Text: Obama's Speech in Cairo  —  The following is a text of President Obama's prepared remarks to the Muslim world, delivered on June 4, 2009, as released by the White House.  —  I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions.

Rush and Newt Are Winning  —  A media environment that tilts to the right is obscuring what President Obama stands for and closing off political options that should be part of the public discussion.  —  Yes, you read that correctly: If you doubt that there is a conservative inclination in the media …

An Absolutely Extraordinary Moment  —  An African-American President with Muslim roots stands before the Muslim world and defends the right of Jews to a nation of their own in their ancestral homeland, and then denounces in vociferous terms the evil of Holocaust denial, and right-wing Israelis …

Why I'll No Longer Be on Bill O'Reilly's Show  —  The first time I appeared on “The O'Reilly Factor,” in 2004, I sat across from Bill O'Reilly in awkward silence while he shuffled papers and took notes.  —  Finally, he glanced up and acknowledged my existence.  “Thank you for coming on,” he said.

Palin: Government wants to ‘control the people’  —  (CNN) - Alaska governor Sarah Palin let loose Wednesday on the Obama administration for enacting fiscal policies that “fly in the face of principles” and “defy Economics 101.”  —  In a speech introducing Michael Reagan …

Reid Dares Fellow Democrats to Oppose Sotomayor  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) “dared” members of his own Conference to vote against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court during a meeting Thursday with Latino leaders.  —  During a brief press conference after the session …

The Power and the Story  —  The Obamas may have the smartest, most finely calibrated press operation in White House history, parceling out scoops (The New York Times), partisan talking points (the Huffington Post), and First Family tidbits (the celebrity mags) to a desperate media.

McCarthy Won't Challenge Gillibrand in New York Senate Primary  —  Rep. Carolyn McCarthy will not challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in a Democratic primary.  McCarthy, a thorn in Gillibrand's side of late, had said she would take on the newly appointed senator in 2010 if no one else did.

GOP Defers to Coleman on Fate  —  Senate Republican leaders appear willing to go to the mat for former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), but it's unclear whether Coleman wants to go to the mat for himself.  —  The Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to rule within weeks on whether Democrat Al …

Barney Frank convinces GM CEO to keep his district's plant open  —  Rep Barney Frank (D-Mass.) won a stay of execution on Thursday for a General Motors plant in his district that the automaker had announced it would close.  —  No other lawmaker has managed to halt the GM ax.

Star Carradine found dead  —  Kill Bill and Kung Fu star David Carradine has been found dead in a Bangkok hotel room, BBC correspondent Jonathan Head has reported.  —  The 72-year-old was in Thailand filming his latest film Stretch, according to his personal manager Chuck Binder.

Sotomayor's whirlwind schedule takes a toll  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — It's the second day of a whirlwind Capitol Hill tour — and it looks like Judge Sonia Sotomayor is already having trouble keeping Senate lineup straight.  —  Asked to lay out her Wednesday itinerary, President Obama's Supreme …

Bureaucrat scuffs dream of homeless shoe shiner  —  He sleeps under a bridge, washes in a public bathroom and was panhandling for booze money 11 months ago, but now Larry Moore is the best-dressed shoeshine man in the city.  When he gets up from his cardboard mattress, he puts on a coat and tie.

Judge Sotomayor's Questionnaire - A New Modern Record  —  Judge Sotomayor has delivered detailed and substantive answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee's questions, which are available on the Senate Judiciary Committee's website.  The answers demonstrate how Judge Sotomayor's three decade career …

Elizabeth Warren and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Utterly Misleading Bankruptcy Study  —  Elizabeth Warren has another study out showing that medical expenses contribute to more than half of all bankruptcies—indeed, this time, it's 70%, up from the 50% she found in 2001.

Exclusive: Jeff Sessions Makes Children Cry  —  Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committe held the first-ever hearing on the Uniting American Families Act, which would equalize the status of foreign-born same-sex partners of American citizens.  Heterosexual Americans can earn citizenship for their foreign partners by marrying them.

Olbermann's Mosquito Bites  —  I hear that Keith Olbermann declared on MSNBC Tuesday evening that I am “runner-up” for his “hypocrisy award” and also “a fraud.”  —  In case anyone takes Olbermann seriously, I identify below the false and misleading assertions of fact that he packed into his 60-second diatribe.

Sotomayor Repeatedly Referenced ‘Wise Woman’ in Speeches  —  Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor delivered multiple speeches between 1994 and 2003 in which she suggested “a wise Latina woman” or “wise woman” judge might “reach a better conclusion” than a male judge.

A Meeting in Damascus  —  About an hour after Barack Obama's excellent Cairo speech, I met with Khaled Meshal, the leader of Hamas, at his office here to talk about the speech and the Israel-Palestine conflict.  We spoke for several hours and I will have a fuller accounting of our conversation in my print column next week.

For the ‘funemployed,’ unemployment is welcome  —  These jobless folks, usually singles in their 20s and 30s, find that life without work agrees with them.  They're not sending out resumes, but instead lazing at the beach and taking trips abroad.  —  Michael Van Gorkom was laid off by Yahoo in late April.

NO REWARD FOR NOMINATING MODERATES.... This isn't a surprising vote, but it tells us quite a bit about what to expect going forward. … If you're just joining us, in March, Obama nominated Hamilton for the 7th Circuit.  Given Hamilton's record of moderation, the White House said the nomination …

Behind the Scenes: A New Angle on History  —  Terril Jones had only shown the photograph to friends.  —  While working as a reporter in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he shot many photographs and recorded several hours of video.  It wasn't until weeks afterwards …

Terminated Chrysler Dealers Are Heard; The Clinton Scent Redux  —  Today, Chrysler's terminated dealers finally get a chance to be heard by Judge Speedy, although the mootness of the hearing can be smelt from miles away.  Associated Press has some good color on the proceedings: