Those troublesome Jews  —  The world is outraged at Israel's blockade of Gaza.  Turkey denounces its illegality, inhumanity, barbarity, etc.  The usual U.N. suspects, Third World and European, join in.  The Obama administration dithers.  —  But as Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council …

THIS JUST IN  —  With a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face outside a Columbia bar, Republican S.C. Sen. Jake Knotts called Lexington Rep. Nikki Haley, an Indian-American Republican woman running for governor, a “raghead” several times while explaining how he believed she was hiding her true religion from voters.

Obama Arrives in Gulf Region as Well Cap Effort Proceeds  —  NEW ORLEANS — President Obama arrived here Friday for his third visit to the gulf coast since oil began gushing into the water from a stricken undersea well nearly seven weeks ago, as officials said that a cap placed over the leaking well showed tentative signs of progress.

Boehner to Bashing Beatle: Apologize!  —  Sir Paul McCartney's cheap shot aimed at former President George W. Bush at a White House event on Wednesday has prompted House Minority Leader John Boehner to demand an apology from the Beatle.  —  McCartney literally gushed over President Obama throughout his East Room concert.

U.S. Added 431,000 Jobs in May, Mostly From Census  —  Employers added 431,000 nonfarm jobs nationwide in May, the biggest increase in a single month in a decade, the Labor Department said Friday.  But the bulk of the growth was in government jobs, driven by hiring for the Census, and private-sector job growth was weak.

We had no choice, commando who killed 6 tells ‘Post’  —  “They were coming at us with murder in their eyes,” says S., describing the “battlefield” aboard the ‘Mavi Marmara’; He hit the deck to see three officers lying wounded.  —  Talkbacks (18)  —  Make JPOST.COM your Home Page  —  Iranian Threat

Helen Thomas Says Jews Should Get the Hell Out of Palestine and Back To Germany-MUST SEE VIDEO  —  Helen Thomas is as fair and open minded as she is good looking.  The most Senior of White-House Correspondents has given up being a real reporter and instead spends her time spewing venom toward America's war …

EXCLUSIVE: Documents Show Kagan's Liberal Opinion on Social Issues  —  Elena Kagan has kept her cards so close to the vest that in the days after President Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court, some on the left worried she was too moderate to replace liberal Justice John Paul Stevens.

U.S. ‘secret war’ expands globally as Special Operations forces take larger role  —  Beneath its commitment to soft-spoken diplomacy and beyond the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama administration has significantly expanded a largely secret U.S. war against al-Qaeda and other radical groups …

Bush's Glib Waterboarding Admission Sparks Outrage  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  George W. Bush's casual acknowledgment Wednesday that he had Khalid Sheikh Mohammed waterboarded — and would do it again — has horrified some former military and intelligence officials who argue …

Bloody-Minded Union  —  Big Labor: Is there any low to which the SEIU won't stoop?  Now it's interrupting blood donations in a strike against the American Red Cross.  The Boy Scouts and Baptist churches are also on unions' enemies list.  —  Demanding higher wages and better benefits …

Obama To Nominate Clapper For DNI Tomorrow  —  President Obama intends to nominate Gen. James Clapper (Ret)., the current undersecretary of defense for intelligence, as Director of National Intelligence.  —  Pending weather, the announcement will be made in the Rose Garden tomorrow.

The Dems' Secret Plan to Hold Congress  —  Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much these days.  But lately it seems that they've been willing to set aside their vast, irreconcilable differences and publicly concur on at least one thing: that the Democrats are going to do really, really badly in November's midterm elections.

Cars Are Expensive, Poor People Need Transit  —  Mike DeBonis has an excellent article about Vincent Gray's streetcar flipflop and the blog-led activist backlash against him.  But I do want to object to the characterization of people with a stake in seeing improved mass transit as “well-off …

Why Democrats Are Going After Fred Malek.  —  Recent revelations in Slate and the Washington Post about longtime Republican leader Fred Malek's attempts to fire Jewish government officials during the '70s are being used by Democrats to go after the GOP.  What's this have to do with politics today?

ABC's Davis to SEIU  —  Another jump from the media to politics: ABC News's deputy political director, Teddy Davis, emails that he's leaving the network to join SEIU's already-muscular communications and politics operation.  —  He'll be Assistant Director of Communications at the giant union …

Why Sarah Palin Endorsed Terry Branstad in Iowa  —  There's a simple answer to the question, I think.  He's going to be the next governor of Iowa, assuming that there are no stunning surprises next week and Chet Culver, the Democrat, doesn't mount a miraculous election year comeback.

Race to Sanity  —  Sometimes it seems as if we're doomed to fight a new culture war between orthodox liberals who have lavish faith in the power of government and orthodox conservatives who have almost no faith at all.  —  But occasionally a politician comes along with a more measured vision of a limited but energetic government.