McCain: We'll use Petraeus's confirmation hearing to push back against Obama's withdrawal deadline  —  I'll bet they will.  Remember, in his own terse, diplomatic way, Petraeus has sounded notably cool to The One's plan to start withdrawing next July.  Last week in Senate testimony he warned that …

EXCLUSIVE: GORE SEX SCANDAL  —  ENQUIRER WORLD EXCLUSIVE: AL GORE has been accused of sexually attacking a masseuse in Portland, Oregon - and is named in the official police report about the alleged assault, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively!  —  The bombshell story will appear …

Poll: Spill drags Obama's rating down  —  A silver lining for Obama is that his personal scores are still strong  —  President Obama's favorable/unfavorable rating is now at 47 percent to 40 percent, down from 49 percent to 38 percent in early May and 52 percent to 35 percent in January.

Video: Cops arrest Christians for handing out gospel at Dearborn Arab festival?  Update: Pushback  —  Via Powerline, so insane is this that I'm paranoid there's a key detail missing somewhere that might explain the whole thing.  Could the Christians have been trespassing on private property, maybe?

‘Joe Barton was right,’ Joe Barton tweets  —  Hours after getting a respite from House Republicans, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) has cheekily responded to criticism over his “apology to BP” by tweeting a link to an American Spectator article titled “Joe Barton was right.”

The Emerging Republican Minority  —  The Center for American Politics' Ruy Teixeira, one of the top political demographers in the country, has a new paper out in which he examines the two major party coalitions, with a focus on the current and future prospects of the Republican Party.

Raining Oil in Louisiana?  Not Likely [Updated]  —  The Internet is swirling with rumors today that a gloppy mixture of oil and Corexit (the primary dispersant used in the BP disaster) is raining down on Louisiana.  Evidence is thin, and based almost entirely on the video below, but we have to wonder—is this even possible?

Gulf oil spill: Boat captain, despondent over spill, commits suicide  —  William Allen Kruse, 55, a charter boat captain recently hired by BP as a vessel of opportunity out of Gulf Shores, Ala., died Wednesday morning before 7:30 a.m. of a gunshot to the head, likely self-inflicted, authorities said.

MoveOn Scrubs “General Betray Us” Page From Website . . . Update: Flashback to 2007, Obama Skipped Senate Vote to Condemn MoveOn . . . Update 2: Rationale Page Also Flushed. . .  It was there the last time Google cache took a screen shot of it (June 18th), so it was scrubbed sometime between then and today.

Remains of 72 people found at World Trade Center site  —  New York City officials say a renewed search this year of debris in and around the World Trade Center site has recovered 72 human remains.  —  The sifting of more than 800 cubic yards (612 cubic meters) of debris recovered from ground zero …

Harry Reid's son leaves last name out of first campaign ad  —  Nevada gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid (D) is on the air with his first campaign ad and it's missing one thing: his last name.  —  Reid, the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), doesn't say his name at any point during the ad …

Rep. Paul Casts Sole ‘No’ Vote on Oil Spill Subpoena Power  —  When the House agreed to give subpoena powers to President Barack Obama's newly formed oil-spill commission, 420 members voted for the plan and only one voted against it: Texas Republican Ron Paul.

Gillard becomes Australia's first female PM  —  (Reuters) - Julia Gillard became Australia's first female prime minister on Thursday when Kevin Rudd stepped down, as the Labor government sought to avoid election defeat later this year by changing leaders.  —  Gillard is expected to present …

THE ICK FACTOR...  The reaction over a reported quote from my most recent interview with the New Yorker has gained a lot of attention on the blogs and Internet.  —  Let me set the record straight.  —  My exact quote was this:  —  “I do believe that God created male and female and intended …

Pelosi asks for donations to fend off potential GOP investigations  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is asking supporters for contributions to help prevent the “subpoenas and investigations” that would result from a GOP majority.  —  In a fundraising letter for the Democratic Congressional …

Washington Times Features Doctored Photo Of Kagan In A Turban To Claim She's Subservient To Shariah Law  —  Six days ago, after Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) absurdly tried to link Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan to “oppressive tenets of Shari'a-type law,” The Wonk Room's Matt Duss jokingly predicted …