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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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:

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.

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.”

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 …

Dems pressure Obama on Israel  —  As President Barack Obama prepares to depart for his first trip to the Arab world, the administration's escalating pressure on Israel to freeze all growth of its settlements on Palestinian land has begun to stir concern among Israel's numerous allies in both parties on Capitol Hill.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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):

If you want to compare speculation with analysis...  ...a good place to start would be with these two recent entries from writers within the Washington Post family, both trying to explain what China is, is not, and might someday be doing about North Korea.  —  For analysis, you would turn …