Palin and Her Enemies  —  If Sarah Palin's political career ended last Friday, 10 tumultuous months after she was introduced as the Republican Party's vice-presidential nominee, those five words will be its epitaph.  —  Had she refused John McCain, Palin would still be a popular female governor …

Former Lawmakers and Congressional Staffers Hired to Lobby on Health Care  —  Firms Are Enlisting Ex-Lawmakers, Aides  —  The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing …

Ex-Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara Dies at 93  —  Robert S. McNamara, perhaps the most influential defense secretary of the 20th century, who helped lead the nation into the maelstrom of Vietnam and spent the rest of his life wrestling with the war's moral consequences …

Carville to Advise Karzai Challenger in Afghan Election Contest  —  Democratic strategist James Carville, who ran Bill Clinton's presidential bid in 1992, is helping another challenger: a U.S.-educated rival of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.  —  Carville, who has close ties to Secretary …

Obama: Student Radical  —  During the campaign, I wrote a piece called “Why Won't Obama Talk About Columbia?  — The years he won't discuss may explain the Ayers tie he keeps lying about.”  So now, nearly six months into the Obama presidency, the mainstream media has finally done a bit …

California's Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics: Kevin Hassett  —  Last week, we discovered that the state of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.  —  With California mired in a budget crisis, largely the result of a political impasse that makes spending cuts …

Say it ain't so, Joe  —  It's hard to tell exactly what Joe Biden was trying to say this morning on “This Week” with George Stephanopolous.  But his remarks are being widely interpreted as a green light for an Israeli strike on Iran.  If that isn't the case, Biden needs to issue a strong clarification immediately.

Wife blows MI6 chief's cover on Facebook  —  The wife of the new head of MI6 has caused a major security breach and left his family exposed after publishing photographs and personal details on Facebook.  —  Sir John Sawers is due to take over as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service in November …

A Goldman trading scandal?  —  Did someone try to steal Goldman Sachs' secret sauce?  —  While most in the US were celebrating the 4th of July, a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey was being held on federal charges of stealing top-secret computer trading codes from a major …

HELP Is on the Way  —  The Congressional Budget Office has looked at the future of American health insurance, and it works.  —  A few weeks ago there was a furor when the budget office “scored” two incomplete Senate health reform proposals — that is, estimated their costs and likely impacts over the next 10 years.

Just the Messenger  —  Mediaite.com Focuses on Celebrity of Journalism  —  Few would quarrel with the notion of Oprah Winfrey as the most influential television host, with Bill O'Reilly coming in second.  —  But Elisabeth Hasselbeck at No. 4 and Jon Stewart at No. 15 — ahead of Bob Schieffer …

Goldman, Barclays Using Newfangled CDOs to Offload Bad Bank Assets  —  Goldman and Barclays are out touting old structured credit technology, apparently collateralized debt obligations, and claim they have been tamed and repurposed and are now virtuous.  —  I am skeptical of these assertions, and welcome informed reader comment.

Scores Reported Dead After Unrest in China  —  SHANGHAI — The official death toll in riots in China's northwestern Xinjiang region rose sharply Monday, with the government saying that 140 had been killed in what appears to be one of the deadliest episodes of unrest in China in decades.

Tea party protest at Southfork Ranch falls short of estimated 50,000 attendees  —  mnorris@dallasnews.com  —  It was more than the heat that had people hot under the collar this Independence Day at Southfork Ranch.  A range of issues from taxes to universal health care brought a crowd out to America's Tea Party.

Honduras at the Tipping Point  —  Why is the U.S. not supporting the rule of law?  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Hundreds of emails from Hondurans flooded my in-box last week after I reported on the military's arrest of President Manuel Zelaya, as ordered by the Supreme Court, and his subsequent banishment from the country.