Morning Fix: Five Senators to Watch on Sotomayor  —  The confirmation hearings for judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court begin today at 10 a.m. and, although the drama has largely been drained from the question of whether she will be confirmed (barring some disaster she will be on the Court) …

Palin's Route to Resignation: Missteps and Ignored Advice  —  This article was reported by Jim Rutenberg from New York and Serge F. Kovaleski from Wasilla and Anchorage, Alaska.  Jo Becker reported from New York and Kim Severson and William Yardley from Wasilla and Anchorage.

Obama Faces a New Push to Look Back  —  President Obama is facing new pressure to reverse himself and to ramp up investigations into the Bush-era security programs, despite the political risks.  —  Leading Democrats on Sunday demanded investigations of how a highly classified counterterrorism program …

Republican pundits open fire on Sarah Palin  —  Their harsh views conflict with those of grass-roots GOP voters, revealing a serious split within the party.  —  Since announcing her resignation, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been pummeled by critics who have called her incoherent, a quitter, a joke and a “political train wreck.”

Goldman Sachs Likely to Post Huge Profits, Analysts Say  —  Most of Wall Street, and America, is still waiting for an economic recovery.  Then there is Goldman Sachs.  —  Up and down Wall Street, analysts and traders are buzzing that Goldman, which only recently paid back its government bailout money …

The Future of Conservative Ideas  —  Drake Bennett profiles four up-and-coming right-of-center thinkers: Luigi Zingales, Bradford Wilcox, Reihan Salam, and Megan McArdle.  I've never heard of Wilcox, but his ideas (family is good!) don't sound very interesting.

FOLKS: O, FOR SHAME!  —  'GIRL'S NO SEX SYMBOL!'  —  The Secret Service might want to put a new threat on its watch list: the mad-as-hell mama of the 17-year-old Brazilian beauty ogled by President Obama and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy at the G8 summit last week.

Frenetic Pace, Packed Agenda Put West Wing Staffers Through Wringer  —  The White House mess — the military-inspired term for the West Wing cafeteria — opens at 7 a.m. each day.  And each day, there is a long line of hungry staffers who have already been at the office for well over an hour.

Hate Speech Against Malia Obama On Conservative Blogs Reported By Hate Speech Planting Journalist  —  We should've seen this coming: conservative blog Free Republic fired hate speech off at Malia Obama after this photo of her appeared, letting their commenters go to town.

Health care deadline unlikely to be met  —  Health care reform proponents are growing pessimistic that they can meet President Barack Obama's August target for passing a bill — saying the next four weeks must fall together perfectly, without a hitch or a hiccup.  —  The number of weeks that's happened recently?

Ezra Klein, Concern Troll  —  Ezra Klein is concerned—or rather, he's “gripped” by an “unsettling thought”: … I agree with my distinguished colleague (and welcome him to the concern troll community).  He's woken to the realization that Obama is running into political difficulty …

Iran's Rumored Nicaraguan ‘Mega-Embassy’ Set Off Alarms in U.S.  —  MANAGUA, Nicaragua — For months, the reports percolated in Washington and other capitals.  Iran was constructing a major beachhead in Nicaragua as part of a diplomatic push into Latin America, featuring huge investment deals …

Republicans Reject Science; Scientists Reject Republicans  —  The Republican Party has a serious infection of anti-science syndrome.  And, scientists have noted the The Republican War on Science.  The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press came out, last week …