New RNC ad: How many rounds did you golf while the oil was leaking, champ?  —  A snappy montage illustrating Obama's “bloodless quality” and “emotional detachment” from the spill, as rabidly right-wing NYT columnist Maureen Dowd put it this morning.  Sad to say, I don't think this meme's …

BP Sets Aside $20 Billion for Spill Victims and Skips Dividends  —  WASHINGTON — Four days of intense negotiations between the White House and BP lawyers allowed President Obama to announce Wednesday that the oil giant would create a $20 billion fund to pay damage claims to thousands of fishermen and others along the Gulf Coast.

Chris Matthews: ‘Rise Of The New Right’ Special Will ‘Scare The Heck Out’ Of Liberals (VIDEO)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  MSNBC host Chris Matthews says he is sure his new special, “Rise of the New Right” — which airs tonight at 7PM — will stir people up, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum.

BP: ‘Small People’ Matter To Us, Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg Says (VIDEO)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg gave a press conference after BP's four hour meeting with Obama at the White House.  During his statement, he disputed the claim the the oil giant …

Jobs Bill Bombs In Senate, 45-52  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Deficit concerns trumped jobless aid in the Senate Wednesday as a key vote on a bill to reauthorize several expired programs, including extended unemployment benefits, failed 45-52, with 12 Democrats voting against it.

Amy Bishop charged with murder for 1986 shooting of brother  —  CANTON — Amy Bishop has been charged with murder for the 1986 shotgun slaying of her 18-year-old brother in their Braintree home, Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating said this afternoon.

O'Reilly Pwns Palin  —  A moment of truth on the Factor: … He clearly realizes what a total farce she is - and he slowly dismantles her mindless partisanship by the end of the segment.  Good for O'Reilly.  Particularly good for exposing just how little this phony knows about energy policy, her alleged expertise.

Banished by the FBI  —  This kind of stuff has become so commonplace in the post-9/11 world that we hardly even notice it anymore, but the case of Yahya Wehelie is really just outrageous beyond belief.  Keep in mind as you read that he's a U.S. citizen born and raised in Virginia:

BRIAN TAMANAHA: Wake Up, Fellow Law Professors, to the Casualties of Our Enterprise. … Just casualties of the recession?  Or more signs of a bursting bubble?  The only positive angle I can contribute is this: With a college degree now functioning, essentially, the way a high-school diploma used to …

In Illinois Race, a Teaching Career Is Questioned  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, a Republican candidate for the United States Senate, has often reminisced about his time as a teacher.  —  On the floor of the House, in campaign commercials and during interviews …

It's Too Early for Christie, but Americans Are Yearning for His Style  —  It seems like every week or so, you see blogs and Twitter comments in the vein of, “Hey, did you see this great speech by Chris Christie?”  —  And they're not actually great speeches, at least not the way we've …

CHANGE!  53 Days Later Obama Administration Decides to Accept Dutch Offer to Help With Spill  —  Remember: The Gulf Oil Spill Is Like 9-11  —  Three days after the Gulf oil rig explosion, the Netherlands offered to send in oil skimmers to pump oil off of the surface of the ocean.

Bizarre getaway as student hurls puppy at German biker gang  —  A German student “mooned” a group of Hell's Angels and hurled a puppy at them before escaping on a stolen bulldozer, police have said.

Brady leads Quinn, but margin reduced  —  Bill Brady is still favored to become the most obscure big state Governor in the country this fall, as he leads Pat Quinn 34-30 despite 56% of Illinois voters having no opinion about him.  But Quinn has reduced what was a 10 point deficit now to 4 points …

The Debbie Schlussel Experience Part 2: The Fixation  —  Imagine, if you will, that you're a normal person and then one day a quasi-famous mentally ill blogger becomes fixated on you the way Gollum was fixated on the Ring.  Even though she hasn't been setting the world on fire lately …

All about Sharron Angle  —  When Sharron Angle stepped into National Review's boardroom on Monday, she wasn't flanked by a phalanx of aides.  It was just her; her husband, Ted; and a friend.  They sat down, cracked open Diet Cokes, and began to chat.  Sen. Harry Reid, we thought, would be the main topic of conversation.

GOP Criticizes Withdrawal Plan as Undermining Afghanistan Efforts  —  Senate Republicans on Wednesday attacked President Obama's plan to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan in July of next year, saying that the United States was sending a self-defeating message to its allies in the region.

Texas, here we come  —  IN THE ten years I've lived in New York I forgot how to drive.  Lately I've been spending lots of time in Austin, Texas.  Enough so that I've had to start driving again.  When you go many years without driving, it becomes terrifying.

More Dirty Details From My BP Mole  —  You know the story: Boy calls girl, girl goes to pick up boy, boy and girl go sit on a beautiful beachside deck to enjoy the night breeze and listen to the waves crash as he tells her a bunch of terrible things that are going on at an oil-spill cleanup site.

June 28, 1969: Turning Point in Gay Rights History  —  “The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous.  He is not interested in, nor capable of, a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage.”  —  So declared Mike Wallace in authoritative voice-of-God tones in …

The golf card  —  Two vacations and a bunch of parties as well.  Works from 9:30 to 3:00-ish 5 days a week.  He does not like to work very hard.  —  The GOP is really plumbing the depths of stupid.  Keep it up, morons.  The latest poll has America down on the GOP, and stunts like this will keep that negative momentum going down.

Liveblogging Closing Arguments: Part IV  —  The last thread was getting a bit long so here is a new one.  —  Cooper: Only 16 states had a prohibition against inter-racial marriage.  They actually made people have illegitimate children.  The purpose of marriage is to have legit children.

Realism in Afghanistan: Rethinking an Uncertain Case for the War  —  There is nothing more tragic than watching beautiful theories being assaulted by gangs of ugly facts.  It is time, however, to be far more realistic about the war in Afghanistan.  It may well still be winnable …