Anti-Defamation League: National Security Adviser Jones Told “Inappropriate, Stereotypic” Joke About Jewish Merchant  —  As first noted by the Jewish newspaper The Forward, at an event last week at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy - a pro-Israel think tank …

Most back stricter financial reform, advantage Obama  —  About two-thirds of Americans support stricter regulations on the way banks and other financial institutions conduct their business, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.  —  Majorities also back two main components …

You wouldn't like Lindsey Graham when he's angry  —  If the policy inside the Kerry-Lieberman-Graham climate change bill seem to have finally come together, it looks like the politics are about to come apart.  In a move that's surprised pretty much everybody, Harry Reid and the White House …

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 …

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 …

Napolitano takes aim at Arizona immigration law  —  (CNN) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is taking aim at the new controversial law passed in her home state of Arizona dealing with illegal immigration, telling ABC News it is “not a good law in any number of reasons.”

Obama seeks to ‘reconnect...young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women’ for 2010  —  The Democratic National Committee this morning released this clip of the president rallying the troops, if rather coolly, for 2010.  Obama's express goal: “reconnecting” with the voters who voted …

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.

Obama Ahead of Election 2010: The Secrets of His Success  —  Barack Obama's right-wing opponents cast him as a socialist failure.  His left-wing hecklers see him as an overcautious hedger.  But, critics notwithstanding, the President is on a path to be a huge success by the time of November's midterm elections.

Economists: The stimulus didn't help  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The recovery is picking up steam as employers boost payrolls, but economists think the government's stimulus package and jobs bill had little to do with the rebound, according to a survey released Monday.

Bauer takes aim at the ‘lazy’ in S.C.  —  Republican gubernatorial debate held in Spartanburg  —  SPARTANBURG - Lazy state residents are contributing to the number of illegal immigrants in South Carolina, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said during a Republican gubernatorial debate Friday, living off public aid rather than working.

McCain unsure Arizona law is legal  —  John McCain — who has spoken supportively of his state's crackdown on illegal immigrants — appeared torn on the issue at a town hall meeting Saturday:  —  Although McCain had sounded a note of support for the bill, calling it a “good tool” …

The GOP's Terrible FinReg Bluff  —  As of now, it looks like the Republicans will filibuster the first vote on financial reform.  It also looks like they're pursuing the most asinine political strategy I've ever heard of, according to Politico: … So wait.

Economists say recovery looks stronger than expected  —  The recovery is shaping up to be stronger than expected and there is little risk the economy will slip back into a recession, according to USA TODAY's quarterly survey of 46 leading economists.  —  Yet most still say the rebound …

Labour fights to avoid third as Lib Dem surge holds  —  Gordon Brown's party could end up in third place as the latest poll suggests support has not yet hit bedrock  —  Labour is battling to avoid a disastrous third place in next week's election, according to the latest Guardian/ICM poll.

How do you measure ‘epistemic closure’?  —  “Epistemic closure,” Julian Sanchez writes, is the toxic result of “confirmation bias plus a sufficiently large array of multimedia conservative outlets to constitute a complete media counterculture, plus an overbroad ideological justification …

Texas lawmaker: Obama is 'God's punishment on us.'  —  On Saturday, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) and several other elected officials boosted Fox News host Glenn Beck at an event at the Oil Palace in Tyler, TX.  The day was full of right-wing flame-throwing, including Perry saying that he was …