Obama Rejects Bipartisan Bank Deal  —  Although Senate Banking Committee Chris Dodd and his sometime Republican ally Richard Shelby continued to make noises on the Sunday talk shows about a possible bipartisan deal, both President Obama and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank …

The Revolution Will Be Commercialized  —  Sarah Palin is already president of right-wing America—and it's a position with a very big salary.  —  On the morning of July 3, 2009, a national holiday, Sarah Palin placed a call to her communications director and told her that she wanted to hold …

Op-Ed Columnist: Berating the Rating Agencies  —  Let's hear it for the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.  Its work on the financial crisis is increasingly looking like the 21st-century version of the Pecora hearings, which helped usher in New Deal-era financial regulation.

Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?  —  Bear with me while I vent for a moment.  On financial reform, there are clear villains in the political process: Mitch McConnell, the US Chamber of Commerce, etc.. But at this point I'm accustomed to that sort of thing.

The Cushy Life of the Rightwinger  —  If you're a connoisseur of people pointing out that Jonah Goldberg isn't a very intelligent man while simultaneously being too polite to come out and say so directly, I'd highly recommend this post from Conor Friedersdorf.

Hundreds protest immigration law in Arizona  —  Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) — Hundreds of people gathered outside Arizona's Capitol building on Sunday in a largely peaceful protest against the state's tough new immigration law.  —  Chanting “Yes we can,” waving American flags and holding signs reading …

‘Gay dog’ refused entry to Adelaide restaurant  —  An Adelaide restaurant that refused a blind man entry because a waiter thought his guide dog was “gay” has been ordered to apologise and pay compensation.  —  Ian Jolly was told he could not take guide dog Nudge into the Thai Spice …

Don't talk to aliens, warns Stephen Hawking  —  THE aliens are out there and Earth had better watch out, at least according to Stephen Hawking.  He has suggested that extraterrestrials are almost certain to exist — but that instead of seeking them out, humanity should be doing all it that can to avoid any contact.

Not Even in South Park?  —  Two months before 9/11, Comedy Central aired an episode of “South Park” entitled “Super Best Friends,” in which the cartoon show's foul-mouthed urchins sought assistance from an unusual team of superheroes.  These particular superfriends were all religious figures …

Pope ‘could cancel UK visit’ over ‘offensive’ Foreign Office memo  —  The Pope could cancel his planned visit to Britain because of a “hugely offensive” Foreign Office memo mocking his stance on abortion and birth control, sources in the Vatican said.  —  Senior Papal aides suggested …

THOUSANDS IN THE POURING RAIN TO SUPPORT ISRAEL AGAINST OBAMA'S ANTI-ISRAEL POLICIES  —  The rain was fitting as Obama's anti-Israel policies cast a dark cloud on the free world.  But that didn't stop thousands and thousands of Jews, Christians, Hindus and freedom loving peoples from coming out against Obama.

Baucus: A bank tax is coming  —  It was a short hallway conversation but spoke volumes about the dilemma facing Democrats, hungry for new revenues after emptying the cupboard on health care reform.  —  “I don't think there's much doubt that there will be a bank tax,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus told POLITICO.

Signs of progress as Obama envoy wraps up mission  —  RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy wrapped up his latest diplomatic mission Sunday without getting the Palestinians to agree to indirect peace talks with Israe...

The Quiet Coup  —  The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States.  One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs …

Still Not Getting It  —  The Mustache of Understanding: … They weren't around protesting during the Bush years BECAUSE THE TEA PARTY IS REPUBLICANS.  They don't care about the deficit.  They care that a Democrat (and a black “Muslim,” to boot), is in the White House.