Who's In Charge?:  Against Gov. Jindal's Wishes, Oil-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard  —  59 Days Into Oil Crisis, Gulf Coast Governors Say Feds Are Failing Them  —  Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters.

EXCLUSIVE: Alert Issued for 17 Afghan Military Members AWOL From U.S. Air Force Base  —  FILE: Air traffic controllers from the 37th Operations Support Squadron prepare to navigate F-16 Falcons down the runway on Lackland Air Force Base.  —  A nationwide alert has been issued for 17 members …

That '30s Feeling  —  Suddenly, creating jobs is out, inflicting pain is in.  Condemning deficits and refusing to help a still-struggling economy has become the new fashion everywhere, including the United States, where 52 senators voted against extending aid to the unemployed despite …

Republican Backpedals From Apology to BP  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Joe L. Barton had to be truly sorry by the time he apologized for his apology on Thursday.  —  In the four hours between his televised apology to BP — for what he called a $20 billion “shakedown” …

NRSC: Keep cool on camera  —  After the second clip in a week hit the web showing a confrontation between a Democratic political campaign and a person shooting video, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a memo to its campaigns Thursday reminding them to be sure staffers don't become …

Budget crisis freezes Senate  —  Washington's summer budget crisis got only hotter Thursday as the Senate drifted toward weekend deadlines with both parties talking past one another on how to restore jobless benefits for a swelling tide of workers and avoid major disruptions in Medicare payments to physicians.

S.C. Dems keep Greene as Senate nominee  —  Democratic Party officials in South Carolina voted Thursday to uphold the result of their controversial Senate primary.  —  Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Democratic Party officials in South Carolina voted Thursday to uphold the result …

Poll shows Etheridge trailing after video  —  RALEIGH (WTVD) — Days after North Carolina Congressman Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) was seen in a video confrontation with a man with a camera on a Washington street, a new poll seems to indicate the incident has damaged him with voters.

Olbermann leaves Daily Kos  —  Keith Olbermann announced Wednesday night that he will cease blogging for the liberal Daily Kos over a comment directed at the MSNBC host's coverage.  —  Olbermann and some of his MSNBC colleagues surprised their left-leaning fans on Tuesday with eviscerating critiques …

BP, Government Still Thwarting Press Access  —  Despite promises to facilitate oil spill coverage, limited transparency persists in the Gulf  —  Despite repeated promises to improve transparency, BP, the United States government, and their contractors are still inhibiting the media's ability …

Obama Admin. Argues in Court That Individual Mandate Is a Tax  —  In order to protect the new national health care law from legal challenges, the Obama administration has been forced to argue that the individual mandate represents a tax — even though Obama himself argued the exact opposite while campaigning to pass the legislation.

Margaret Wente  —  After the sensational 2007 murder of Aqsa Parvez, the 16-year-old girl who disobeyed her traditional family, many Muslim girls in Canada discussed the story on Facebook.  “That's my story too,” some of them wrote.  —  This week, Aqsa's father and brother pleaded guilty …

Oil companies push for status quo on environmental regulations for deep-water drilling rigs  —  The pleas come as the White House Council on Environmental Quality is reviewing whether the federal drilling watchdog has appropriately followed the National Environmental Policy Act.

Obama and the vision thing  —  Barack Obama doesn't do the mundane.  He was sent to us to do larger things.  You could see that plainly in his Oval Office address on the gulf oil spill.  He could barely get himself through the pedestrian first half: a bit of BP-bashing, a bit of faux-Clintonian …

Obama pushes world leaders on economic reforms ahead of G-20  —  President Barack Obama pushed world leaders to act to “safeguard and strengthen” a global economic recovery when they meet next week in Toronto.  —  The president laid out his top global economic priorities …

White House Flip Flops On Reining In CEO Pay  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The White House is intervening at the last minute to come to the defense of multinational corporations in the unfolding conference committee negotiations over Wall Street reform.  —  A measure that had been generally agreed …

Dale Peterson Cuts The Best Political Endorsement Ad Ever Made (VIDEO)  —  What's Your Reaction: … Gun-toting enemy of “thugs” Dale Peterson may have finished third in the GOP primary for Alabama Agriculture Commissioner, but he's not done being a YouTube star.

Pelosi yanks campaign finance bill  —  Following a rebellion by two important factions of rank-and-file House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has pulled a campaign-finance bill opposed by a broad coalition of special interest groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

A Best Friend?  You Must Be Kidding  —  FROM the time they met in kindergarten until they were 15, Robin Shreeves and her friend Penny were inseparable.  They rode bikes, played kickball in the street, swam all summer long and listened to Andy Gibb, the Bay City Rollers and Shaun Cassidy on the stereo.

Obama's Twist of BP's Arm Stirs Debate on Frequent Tactic  —  WASHINGTON — First there was General Motors, whose chief executive was summarily dismissed by the White House shortly before the government became the company's majority shareholder.  Chrysler was forced into a merger.

Utah Executes Murderer by Firing Squad  —  DENVER — A five-member firing squad at the Utah State Prison took aim and fired .30-caliber bullets at a target pinned on the chest of Ronnie Lee Gardner, a convicted murderer, just after midnight on Friday.  He was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m. Mountain Time …