Op-Ed Contributor: Talking About Israel, Without the Clichés  —  THE Israeli raid on the Free Gaza flotilla has generated an outpouring of clichés from the usual suspects.  It is almost impossible to discuss the Middle East without resorting to tired accusations and ritual defenses …

Clyburn says S.C. Dem Senate candidate a ‘plant’; calls for probe  —  The man nominated as Democrats' candidate for Senate in South Carolina might have been a “plant,” a high-ranking Democrat suggested Thursday.  —  House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) called for in South Carolina …

Scott Tops Mccollum In Florida GOP Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Dem Senate Primary Race Too Close To Call  —  Political neophyte Rick Scott has surged to a 44 - 31 percent lead over Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum in the race for the Republican nomination for governor …

ACORN employees tell FBI of deliberate election fraud, according to new documents  —  The radical activist group ACORN “works” for the Democratic Party and deliberately promotes election fraud, ACORN employees told FBI investigators, according to an FBI document dump Wednesday.

I've Got 99 Weeks of Unemployment, And Also a Lot of Problems  —  With long-term unemployment surging to unprecedented highs, Annie Lowrey takes a look at the plight of those facing expiration of Unemployment Insurance as they head up against the 99 week mark:

BP and Officials Block Some Coverage of Gulf Oil Spill  —  When the operators of Southern Seaplane in Belle Chasse, La., called the local Coast Guard-Federal Aviation Administration command center for permission to fly over restricted airspace in Gulf of Mexico, they made what they thought was a simple and routine request.

Boehner: Government—i.e. Taxpayers—Should Help Pay For Oil Spill  —  Congressional Democrats and the White House are toying with different ways to force BP to cover the costs of damages from the Gulf oil spill.  But they face stiff opposition from industry...and it seems leading Republicans.

Publishing Company Under Fire for Putting Warning Label on Constitution  —  Warning that appears on Wilder Publications' reprints of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and other historical texts.  —  A small publishing company is under fire after putting warning labels on copies …

Jobs report a nightmare for Obama progressivism  —  Concerning the job numbers from May, one can almost echo Henry James's exclamation after examining letters pertaining to Lord Byron's incest: “Nauseating perhaps, but how quite inexpressibly significant.”  Except that the May numbers' significance …

Kagan has many achievements, but her world has been relatively narrow  —  One night, at an intimate dinner, Elena Kagan lavished such praise on Justice Antonin Scalia that he almost teared up.  The next afternoon, in front of a crowd of 500, she lauded him some more, nearly choking up herself.

Did Harry Reid get a softball opponent?  —  Harry Reid is looking at life from a whole new Angle.  —  Only weeks ago, the Senate majority leader was a dead man walking, facing a seemingly inevitable defeat in his reelection battle in Nevada.  But then came Tuesday's primary …

White House officials make nice with labor  —  In a private meeting currently under way with labor leaders, top White House officials are working hard to smooth over tensions in the wake of an anonymous administration official's claim that unions had flushed $10 million down the toilet in Arkansas …

Lincoln Win Boosts Overhaul Effort  —  WASHINGTON—Sen. Blanche Lincoln's surprising victory in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Arkansas appears to have hardened an anti-Wall Street bent in Congress's financial-overhaul bill.  —  Ms. Lincoln wrote a controversial provision in the bill …

My mic was on?  Senate hopeful Fiorina mocks Barbara Boxer's hair, moans about Fox's Sean Hannity  —  Carly Fiorina spent her first day as California's Republican U.S. Senate candidate with one of her custom shoes planted firmly in her mouth.  —  Unaware of an open mic before a television interview …

Bennett Will Back Rival  —  Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) isn't going back to the Senate next year after losing his bid for renomination, but he wants a hand in selecting who will take his seat.  —  Bennett will endorse business consultant Tim Bridgewater (R), according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

U.S. and BP slow to accept Dutch expertise  —  Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help.  —  It was willing to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms, and it proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands.

Boris Johnson tells Barack Obama: Stop bashing Britain  —  Senior Tories today warned Barack Obama to back off as billions of pounds were wiped off BP shares in the row over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.  —  Mayor Boris Johnson demanded an end to “anti-British rhetoric, buck-passing and name-calling” …

The Trailer For Glenn Beck's New Book Is Just As Nuts As You'd Expect (VIDEO)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  For some reason, Glenn Beck has written a thriller, ‘The Overton Window.’ And for some weirder reason, it has a trailer (though to be fair, this is more like a teaser).

How Blanche Lincoln Is Not Like Norma Rae  —  The commentary regarding the Lincoln/Halter race continues, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.  —  Glenn Greenwald: … Just for kicks someone should put together a post with links to quotes from everyone who not only swallowed the …

A Modest Proposal: A King and Queen for America  —  The national campaign to get President Obama to emote, throw crockery at oil executives and jump up and down in fury has failed.  But here's a long-term solution: Let's anoint a king and queen.  —  If we can just get over George III …

Arlington Cemetery inquiry results come today  —  The results of an Army investigation into revelations of improperly marked graves, faulty records-keeping and other management failures at the hallowed Arlington National Cemetery will be unveiled this afternoon, officials say.

I Have Seen the Future and It Doesn't Work — By: Mark Krikorian  —  A couple of my colleagues have released a brief look at some of immigration's effects on California.  The most striking finding was that California has the least-educated work force in the nation: