Exclusive: Conservative group offers support for $2M  —  The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group's support in a bitter legislative dispute, then the group's chairman flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.

Uncle Pat: MSNBC's Knowing Promotion of White Supremacy and Racial Hatred  —  Pat Buchanan is a racist, white supremacist intent on stoking racial hatred.  There has never been any doubt of this, and throughout the confirmation process of Judge Sotomayor, he has repeated his unvarnished white supremacist views at every opportunity.

Gang Of Six Centrist Senators Demands Delay On Health Care Reform  —  A bipartisan group of centrist and conservative senators sent a letter to the Democratic and Republican leaders on Friday urging delay in consideration of health care reform.  —  The letter, obtained by the Huffington Post …

Tehran's streets erupt after a key cleric speaks  —  Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's harsh rebuke of Ahmadinejad supporters is followed by renewed violence, suggesting the discontent over recent election results is as strong as ever.  —  Reporting from Tehran and Beirut …

What, and when, does Obama drink?  —  When President Barack Obama confessed his occasional urge to have a puff of a cigarette, inquiring minds wondered: Does Obama ever savor that smoke with a glass of cognac?  A splash of port?  Or even, perhaps, a good, old-fashioned ale?

Sanford communications director to resign  —  Gov. Mark Sanford's communications director, Joel Sawyer, said today he is leaving for an unspecified private-sector job, effective Aug. 5.  —  Sawyer said his decision to leave his $65,000-a-year job had nothing to do with Sanford's recent six …

McCaskill's Office Locks Doors, Pulls Blinds, Calls Cops & Forces Obamacare Protesters Off Public Property  —  Local Tea Party patriots held an anti-Obama Care protest at Senator Claire “ACORN” McCaskill's district offices on Delmar Boulevard today.  —  The protest was organized by Americans …

Obama Needs to ‘Reset’ His Presidency  —  The president we have is very different from the man who campaigned for the office in 2008.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Time out, Mr. President.  —  As we approach the August congressional recess, it's clear that our economic distress is deeper …

The Joy of Sachs  —  The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed.  Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it's preparing to hand out huge bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis.  What does this contrast tell us?

Gates: I'm looking at ways to ensure gays are not kicked out of military based on personal vendettas.  —  Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that he was considering a temporary solution that would allow gays to serve in the military until the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy is changed by Congress.

Some E-Books Are More Equal Than Others  —  This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers.  These were books that they had bought and paid for—thought they owned.

Fox guest cites Bruno to argue against health care reform.  —  On Fox News this morning, host Megyn Kelly hosted Dr. Robert Goldberg of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest to help her scaremonger about Democratic plans to reform America's health care system.

Zell Miller: Rahm should use ‘Gorilla Glue’ to keep Obama in his chair.  —  In 2004, then-Democratic Sen. Zell Miller (GA) threw his support behind President Bush with an angry speech attacking Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) at the Republican National Convention.  Apparently, the passage of time hasn't softened Miller's anger.

Questions raised about councilman's conduct after discovery of racist e-mails  —  EDITOR'S NOTE: This article uses language that is offensive but necessary to show a pattern of conduct by an Atwater city councilman.  —  ATWATER — In the past several months Atwater City Councilman Gary Frago …

‘Birther’ Movement Dogs Republicans  —  Kris Kobach campaigns in Wichita, Kans. (YouTube: WichitaLiberty)  —  Kris Kobach is a law professor with degrees from Harvard, Yale and Oxford, and a veteran of George W. Bush's administration who, after Sept. 11, helped craft the policy …

50% Oppose Government Health Insurance Company  —  Just 35% of U.S. voters now support the creation of a government health insurance company to compete with private health insurers.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 50% of voters oppose setting …

Summers: Google econ, get good news  —  Of all the statistics pouring into the White House every day, top economic adviser Larry Summers highlighted one Friday to make his case that the economic free-fall has ended.  —  The number of people searching for the term “economic depression” on Google is down to normal levels, Summers said.

Texas Gov. Who Refused Stimulus Funds Asks for Loan  —  Posted by Stephanie Condon Earlier this year, Texas Governor Rick Perry was one of a handful of Republican governors who refused some federal stimulus funds from President Obama's economic recovery package on the grounds that there were too many strings attached to the money.

A Hollywood Blogger Feared by Executives  —  Right now, there's a good chance a Hollywood executive is leaning into a colleague's office and quietly asking, “Did you see what Nikki just wrote?”  —  That would be Nikki Finke, a well-traveled newspaper reporter who has found her moment as a digital-age Walter Winchell.

The Friday Line: Ranking Republican Leaders  —  Photos by Mark Wilson/Getty Images, Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg News and Harry Hamburg/AP Photo  —  The Republican party at present is, in the words of one smart GOP operative, a chorus of voices without a soloist.