The Big Hate  —  Back in April, there was a huge fuss over an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security warning that current conditions resemble those in the early 1990s — a time marked by an upsurge of right-wing extremism that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing.

What's behind Obama's sudden attempt to fire the AmeriCorps inspector general?  —  Some strange and potentially suspicious events tonight concerning the Obama White House and the AmeriCorps program.  I've been told that on Wednesday night the AmeriCorps inspector general, Gerald Walpin …

Right-Wing Neocons Rooting For Ahmadinejad Win  —  American neoconservatives have often used the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to bolster their case for aggressive action against Iran.  So the assumption might be that they would be rooting for Iranians to take care of the problem themselves …

Obama defends DOMA in federal court.  Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget.  Invokes incest and marrying children.  —  UPDATE: Obama spokesman caught lying to Politico.  —  Joe and I have been trying since last night to get a copy of the government's brief just filed in this case.

The Ice Age Cometh  —  Despairing Republican friends have been asking me what I think we should do to rebuild the GOP and begin our certain and inevitable comeback.  My answer disappoints them: “Build an ark.”  —  I say this because I've made a career out of counting votes …

House Health-Care Bill to Include $600 Billion in Tax Increases  —  Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.

Insta-Hack Watch  —  He's up to his partisan shenanigans again.  He must know that the huge deficits projected in the future have virtually nothing to do with Obama's proposals on healthcare or energy.  They are a function of inherited entitlement spending, the legacy of two open-ended wars …

Barack Obama Surveys the World  —  “And the Spirit of God hovered upon the face of the waters”  —  When President Obama returned from his first European trip, I observed that while over there he had been “acting the philosopher-king who hovers above the fray mediating” between America and the world.

Former President GHW Bush stands up for Sotomayor  —  (CNN)-Former President George H.W. Bush stood up for his former judicial nominee Sonia Sotomayor Friday, telling CNN Anchor Robin Meade that GOP critics who called President Obama's Supreme Court pick a racist were off-base, and unfair.

Blaming the Guy Who Came Before Doesn't Work Long  —  WASHINGTON — As President Obama struggles to turn around the moribund economy and confront multiple international issues, he wastes few opportunities to remind the country that the problems are not of his making.

Obama Gives Up on Resettling Cleared Guantanamo Detainees in U.S., Officials Say  —  Administration Gives Up on Bringing Cleared Inmates to U.S., Officials Say  —  The Obama administration has all but abandoned plans to allow Guantanamo Bay detainees who have been cleared for release to live …

Has Kent Conrad Solved the Public Plan Problem?  An Interview.  —  (Earlier today, Sen. Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, introduced a “potential compromise” on the public plan: A system of federally-chartered co-ops that could offer …

We Need a New National Anthem  —  In the Age of Karaoke, more people (including me) like to join in the singing when they strike up the national anthem at public occasions.  No one can stop you, no matter how embarrassed she might be by your obvious lack of talent.

The Economics of the HDMI Cable Ripoff  —  I just bought a blu-ray player.  (Actually my 10 and 7-year old bought it as a birthday gift for my wife; alas, neither they nor she were fooled for long, but I digress.)  To get the best performance you need an HDMI cable which must be purchased separately …

Decline and Fall  —  Face time with the president is political gold in Washington, so Donald Rumsfeld moved quickly after taking charge at the Pentagon to secure weekly private meetings with President George W. Bush.  Now, nearly six years and many meetings later, the defense secretary arrived …

The Recession Is Great  —  Low prices.  Nice people.  What's not to like?  —  This week I refinanced my mortgage at a new, better rate, lowering my monthly expenses with a stroke of the pen.  Even as I was doing the paperwork, I had to dodge calls trying to offer me similar and even better rates.

Hundreds protest Obama's visit  —  GREEN BAY - Organizers said about 1,000 people lined the east side of Packerland Drive Thursday morning to protest President Obama's stop in Green Bay.  Stretching four blocks long, the protest parked itself along the motorcade route between Austin Straubel Airport and Green Bay Southwest High School.

Leading White Nationalist To Speak At Pat Buchanan's American Cause Conference This Month  —  The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that MSNBC's Pat Buchanan has invited the editor of a white nationalist, anti-immigrant website to speak at the upcoming conference for his group, the American Cause.

Happy Birthday, Dad  —  Blogs and Stories  —  On George H.W. Bush's 85th birthday—which he'll celebrate by skydiving—former President George W. Bush shares a personal written tribute from son to father, 43 to 41.  —  Exactly 10 years ago, coinciding with former president George H.W. Bush's 75th birthday …

Indulge This: What The Anti-Obesity Movement Can Learn From The Defeat Of Big Tobacco  —  Rep. Henry Waxman has been working to curb the effects of tobacco on American consumers for three decades, so it goes without saying that today's passage of the bill to regulate tobacco …

Congresswoman's abandoned house angers neighbors  —  Laura Richardson's former home in Sacramento's upscale Curtis Park neighborhood is in disrepair.  Residents say they have appealed to her and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi without success.  —  Reporting from Sacramento …

David Letterman: Perv  —  My syndicated column today fixes the spotlight on David “The Perv” Letterman's contempt for women.  Yesterday morning, I noted the silence of the feminists.  Last night, NOW finally spoke up — but not without taking a holier-than-thou potshot of its own.

Family hangs Palestinian teen ‘collaborator’  —  Palestinian police say a 15-year-old boy has been found hanged near the town of Qalqilya in the West Bank.  —  They said several family members had confessed to involvement in the killing, accusing the boy of collaborating with the Israeli army.