White House official: ‘Organized labor just flushed $10 million down the toilet’  —  A senior White House official just called me with a very pointed message for the administration's sometime allies in organized labor, who invested heavily in beating Blanche Lincoln, Obama's candidate, in Arkanas.

Indispensable  —  Michael Oren, a 55-year-old U.S.-born historian of the modern Middle East and the author of two best-selling books, one on the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and another on the United States' 200-year-old experience in the Middle East, renounced his U.S. citizenship at an emotional ceremony …

Reid Opponent Embraces Patriot Group That Warns Of ‘Giant Concentration Camps’  —  The peculiar ideology of Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee challenging Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada, is perhaps no better illustrated than by her embrace of the patriot group Oath Keepers …

Reuters Admits Cropping Photos of Ship Clash, Denies Political Motive  —  On the left, the uncropped photo.  On the right, Reuters' released photo.  (Reuters)  —  The British-based Reuters news agency has been stung for the second time by charges that it edited politically sensitive photos in a way that casts Israel in a bad light.

LINDSEY GRAHAM PULLS AWAY THE FOOTBALL, AGAIN.... For the better part of a year, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) worked with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on a comprehensive climate/energy bill.  It was poised to be a pretty strong package, that struck a grand bargain between parties and interests.

Concession Statement  —  Mickey Kaus claimed a form of victory Tuesday night after he apparently drew more than 5% of the Democratic primary vote against three-term incumbent Barbara Boxer:  —  STATEMENT OF MICKEY KAUS  —  I congratulate Senator Boxer on her primary victory.

California Voters Back Election Overhaul  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Hoping to fix a system many Californians view as fundamentally broken, voters Tuesday moved to radically alter the way they pick their candidates for state and Congressional offices by eliminating traditional primaries in favor of a new, and largely untested, system.

The Alien in the White House  —  The distance between the president and the people is beginning to be revealed.  —  The deepening notes of disenchantment with Barack Obama now issuing from commentators across the political spectrum were predictable.  So, too, were the charges …

Looking ahead: Fiorina vs. Boxer  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and GOP candidate Carly Fiorina have already started sharply attacking each other and offering a preview of what could become one of the most compelling Senate races in the country this fall.

‘Lying face to face’  —  NEW BRITAIN — A member of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's staff, himself a former major and judge advocate in the U.S. Marines, is calling Blumenthal a liar and disgrace to the Marine Corps for representing himself repeatedly as having served in Vietnam.

Will anyone replace her?  —  In the end, Helen Thomas got the last laugh.  Before anybody could throw her out of the White House briefing room, she denied them the pleasure by walking out on her own.  —  Thomas herself couldn't defend her latest comments about Israel — and she didn't try.

The Climate Majority  —  ON Thursday, the Senate will vote on a resolution proposed by Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, that would scuttle the Environmental Protection Agency's plans to limit emissions of greenhouse gases by American businesses.  —  Passing the resolution might seem to be exactly what Americans want.

Nancy Pelosi, the liberal House speaker, is heckled by liberals  —  For 17 months, anger at President Obama and congressional Democrats has been pooling on the left.  On Tuesday morning, it spilled onto the floor of an Omni Shoreham ballroom and splashed all over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Primaries  —  It's always dangerous to try to sum up a bunch of disparate events into a single trend, but I suppose yesterday's primary results on the Democratic side show that we're still in a world that's less interesting and less dynamic than journalists and activists alike want it to be.

Keeping Politics Safe for the Rich  —  In a burst of judicial activism, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upended the gubernatorial race in Arizona, cutting off matching funds to candidates participating in the state's public campaign finance system.  Suddenly, three candidates, including Gov. Jan Brewer …

Israel eases Gaza embargo to allow snack food  —  (Reuters) - Israel is easing its Gaza embargo to allow snack food and drinks into the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian officials said Wednesday, following an international outcry over Israel's raid on an aid flotilla.

Why aren't banks lending?  —  Because bureaucrats and politicians won't let them  —  Despite constant urging by Washington for banks to increase their lending, credit conditions remain tight.  Small-business lending continues to lag, and credit card issuers have slashed credit lines and canceled thousands of accounts.