused of Killing One Recruiter, Wounding Another, Spent Time in Yemen  —  The suspect arrested in the fatal shooting of one soldier and the critical injury of another at a Little Rock, Ark., Army recruiting booth today …

The Quagmire Ahead  —  On Jan. 21, 1988, a General Motors executive named Elmer Johnson wrote a brave and prophetic memo.  Its main point was contained in this sentence: “We have vastly underestimated how deeply ingrained are the organizational and cultural rigidities that hamper our ability to execute.”

Playboy 's “Top 10 Conservative Women We Hate to Love”  —  The Playboy article linked to on this blog listed 10 conservative women “they love to hate” adding their reasons why.  The blog included the link but only used the names of the women listed.  But the Playboy article also included …

Cheney Edges Away From Claim That CIA Docs Will Prove Torture Worked  —  There's a very revealing moment buried in an interview that Dick Cheney gave to Fox News last night that really gives away his game plan on torture.  —  Specifically: Cheney seemed to edge away from the claim …

The Justice Department's Antitrust Bomb  —  Microsoft and Intel will find refuge in the courts.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  As if commandeering the banking, finance and auto industries weren't enough, a couple of weeks ago the Obama administration decided to throw a bomb at modern antitrust law.

Chinese Company Said to Be Buyer of Hummer  —  GUANGZHOU, China — General Motors has reached a preliminary agreement for the sale of its Hummer brand of large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks to a machinery company in western China with ambitions to become a carmaker …

Poll: Most oppose closing Gitmo  —  WASHINGTON — Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to closing the detention center for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay and moving some of the detainees to prisons on U.S. soil, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.  —  By more than 2-1, those surveyed say Guantanamo shouldn't be closed.

CNN Poll: No frontrunner in GOP 2012 presidential race  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new national poll of Republicans suggests that there's no front runner at this extremely early moment in the next race for the White House.  —  Three possible candidates are all bunched at the top of a CNN/Opinion Research

Foreclosures: No End in Sight  —  A continuing steep drop in home prices combined with rising unemployment is powering a new wave of foreclosures.  Unfortunately, there's little evidence, so far, that the Obama administration's anti-foreclosure plan will be able to stop it.

Why Obama Voted Against Roberts  —  ‘He has used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak.’  —  The following is from then-Sen. Barack Obama's floor statement explaining why he would vote against confirming Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (September 2005):

A New Iran Overture, With Hot Dogs  —  SAN SALVADOR — Having sent the Iranian people a video greeting on their New Year, President Obama is now inviting them to help celebrate a quintessentially American holiday, the Fourth of July.  —  Last Friday, the State Department sent a cable …

Busy Not Running GM  —  And not choosing GM's office space.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  President Obama announced the bankruptcy of General Motors yesterday before GM's CEO even spoke, and the feds will soon own 60% of the company.  But whatever you do, please don't think the government is now running GM.

N.J. election officials report low voter turnout, few problems for primary so far  —  Voter turnout in today's primary elections has been relatively light, and problem free, so far, according to elections officials across New Jersey.  —  Board of Election officials in Essex, Union, Middlesex …

IN WHICH I APPARENTLY MAKE MEGHAN MCCAIN ANGRY.... I had an item yesterday noting that Dick Cheney's remarks on gay marriage may have a role in the party's debate over gay rights.  I added what seemed like a pretty uncontroversial idea — while Meghan McCain and Steve Schmidt were other Republicans …

It's Not Fair To Casually Call People Racist  —  The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has already achieved a boon for our political culture: It has helped leading liberals and Democrats to discover that being tarred as a racist on flimsy grounds is unfair and deeply unpleasant.