Initial Reaction: 40% Positive Toward Kagan Nomination  —  Excellent/Good ratings below average for recent court nominees  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A Gallup immediate-reaction poll to President Barack Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court finds 40% of Americans rating the choice as …

David Cameron is new UK prime minister  —  Conservative leader David Cameron has become the UK's new prime minister after the resignation of Gordon Brown.  —  Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg will be his deputy after they agreed to the UK's first coalition government in 70 years.

CBO ups health care cost projections  —  Congressional Budget Office estimates released Tuesday predict the health care overhaul will likely cost about $115 billion more in discretionary spending over ten years than the original cost projections.  —  The additional spending …

Alabama candidate denounces ‘lie’ that he believes in evolution  —  Evolution has obviously been a political issue for a while, but I'm not sure I've ever seen an attack ad like this one before: It mocks a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of Alabama for believing in the theory.

Elena Kagan and Me: One Semester of Civ Pro With the New SCOTUS Nominee  —  I can count myself as one of the thousands of students that had Elena Kagan as a professor.  She's taught at the University of Chicago School of Law and Harvard Law School.  I had her in 2000 …

Ok, so now I'm a liar  —  I had the opportunity — first time, and very cool — to appear on Rachel Maddow's show last night to discuss the nomination of Elena Kagan.  I was in segment B. Glenn Greenwald was in segment A. I had spent the afternoon reading up on Glenn's views about the nomination.

McCain Counsels the Wrong Sheriff  —  by Paul Hogarth‚ May. 11‚ 2010  —  Under attack from the Teabagger wing of the GOP, Senator John McCain has a new campaign ad to prove his anti-immigrant credentials - along with a corny website, at completethedangedfence.com.

Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950  —  Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found.  —  Some conservative political movements such as the …

Sarah Palin's book, ‘America By Heart,’ out Nov. 23  —  NEW YORK — Sarah Palin's new book has a title, America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag, and a release date, Nov. 23, publisher HarperCollins announced Tuesday.  —  The Alaska ex-governor and former Republican vice …

96-0: Fed Audit Passes Senate  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  UPDATE - 12:10 p.m. - The amendment to open the Fed to a one-time audit of its lending between December 1, 2007 and the present passed 96-0.  —  Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), the Federal Reserve's most outspoken defender …

Jawa Exclusive: Capture Of Mullah Omar Confirmed *sticky*  —  An overseas intelligence source has confirmed to the Jawa Report that Mullah Omar has been captured as originally reported by Brad Thor.  —  You can wait for the New York Times to catch up if you'd like, we don't mind.  —  Previous:

Oil executives shift blame at Senate hearing  —  Three big oil and oil service companies all pointed fingers at one another for blame in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in testimony Tuesday at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  —  While saying that it was too early …

CNN Contributor Erickson Draws Ire From All Sides  —  MACON, Ga. — In his seven weeks as one of CNN's newest contributors, Erick Erickson has made scarcely more than a dozen appearances on the network.  —  But his every utterance — every Twitter message, blog post and radio rant …

Thieves Steal Mojave Desert Memorial Cross in Nighttime Heist  —  The 7-foot-tall metal cross in a 75-year-old war memorial that withstood the heat of the Mojave Desert and a blazing battle in the Supreme Court over its legality was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to federal officials.

Why Sestak might really pull it off  —  Tomorrow, a third poll will come out finding Joe Sestak is leading Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Dem primary.  The poll, from Franklin & Marshall College, will mirror others showing Sestak ahead by around five points, the poll's director confirms to me.

Alan Mollohan loses primary fight  —  West Virginia Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan lost his bid for a 15th term tonight at the hands of state Sen. Mike Oliverio, a defeat that further affirms the anti-incumbent sentiment coursing through the country.  —  Mollohan hadn't faced a serious primary fight …

DeMint: A conservative kingmaker upends GOP order  —  WASHINGTON — Jim DeMint is becoming something of a tea party hero, even a potential conservative kingmaker, a status that is not making the freshman senator many friends among fellow Republicans in Congress.

CD11: Goehring wants to thin ‘liberal’ herd  —  Congressional District 11 GOP candidate Brad Goehring is drawing fire for his confrontational Facebook statement today: … Check out all the comments; 57 when I looked a few minutes ago. … LAV 3:23 p.m. Screen shot posted below.  LAV 4:08 p.m.)

The Kagan Rope-A-Dope?  —  There are three possibilities, it seems to me, behind the kerfuffle over Elena Kagan's emotional orientation.  The first is that her orientation is heterosexual and she is merely a dedicated career person who never had time for a date.

Verizon, Google Developing iPad Rival  —  Verizon Wireless is working with Google Inc. on a tablet computer, the carrier's chief executive, Lowell McAdam, said Tuesday, as the company endeavors to catch up with iPad host AT&T Inc. in devices that connect to wireless networks.

Muhammad cartoonist ‘head-butted’ during lecture  —  STOCKHOLM - A Swedish artist who angered Muslims by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted Tuesday as furious protesters interrupted his university lecture about the limits of artistic freedom.

Just 41% in Alaska Would Vote for Palin for President  —  Sarah Palin appears to be losing the Alaska vote.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds that just 41% say they would vote for the former Alaska governor if she ran for president in 2012.

State doubled fee paid to anti-gay psychologist in Rentboy scandal  —  Anti-gay psychologist George Rekers charged Florida $300 an hour to testify as an expert witness in a trial defending Florida's ban on gay people adopting.  The state planned to cap Rekers' fee at $60,900 …

Obama's numbers hit high mark  —  For the first time since October a majority of Americans express approval of Barack Obama's job performance on PPP's monthly national poll.  50% give him good marks to 46% who disapprove.  —  Obama's numbers with Democrats are basically steady and he remains …

Video captures Seattle cop kicking Latino suspect in the face, using ethnic slur — and then releasing him  —  A Seattle freelance videographer recently captured a local cop kicking a man in the head while prone on the ground and using ethnic slurs: … One of the most disturbing aspects of the incident …