Nevada tea party candidate facing felony charges  —  LAS VEGAS - A Nevada asphalt contractor who faces a legal challenge to his Tea Party of Nevada candidacy for U.S. Senate was hit Friday with felony theft and bad check charges in Las Vegas that allege he bounced a $5,000 business check last year.

WHY HAS BARACK OBAMA TREATED NETANYAHU SO RUDELY?  “Obama would never treat the president of Equatorial Guinea that way.”  —  Possibly Obama just hates Israel and hates Jews.  That's plausible — certainly nothing in his actions suggests otherwise, really.

RNC rejects joint ‘civility’ statement  —  The Republican National Committee has rejected a proposal from its Democratic counterpart to sign a joint “civility” statement, POLITICO has learned.  —  Various members of the DNC — including Chairman Tim Kaine, Executive Director Jen O'Malley Dillon …

The Future of an Illusion  —  A piece of paper will not bring peace to the Middle East  —  Those who cannot remember the past are condemned, it seems, to direct the Middle East policy of the Obama administration.  —  Since the Oslo Accords of 1993, 17 years of efforts under three American presidents …

Obey, Servants … It's hard to know what to say to something like that.  It's always strange to me to think that police officers have a right to electrocute anyone who doesn't present a direct threat to their person, but this rationale is chilling: … Except it wasn't a lawful order …

Libtalker Calls For Deaths Of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly  —  LIBTALKER: TIME TO DIE  —  Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Beck Targeted By Hate Rhetoric  —  While mainstream conservative talk hosts are under fire for supposedly inciting (since generally debunked) “violence” …

Maj. Gen. Robert Harding Withdraws as T.S.A. Nominee Under Cloud  —  President Obama's choice to lead the agency that guards United States airports abruptly withdrew his nomination on Friday night amid questions about his work as a defense contractor, the second time the White House has lost a nominee for the critical security post.

Demonizing Everyday Americans  —  There appears to be a concerted effort among the political Left and many mainstream media people to demonize and marginalize the expanding citizen-based movement known as the tea party movement.  This effort flows from both a fear of what these tea parties represent …

Hard Pressed, Senator Dodd Gives Ground  —  Senator Chris Dodd has good political antennae.  He knows that his financial reform bill will come under severe pressure because it has a weak heart — the provisions that deal with “too big to fail” are simply “too weak to make any sense.”

‘Basically an Optimist’—Still  —  The Nobel economist says the health-care bill will cause serious damage, but that the American people can be trusted to vote for limited government in November.  —  Stanford, Calif.  —  “No, no. Not at all.”  —  So says Gary Becker when asked …

Ayad Allawi's bloc wins most seats in Iraqi parliamentary elections  —  BAGHDAD — Nearly three weeks after Iraq's elections, the coalition of former prime minister Ayad Allawi emerged with the most seats in the parliament Friday but fell far short of a majority.

Obama begins tough sell of healthcare and education reform  —  President Barack Obama began the tough job of selling healthcare and student lending reform to a skeptical public in his weekly address.  —  Obama lauded both initiatives, capping a triumphant week in which Democrats passed both measures with zero Republican support.

The Lie of the Liberal Arts Education  —  This will be an especially personal post, but as it brings into sharp relief many of the ideas I've spent years writing about here, I figured it's worth sharing.  —  As many of you know, a few evenings ago I received the following email from one of my old creative writing professors:

Coburn Pulls The Trigger: Jobless Benefits Extension Blocked By GOP  —  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) promised that he'd be the next Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) if he had to be.  And last night, he made good on his threat.  —  Coburn is blocking unanimous consent on extension of unemployment benefits, just as Bunning did a few weeks ago.