Sarah Palin: Why She Resigned  —  Sarah Palin Talks to ABC News About Why She Resigned  —  After her bombshell announcement Friday that she was resigning as governor of Alaska 18 months before the end of her first term, and questions about her political future ricocheting from Alaska to Washington D.C. …

Obama to Rahm: Shut.  Up.  —  Today's Wall Street Journal: … This forced Obama to interrupt his diplomacy in Russia to release this statement: … What happened here?  Rahm likely was blabbering to a reporter and just went with his natural gut instinct — to be weak, and cave to Republicans.

Dan Froomkin hired by The Huffington Post  —  (updated below)  —  In yet another sign of how online media outlets are strengthening as their older establishment predecessors are struggling to survive, The Huffington Post has hired Dan Froomkin to be its Washington Bureau Chief and regular columnist/blogger.

Obama's Approval Drops In Ohio - Critical Swing State, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; 2010 Senate Race Tips Slightly To Democrats  —  President Barack Obama gets a lackluster 49 - 44 percent approval rating in Ohio, considered by many to be the most important swing state in a presidential election …

A Congressional Coup Caucus emerges  —  Support for the coup in Honduras extends beyond the pages of right wing political magazines to the United States Congress.  Tomorrow, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will host a private meeting for her Republican colleagues …

Al Gore likens fight against climate change to battle with Nazis  —  Al Gore today compared the battle against climate change with the struggle against the Nazis.  —  The former US Vice President said the world lacked the political will to act and invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill …

Big Banks Don't Want California's IOUs  —  A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California's IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap.  —  The development is the latest twist in California's struggle to deal with the effects of the recession.

Putin praises Bush hospitality during Obama visit  —  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the hospitality and openness of U.S. former President George W. Bush in a telegramme sent hours before meeting his successor Barack Obama.

UPDATED: Alberto Gonzales, former U.S. attorney general, expected to teach at Texas Tech University  —  Alberto Gonzales, who resigned as the Bush administration's embattled attorney general nearly two years ago, has lined up a fall-semester teaching spot at Texas Tech University, the university confirmed today.

Pope calls for a UN ‘with teeth’  —  The Pope has called for reform of the United Nations and financial bodies, giving them the “real teeth” needed to tackle economic and social injustice.  —  Benedict XVI said the blind pursuit of profit and economic mismanagement had “wreaked havoc” on the global economy.

U.S. House May Include Surtax on Wealthy in Health-Care Package  —  House Ways and Means Committee members are likely to propose a surtax on high-income Americans to help pay for an overhaul of the health-care system, according to people familiar with the plan.

Commentary: Galloway on McNamara: Reading an obit with great pleasure  —  “I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.”  —Clarence Darrow (1857-1938)  —  Well, the aptly named Robert Strange McNamara has finally shuffled off to join LBJ and Dick Nixon in the 7th level of Hell.

The Real Quagmire in the Middle East  —  The Middle East is a hard place for idealists, especially for the Western liberal variety.  My feelings of optimism for the region have been ground down over time like rocks under slow-moving glacial ice.  —  Last time I visited Israel …

In Search of Dignity  —  When George Washington was a young man, he copied out a list of 110 “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.”  Some of the rules in his list dealt with the niceties of going to a dinner party or meeting somebody on the street.

George Allen's road back?  —  A book is often a start on that road, and Regnery announced today that they're publishing one by the former Virginia senator:  —  The book, due out next year, will be called, “The Triumph of Character: What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports.”

Obama: U.S. not giving Israel green light to attack Iran  —  MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) - The United States is “absolutely not” giving Israel a green light to attack Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama told CNN Tuesday.  —  “We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve …