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 …

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.

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 …

Sarah Palin: Letterman ‘not cool or funny’  —  The weeklong feud between late-night's David Letterman and last-year's Sarah Palin came in for a landing this morning on the Today show, where Matt Lauer interviewed the Alaska governor.about the comedian's lines of attack.

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 …

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.

Angered By His Holocaust Museum Shooting Coverage, The Far Right Goes After Shepard Smith  —  On Wednesday, Fox News' Shepard Smith responded to the tragic shooting at the Holocaust Museum by a white supremacist by saying that it was time to re-think the Homeland Security report on right-wing extremism that conservatives disparaged.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

Netanyahu yields on Palestinian sovereignty  —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a major shift, will accept the notion of a Palestinian state — a policy pushed by the Obama administration but resisted until now by Mr. Netanyahu, Israeli officials and Americans briefed on the Israeli leader's thinking said.

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 …

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 …

Clean Coal Knee-Capping: Secretary Chu Makes $1 Billion Down Payment For More Dirty Coal  —  On the heels of a major Wall Street Journal report that we are reaching “peak coal,” and revelations that the Bush administration buried a 2002 report on the cancer risks associated with coal ash …

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.

What Judith Warner Left Out  —  Reading Judith Warner's column this morning on the recent upsurge in hate crimes, I was struck by what she left out.  Two weeks ago, a Muslim extremist shot two soldiers, killing one, outside a recruiting station in Arkansas.

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 …

Trashing food scraps?  This city will fine you  —  Mandatory composting part of city's plan to eliminate landfill waste by 2020  —  San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 to pass the nation's toughest recycling law for the city of San Francisco.  Those who do not properly separate …

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 …

COMPARE AND CONTRAST, ECONOMIC POLICY EDITION.  —  It can be hard to know how effective economic policies are because we don't experience the negative outcomes they may have prevented — sort of the problem in the “saved and created” formulation or, as I heard someone analgoize the other day …