Leader Of Conservative Opposition To Sotomayor Was Nailed For Hacking And Spying On Senate Dems  —  Manuel Miranda is back!  —  The New York Times reports that a coalition of heavyweight conservative groups has signed a letter pressuring Senate Republicans to filibuster Sonia Sotomayor.

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 …

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.

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 …

O'Reilly Responds To The Tiller Murder: ‘No Backpedaling Here...Every Single Thing We Said About Tiller Was True’  —  After yesterday's brutal shooting of George Tiller, a Kansas doctor who administered abortions, many anti-choice groups quickly condemned the murder and attempted to separate themselves from the actions of the killer.

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.

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 …

How Obamas' romantic £120 trip to Broadway racked up a £45,000 bill  —  ...that's for three private jets, two helicopter rides, extra planes for security and closing roads for motorcade  —  It was a campaign pledge that Barack Obama didn't dare break - a promise to take his wife …

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 …

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.”

Cheney: No link between Saddam Hussein, 9/11  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he does not believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the planning or execution of the September 11, 2001, attacks.  —  He strongly defended the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq …

A Saga of Decline and Denial  —  DETROIT — The beginning of the end for General Motors Corp. as an independent company was marked by a denial.  —  Rick Wagoner, then GM's chief executive, stepped up to a podium in a Dallas hotel July 10 to address an audience of Texas business leaders …

Justices Gone Wild  —  Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings won't happen for over a month, but it's easy to predict how they will go.  In a series of preening, long-winded questions, the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will attempt to divine Sotomayor's position on a variety …

Obama: U.S. will be ‘honest’ with Israel on settlements  —  The United States will be more blunt in raising objections to Israel's settlement policies in the Palestinian territories than previous administrations, President Barack Obama told a U.S. radio network in an interview on Monday.

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.

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.

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):

Why'd Obama switch on detainee photos?  Maliki went ballistic  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama reversed his decision to release detainee abuse photos from Iraq and Afghanistan after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki warned that Iraq would erupt into violence and that Iraqis …