Pathetic: BP Buses in Temps for Obama Photo Op  —  Maybe the alternate photo caption should read something like “I can see the end of my presidency from here.”  Well, we all figured this would be a carefully choreographed photo op for the current occupant of the White House …

Joe McGinniss talks about why he moved in next to Sarah Palin  —  When a source told Joe McGinniss that he could rent the house next to Sarah Palin's Wasilla, Alaska, home, the author was sold.  —  A room at the Best Western, not far away, would have been prohibitively expensive.

Sestak was ineligible for job Clinton offered  —  In a little-noticed passage Friday, the New York Times reported that Rep. Joe Sestak was not eligible for a place on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, the job he was reportedly offered by former President Bill Clinton.

You make a grown man cry  —  I know I talk about David Broder too much, but this reads like parody: … No, there is no way that a president could fabricate a story about something a family member told him.  It simply is not possible.  It can't be done.  When a president mention …

White House says Carville doesn't know all the facts  —  (CNN) - James Carville doesn't know all the facts, the White House says.  —  Amid repeated criticism from the Democratic strategist and CNN contributor over the president's response to the BP oil spill, White House Press Secretary …

Malawi pardons jailed gay couple  —  A gay couple jailed in Malawi after getting engaged have been pardoned by President Bingu wa Mutharika.  —  Mr Mutharika, speaking as UN chief Ban Ki-moon visited his country, said he had ordered their immediate release.

Options studied for a possible Pakistan strike  —  The U.S. military is reviewing options for a unilateral strike in Pakistan in the event that a successful attack on American soil is traced to the country's tribal areas, according to senior military officials.

Bill Clinton rips left in Arkansas race  —  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former President Bill Clinton returned to his home state Friday to help a beleaguered ally and delivered a broadside against some of the most powerful interests in the Democratic Party.  —  Using unusually vivid language …

Scientists Build Case for Undersea Plumes  —  IN THE GULF OF MEXICO — The ocean caught fire.  —  As it blazed, a dense column of black smoke rose toward the sky.  Oily water, the color of strong tea, slopped up the sides of boats.  The breeze carried an acrid smell, like gasoline fumes.

An Unnatural Disaster  —  “Where I was wrong,” said President Obama at his press conference on Thursday, “was in my belief that the oil companies had their act together when it came to worst-case scenarios.”  —  With all due respect to the president, who is a very smart man …

Swedish Murder Rate  —  This Foreign Policy article on Steig Larsson and the decline of the Swedish utopia concludes with what seems to me to be a whopper of a factual error: … In fact, there are 9.3 million people in Sweden and only 600,000 in Sweden.  In other words, Sweden …

As 'Don't Ask' Fades, Military Faces Thorny Issues  —  For opponents of the ban against homosexuals serving openly in the military, the steps by Congress this week to repeal the policy, known as “don't ask, don't tell,” were a major victory.  But now they are girding for what may be an equally difficult task …

Down the Rabbit Hole in South Cackalacky  —  Earlier this week I did a brief post on the madness that's consumed the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial contest.  —  Long story short, a conservative blogger and former staffer to both Gov. Mark Sanford and state Rep. Nikki Haley “admitted” …

Gary Coleman dies at age 42  —  Gary Coleman, the child star of the TV sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, died Friday after suffering an intercranial hemorrhage.  He was 42.  —  Utah Valley Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Janet Frank says life support was terminated and Coleman died at 12:05 p.m.