Oh my: NOW inducts Letterman into its “Media Hall of Shame”  —  Credit where credit's due. … People on Twitter are grumbling about that last paragraph but (a) given how peeved the sisterhood will be that they're defending Palin, surely you won't begrudge NOW some sort of ass-covering knock …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Senators who opposed tobacco bill received top dollar from industry  —  WASHINGTON — Among the 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco are some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry …

As Iran Votes, Talk of a Sea Change  —  Women voting at a Tehran mosque.  Iranians went to the polls Friday after an unusually intense presidential campaign.  More Photos >  —  TEHRAN — Iranians went to the polls Friday to elect a new president after an unusually intense campaign which saw …

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.

Andrew Breitbart: Holocaust Museum Killer Was a ‘Multiculturalist’  —  Former Drudge alter ego Andrew Breitbart thinks James von Brunn was a “multiculturalist just like the black studies and the lesbian studies majors on college campuses.”  How do we know?  He left us an enraged voicemail!

Dems brace for CBO score  —  Senate Democrats are bracing for what they expect will be a huge price tag connected with revamping the nation's healthcare system.  —  The soon-to-be-delivered estimate on Democratic healthcare reform proposals is expected to be so expensive that lawmakers …

Abuse Photos Part of Agreement on Military Spending  —  WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators reached tentative agreement on Thursday on a $105.9 billion spending measure that would provide money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September but would drop a ban …

Tax Man's Target: The Mobile Phone  —  The use of company-issued mobile phones could trigger new federal income taxes on millions of Americans as a “fringe benefit.”  —  The Internal Revenue Service proposed employers assign 25% of an employee's annual phone expenses as a taxable benefit.

Delay the Minimum-Wage Hike  —  A recession is the worst time to raise the cost of low-skilled employment.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Despite severe economic difficulties confronting businesses, and soaring unemployment among youths and minorities, the federal minimum wage is slated to increase to $7.25 in July from $6.55 today.

Boehner: ‘Digging Ourselves Out of a Deep Hole’  —  House GOP leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, invited me to his “smoke-filled room” in the Capitol this  —  afternoon.  —  Offering me a Diet Coke and pulling out a Camel 99 for himself, he spent the next

Dr. Biden's debut  —  Jill Biden was standing in a brilliant aqua dress inside a packed Gotham Hall in Manhattan one evening last week, waiting to address hundreds of people at an awards ceremony for a leading gay and lesbian organization.  —  One by one, they approached her.  —  Some just wanted to say hello.