McChrystal: More Forces or ‘Mission Failure’  —  Top U.S. Commander For Afghan War Calls Next 12 Months Decisive  —  The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them …

Bush In 2008: “I'm Not Going To Tell Some Gay Kid In The Audience That He Can't Get Married”  —  Speechwriter Matt Latimer's new book trains its gaze on the lunacy of the late-era Bush White House.  And there was plenty of material.  —  Latimer, who first wrote speeches and congressional testimony …

EXPLOSIVE NEW AUDIO Reveals White House Using NEA to Push Partisan Agenda  —  **NEA conference call full audio and transcript here**  —  Should the National Endowment for the Arts encourage artists to create art on issues being vehemently debated nationally?

For President, Five Programs, One Message  —  No one shifted an armchair, moved a flower arrangement or asked an unexpected question.  —  President Obama gave five back-to-back television interviews broadcast on Sunday that were as tightly choreographed — and eerily similar …

Americans More Likely to Say Government Doing Too Much  —  Belief that government is over-regulating business is at high for decade  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are more likely today than in the recent past to believe that government is taking on too much responsibility for solving …

Secret interviews add insight to Clinton presidency  —  BALTIMORE — The call from the White House usually would come in late afternoon.  President Clinton had a few hours open in the evening.  Could he come over?  —  Taylor Branch, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and civil rights historian …

Obama's Nontax Tax  —  On a Sunday show, the President offers a revealing definition.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  President Obama didn't make much news on his round of five Sunday talk shows yesterday, with one notable exception.  The President revealed a great deal about his philosophy …

Madison Weeps  —  How healthcare revealed the sickness of our political system.  —  “Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction,” James Madison wrote in Federalist Number 10.

Obama Arrives to an Awkward Hug From Paterson  —  TROY, N.Y. — So what did he say?  —  President Obama walked down from Air Force One after his plane landed shortly before 11 a.m. Monday.  He and Gov. David A. Paterson exchanged a brief greeting.  They shook hands.

U.S. racism ‘everywhere,’ says Dave Matthews  —  LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Watching the Dave Matthews Band moments before they take the stage is like watching a football team bursting out of the locker room before a big game.  —  They slap hands.  Bump fists.

Reform or Bust  —  In the grim period that followed Lehman's failure, it seemed inconceivable that bankers would, just a few months later, be going right back to the practices that brought the world's financial system to the edge of collapse.  At the very least, one might have thought …

Fed Rejects Geithner Request for Study of Governance, Structure  —  Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve Board has rejected a request by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for a public review of the central bank's structure and governance, three people familiar with the matter said.

Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) Chief of Staff: ‘All Pornography Is Homosexual Pornography’  —  One of the final events of the Values Voter Summit was a Saturday breakout session on “the new masculinity,” a wide-ranging topic that one speaker used to explain how any and all pornography could lead young people into homosexual lifestyles.

Candidate Obama didn't think so on his ‘Yes, we can!’ campaign slogan  —  Yes we can?  Barack Obama wasn't sure at first.  —  The President initially blanched when his now-famous campaign slogan was first introduced by political guru David Axelrod during the 2004 Illinois Senate race, a new book reports.

First They Came for the Marlboros  —  The hazards of Michael Bloomberg's paternalist utopia.  —  Last Monday dawned clear and bright in the nanny state of New York City.  The newspaper brought word that the city's new health commissioner was working on ways to get residents to exercise more.

It's Coming!  —  It's official.  It's getting hot down here.  And if we don't stop burning oil and coal, the Big Apple will be cooked.  —  According to a high tech study commissioned by a concerned Mayor Bloomberg and generously funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, climate change caused …

Letterman Takes Turn Toward the Political  —  And now, it's Dave's turn.  —  One week after he watched his old rival Jay Leno return to television as NBC's great prime-time hope, David Letterman will start making a statement of his own.  —  He will start with the president of the United States.

Hillary's Honduras Obsession  —  The U.S. is trying to force the country to violate its constitution.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  “The Supreme Court of Honduras has constitutional and statutory authority to hear cases against the President of the Republic and many other high officers of the State …