Confidence in Obama reaches new low, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds  —  Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.  Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term …

Obama strategy against Palin, or other GOP foes?  Run against Bush  —  White House spokesman Robert Gibbs didn't talk about Sarah Palin specifically yesterday, but he did address any Republican who is thinking about challenging President Obama in 2012.  —  The bottom line …

Tea party groups choose to stand mute on same-sex marriage ruling  —  While many conservative organizations immediately decried a federal judge's decision last week to invalidate the federal ban on recognizing gay marriages, tea party groups have been conspicuously silent on the issue.

A Congressman, Held Accountable  —  If you don't think voters are up in arms about the discriminatory policies of Barack Obama's Department of Justice, check out this video of a town hall meeting held by Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman, CA-27.  A constituent asks him about DOJ's dismissal …

Majority in Pennsylvania like Arizona Immigration law  —  (CNN) - A new poll indicates that voters in Pennsylvania approve of the new controversial Arizona immigration law by a nearly two to one margin.  —  According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Tuesday, 52 percent …

Beyond Guns: N.R.A. Expands Agenda  —  WASHINGTON — Fresh off a string of victories in the courts and Congress, the National Rifle Association is flexing political muscle outside its normal domain, with both Democrats and Republicans courting its favor and avoiding its wrath on issues that sometimes seem to have little to do with guns.

4 missionaries charged in Dearborn festival proselytizing  —  Dearborn — Four Christian missionaries were arraigned today on misdemeanor charges of disturbing the peace following their June 18 arrest at the Arab International Festival.  —  Negeen Mayel, 18, of California; Nabeel Qureshi …

Automated Debt-Collection Lawsuits Engulf Courts  —  As millions of Americans have fallen behind on paying their bills, debt collection law firms have been clogging courtrooms with lawsuits seeking repayment.  —  Few have been as prolific as Cohen & Slamowitz, a Woodbury, N.Y. …

GOP pushes Byrne in Alabama runoff  —  Top Alabama Republicans are scrambling to rally around gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne, concluding that remaining on the sidelines in Tuesday's primary runoff would aid and abet Democratic prospects in the fall — and potentially beyond.

JON KYL DOUBLES DOWN.... Over the weekend, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) was asked on Fox News how he'd pay for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, at a cost of $678 billion.  After initially dodging the question, Kyl said what he really believed: “You do need to offset …

Andrew Napolitano: Bush and Cheney Should Have Been Indicted for Torturing, for Spying and Arresting Without Warrants  —  Well, this is something you don't see every day.  Ralph Nader hosted this interview segment with Fox News' Judge Andrew Napolitano and discussed his book, Lies the Government Told You.

Ben Nelson Leaves Dems One Vote Shy Of Wall Street Reform  —  Democrats in Washington might want to nudge West Virginia governor Joe Manchin to name a replacement for Sen. Robert Byrd already.  —  The good news for Dems is that tonight, in a statement to reporters, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) hopped aboard the Wall Street reform train.

George Steinbrenner, owner of New York Yankees, has died in Tampa at age of 80  —  George Steinbrenner, a towering and intimidating figure who dominated the New York sports scene for 35 years, winning 11 American League pennants and seven world championships as owner of the Yankees …

Is Google Making Us Stupid?  —  What the Internet is doing to our brains  —  “Dave, stop.  Stop, will you?  Stop, Dave.  Will you stop, Dave?”  So the supercomputer HAL pleads with the implacable astronaut Dave Bowman in a famous and weirdly poignant scene toward the end of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Did BP play role in bomber's release?  —  (CNN) — A group of U.S. lawmakers have called for an investigation into whether BP may have played a role in lobbying for the release of Abdelbaset al Megrahi to secure an oil contract with the Libyan government.  —  Megrahi, now 58 …

Mort Zuckerman Admits He Helped Write One Of Obama's Speeches  —  Media mogul Mort Zuckerman tells FOX News he helped write one of Obama's speeches.

Castellani next PhRMA president  —  John J. Castellani, head of the Business Roundtable, is the new president and CEO of PhRMA, one of Washington's most influential lobbying organizations.  —  He replaces former Billy Tauzin, the backslapping former Louisiana congressman who stepped down from his post in June.

N.Y. Congressman Calls for Inquiry Into Funding of Mosque Near Ground Zero  —  May 25: Community members both for and against the plan to build a mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan speak during board meeting.  —  NEW YORK — The ranking Republican …

Lieberman, Kerry make last-ditch appeal on scaled-back climate bill  —  The Senate sponsors of a sweeping climate change bill are drafting a scaled-back version focused on electric power plants in a bid to salvage a role for greenhouse gas curbs in the Senate energy debate.

Possible sale of gay teen database sparks privacy fears  —  A row has erupted in the United States centring on the ownership of a gay teenagers' database.  —  The owner of XY Magazine and its associated website - which catered for young homosexual boys - filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

Mocking war hero Nick Popaditch: A teachable moment  —  On Sunday night, several readers e-mailed to let me know about a cartoon in the Imperial Valley (CA) Press that upset them immensely.  —  Reader Marty sent the jpeg.  It shows two young skateboarder punks looking up at a campaign poster.

Taranis: The £143million unmanned stealth jet that will hit targets in another continent  —  Looming ominously like a space ship from Star Wars, this is the future of unmanned flight.  —  Defence firm BAE Systems today officially unveiled its first ever high-tech unmanned stealth jet.

Neil Reynolds  —  Democracies produced Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, fulfilling the expectation of Socrates and Machiavelli that democracies end in tyranny.  Now democracies are fulfilling the complementary expectation of Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman that democracies end in bankruptcy.