A Letter to Michael Steele  —  You are, I know, a patriot.  So I ask you to consider, over this July 4 weekend, doing an act of service for the country you love: Resign as chairman of the Republican party.  —  Your tenure has of course been marked by gaffes and embarrassments …

Clinton Defends Byrd's KKK Ties: “He Was Trying To Get Elected”  —  “He once had a fleeting association with the Ku Klux Klan, what does that mean?  I'll tell you what it means.  He was a country boy from the hills and hollows from West Virginia.  He was trying to get elected,” former President Bill Clinton said of Sen. Robert Byrd.

Are Democrats setting themselves up for failure in 2011 by not passing a budget?  —  The most important job news of the days was not the June jobs numbers.  It was a mostly ignored vote in the House of Representatives last night.  By a vote of 215 to 210, the House passed a …

Jefferson changed ‘subjects’ to ‘citizens’ in Declaration of Independence  —  “Subjects.”  —  That's what Thomas Jefferson first wrote in an early draft of the Declaration of Independence to describe the people of the 13 colonies.  —  But in a moment when history took a sharp turn …

Petraeus Assumes Command of Coalition Forces in Afghanistan  —  On Deadly Day in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus Arrives in Kabul to Take Control of War  —  As Gen. David Petraeus arrived in Kabul today to take control of the long Afghanistan war, a pre-dawn attack on an American aid organization …

Chicago approves new gun restrictions  —  45-0 vote comes after Supreme Court hits city on gun ban  —  Grumbling about a U.S. Supreme Court they say is out of touch with America's cities, Chicago aldermen voted 45-0 today to approve a rushed-through compromise gun ban.

BUY THAT SENATOR A NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION.... I've noticed, from time to time, that Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) seems to be a little slow on the uptake.  As the New York Times' Gail Collins noted this week, after the senator tried to talk about Wall Street reform, and demonstrated …

Keep Congress in session this August  —  A special session will allow Democrats to highlight their differences with the GOP on jobless benefits, financial reform, and energy policy.  That's a better campaign plan than sending members back to their districts — and it's right on the merits

Worse Than 1982?  —  If you've already lost your job, your prospects for finding a new one are looking dismal.  Especially if you lost your job a long time ago.  —  Private-sector job growth has slowed.  The workweek also shrunk in June, and wages fell.  —  The labor market is recovering …

Debt agony  —  Every few days Pakistan makes the worst kind of headlines: bombings in markets and mosques, battles with the Taleban.  But, much less widely reported, the daily lives of millions of Pakistanis are consumed by another problem.  They have to cope with desperate poverty.

CNN: The feds are trying to block media coverage of how bad the oil spill is  —  Via Cubachi, a good one from last night's AC 360.  I don't think this is an “Obama problem” as much as it is a “government problem,” but of course the bold, fresh Hopenchange climate of transparency was supposed …

29% Say Stimulus Plan Helped the Economy, 43% Say It Hurt  —  Just 25% of voters nationwide believe the economic stimulus package created jobs and voters are counting on decisions made by business owners more than government officials to create the jobs needed by the nation.

Gulf Oil Spill: A Bleak Holiday for Tourism  —  As Oil Threatens Miami, Tourism Business Down Along the Gulf Coast  —  On Day 74 of the BP oil spill, there is growing fear that the oil-polluted waters could soon spread beyond the boundaries of the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the tourism industry along the eastern Florida coast.

War in Iraq Defies U.S. Timetable for End of Combat  —  NEAR TULUL AL-BAQ, Iraq — President Obama has set an August deadline for the end of the combat mission in Iraq.  Here at this makeshift desert camp in the insurgent badlands of northern Iraq, a mission is under way that is not going to stop then …

Byrd Tributes Go Overboard  —  It is a good rule of thumb not to speak ill of the dead.  But what to do when a man is celebrated beyond the limits of decorum or common sense?  Must we stay silent as others celebrate the beauty and splendor of the emperor's invisible clothes?