The May Unemployment Numbers are Here, and Worse Than Predicted  —  While I was waiting for May's numbers to be released I did a quick Google News search on “unemployment.”  Here is the first set of entries that popped up: … You get the feeling that there's a little pre-spin effort afoot?

Intel firestorm: GOP reveals briefing info  —  Republicans ignited a firestorm of controversy on Thursday by revealing some of what they had been told at a closed-door Intelligence Committee hearing on the interrogation of terrorism suspects.  —  Democrats immediately blasted the GOP lawmakers …

Dem Leadership Moves to Kill Photo Amendment  —  THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership is moving to strip the Lieberman-Graham amendment blocking the release of detainee photos from the supplemental appropriations bill now in conference.

Conservatives Shift in Favor of Openly Gay Service Members  —  Weekly churchgoers also show double-digit increase in support from 2004  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are six percentage points more likely than they were four years ago to favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve in the military, 69% to 63%.

Inhofe Rips Obama As ‘Un-American,’ Suggests He's On The Side Of Terrorists  —  Reacting to President Obama's outreach to the Muslim world yesterday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) decried the president's speech as “un-American” and even suggested Obama might be on the side of terrorists:

National Review's Wise Latina Caricature Inexplicably Asian  —  As part of a cover package called “The Wise Latina,” the folks over at the conservative National Review—apparently flummoxed by the very idea of a “wise Latina”—have caricaturized the Puerto Rican-descended Sonia Sotomayor as an Asian Buddhist.

The Settlements  —  Charles Krauthammer has a misleading and evasive column about the Israeli settlements issue.  He does not deal with the legality of these towns—he can't, of course, because they are illegal under the fourth Geneva Convention, which provides rules for occupying powers.

IT TAKES REAL EFFORT TO BE THIS AWFUL.... Once in a while, Sean Hannity's painful on-air antics are so over the top, they're almost hard to believe.  —  Last night, for example, whining incessantly about President Obama's speech in Cairo, Hannity told Fox News viewers that the president …

Barack and Michelle Obama decline dinner with the Sarkozys  —  The Obamas turn up in Paris this evening, but have declined a dinner invitation from the couple next door: the Sarkozys.  —  President Obama's reluctance to spend more than minimum time with the French leader on his visit for the D …

Exclusive: Mudd Withdraws as DHS Intelligence Chief (Updated)  —  The White House confirmed this afternoon it was withdrawing Phil Mudd from Senate consideration to be the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence chief.  —  Mudd, a career CIA employee who is currently the head of FBI counterterrorism, said the choice was his.

Sotomayor's Revealing Joke About Supreme Court Justices Making Policy  —  In a May 2006 speech, Judge Sotomayor tells “a joke that [she thinks] aptly describes the difference between supreme court, circuit court, and district court judging”:  —  It involves three judges who go duck hunting.

Palin takes low-key return to the road  —  SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — Governor Sarah Palin paused Friday afternoon at the in front of a monument bearing the Declaration of Sentiments, an early feminist touchstone.  —  “We anticipate no small amount of ridicule,” she read, and remarked: “Some things never change.”

Coleman: GOP Needs To Compete On “The Ethernet”  —  Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) spoke to a friendly conservative video-blogger yesterday at the at the Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference in St. Louis, and said Republicans need to more effectively organize around the newer modes of communication — like the “ethernet”:

MSNBC Shrugs About Liz Cheney's Over-Exposure: “Liz Is A Great Guest”  —  MSNBC is shrugging off the growing criticism of the extensive airtime the network has granted Liz Cheney to mount a political defense of her father and a political offensive against the Obama administration …

Video: Han Solo takes on the Emperor?  —  Earlier today, I was flipping through some of my e-mailed links and noticed a curious ad in the New York Times.  It featured Harrison Ford with the tagline, “Let's not jeopardize another 1.2 million jobs.”  I decided to check it out and see exactly what cause Ford was fronting.

The Internet Lynching of Marcus Epstein  —  Last month the left wing blog, One People's Project, posted a story about one Marcus Epstein.  Within this story it was reported that two years ago next month Marcus assaulted a black woman in Georgetown calling her the “n” word.

It Could Be Worse  —  Much has been made of President Obama's “on the other hand” transition, in his speech yesterday, from the Holocaust to the travails of the Palestinians.  Some thought that he implied a kind of equivalence.  But the appalling Tom Brokaw reminded us that it could have been worse …

Keeping Them Honest  —  “I appreciate your efforts, and look forward to working with you so that the Congress can complete health care reform by October.”  So declared President Obama in a letter this week to Senators Max Baucus and Edward Kennedy.  The big health care push is officially on.

Justice Department Launches Investigation into Federal Crimes in Connection with the Murder of Dr. George Tiller  —  The Department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas have launched a federal investigation into federal crimes in connection with the murder of Dr. George Tiller.

McHugh on DADT: I have no interest in excluding people ‘otherwise qualified to serve.’  —  After President Obama named Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) as his nominee for Secretary of the Army, progressives have been working to better understand McHugh's current position on “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Steele On Sotomayor: 'God Help You If You're A White Male Coming Before Her Bench'  —  Last week, while guest-hosting Bill Bennett's radio show, RNC Chairman Michael Steele urged Republicans to stop “slammin' and rammin'” Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor with personal attacks.

Blue Dog Public Plan Ideas Are Not What Deficit Control Looks Like  —  Yesterday, the House Blue Dog bloc came out with a statement on the idea of a public option in health care reform.  It's supportive but not really, as per these bullet points from Igor Volsky:

Review: Glenn Beck, Simulcasting Discontent  —  Before starting his performance Thursday night at the Midland Theater in Kansas City, Mo., which was simulcast to more than 440 movie houses around the country, Glenn Beck walked over to the camera, waved, and acknowledged the critic for The New York Times.

Republican senator seeks to outlaw tobacco  —  A Republican senator who is also a doctor is calling for a new era of Prohibition — outlawing cigarette smoking and other tobacco use.  —  The unlikely demand comes from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), one of the staunchest free-market conservatives in the Senate.