The Washington Post fires its best columnist.  Why?  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  One of the rarest commodities in the establishment media is someone who was a vehement critic of George Bush and who now, applying their principles consistently, has become a regular critic …

Robert Fisk: Secret letter ‘proves Mousavi won poll’  —  They were handing out the photocopies by the thousand under the plane trees in the centre of the boulevard, single sheets of paper grabbed by the opposition supporters who are now wearing black for the 15 Iranians who have been killed in Tehran …

Health Care Reform in Danger  —  Health reform is, I think it fair to say, in danger right now.  The news out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee was bad.  The Congressional Budget Office had scored a partial bill and the result was a total fiasco.

Boxer scolds Army General for not calling her “Senator”  —  Ever wonder what Eric Cartman might sound like if he was in Congress?  Wonder no more...  California Senator Barbara Boxer is a Senator.  And if you don't acknowledge it, she'll demand you acknowledge it.  Even if you're a General in the United States Army.

Japan warns that North Korea may fire missile at U.S. on Independence Day  —  North Korea may launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii on American Independence Day, according to Japanese intelligence officials.  —  The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles …

PETA wishes Obama hadn't swatted that fly  —  Rights group seeks compassion for curious and ‘least sympathetic animals’  —  WASHINGTON - The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter in chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he's bedeviled by a fly in the White House.

Kenneth Starr Endorses Sotomayor  —  Kenneth Starr, the lawyer who chased after President Bill Clinton and his wife, said on Thursday that he supports President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee, federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor.  —  Starr voiced his backing of Sotomayor …

Olive Garden pulls Letterman ads  —  Following a week of back and forth between CBS late night comic David Letterman and Sarah Palin over a crude joke he told about the Alaska Republican governor's daughter, the Olive Garden restaurant says it is cancelling all of its scheduled ads on Letterman's “Late Show” for the rest of the year.

The lessons of 1937  —  In a guest article, Christina Romer says policymakers must learn from the errors that prolonged the Depression  —  AT A recent congressional hearing I cautiously noted some “glimmers of hope” that the economy could stabilise and perhaps start to rebound later in the year.

Senator Beefcake?  —  Some revealing footage of Ohio Senate candidate Lee Fisher has emerged on YouTube, which features the bare-chested lieutenant governor sitting in his office writing a campaign memo.  —  “I just don't like being filmed at 12 in the morning when I'm exhausted and trying to do something …

Daschle Urges Obama To Drop Federal Public Health Care Plan  —  The man once slated to head Barack Obama's health care system overhaul is now coming out against one of the chief components of that effort.  —  Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said on Wednesday that the Obama White House …

Gay Dems complain DNC cut off funding, drop support for Biden event  —  Theboard of directors of the National Stonewall Democrats are dropping their support for a June 25 DNC fundraiser with Vice President Joe Biden over, they wrote in an email obtained by POLITICO, a combination of policy slights …

Bush takes swipes at Obama policies  —  Defends interrogations  —  Former President George W. Bush fired a salvo at President Obama on Wednesday, asserting his administration's interrogation policies were within the law, declaring the private sector not government will fix the economy and rejecting the nationalization of health care.

Bill Posey, Congressional Birther, Finds Some Friends and Bashes ‘Angry Woman’ Rachel Maddow  —  Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.), who has introduced a bill that would require future presidential candidates to provide proof of U.S. citizenship, has collected four more co-sponsors — Reps. John R. Carter …

Fired Inspector General: I Want Congressional Hearings, Dammit!  —  Uh oh — looks like Gerald Walpin, who's been a hero on the right since he was abruptly fired as Inspector General by President Obama, is really turning up the heat on Obama now.  —  In an interview with us moments ago …

CIA Reaches Out to Financial Analysts  —  Siobhan Gorman covers intelligence.  —  Downsized investment bankers: Fear not.  The Central Intelligence Agency wants you.  —  Capitalizing on the financial crisis, the CIA had launched a recruiting campaign targeting Wall Streeters with an appeal to patriotism.

ALL-TIME LOWS.... I've seen a few Republican blogs today crowing about the latest national polls, which show some lukewarm support for some of White House's policy priorities.  There are a couple of numbers, though, that should give them pause.  —  For one thing, President Obama's approval ratings still look quite strong.