White House Disavows Report That It Disdains Gay Critics, Bloggers As “Internet Left Fringe”  —  The White House is strongly denying a report making the rounds that it views gay critics and bloggers as part of an “Internet left fringe,” with a senior adviser asserting to me that this sentiment …

Heckuva Job, Barack  —  This was Barack Obama's chance.  —  Here was an opportunity to cut himself free, in a stroke, from the baggage that's weighed his presidency down — the implausible expectations, the utopian dreams, the messianic hoo-ha.  —  Here was a place to draw …

Insurance Group Says Health Bill Will Mean Higher Premiums  —  Report Issued Before Key Committee Vote  —  After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday …

Hillary Clinton says she won't run for president again  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she would not run for president again, and brushed off suggestions that she is being marginalized in the Obama White House.  —  Clinton, who lost the Democratic …

WaPo Page A1 breaking news: Conservatives are horrible ogres, Part 99,999  —  The Sunday edition of the Washington Post featured a massive, front-page article by Ann Gerhart decrying the “incivility” of conservatives.  “The nation's political discourse seems sour, angry, even dangerous,” Gerhart frets.

CREATING A MONSTER.... The right-wing “Tea Party” activists are, obviously, deeply opposed to the Obama White House's policies and the Democratic agenda in general.  But Alex Isenstadt reports that they're not especially pleased with the state of the Republican Party, either.

Sharpton to NFL: Block Limbaugh  —  Rev. Al Sharpton pleaded with the National Football League on Monday to deny conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh the opportunity to buy the St. Louis Rams franchise.  —  In a letter sent to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Sharpton wrote that he was …

Why We Don't Need an Afghanistan Surge  —  At the heart of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for a major surge in troops is the assumption that we are failing in Afghanistan.  But are we really?  The United States has had one central objective: to deny al-Qaeda the means to reconstitute, to train and to plan major terrorist attacks.

Kenyan police arrest American heading for Somalia  —  * Man was trying to enter area controlled by insurgents  —  * Arrested U.S. national told police he is a Muslim  —  An American man has been arrested in northern Kenya while trying to enter an area of Somalia controlled by Islamist insurgents, police and residents said on Monday.

Schwarzenegger signs gay rights bills  —  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed two gay rights bills, one honoring late activist Harvey Milk and another recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.  —  In the last of hundreds of bill actions taken before midnight Sunday …