A short video from PBS's FRONTLINE on The Post's two-year investigation.  An hour-long documentary film will run in October.  Watch the trailer »  —  Investigative reporter Dana Priest has been The Washington Post's intelligence, Pentagon and health-care reporter.

The Pundit Delusion  —  The latest hot political topic is the “Obama paradox” — the supposedly mysterious disconnect between the president's achievements and his numbers.  The line goes like this: The administration has had multiple big victories in Congress, most notably on health reform …

Palin sparks Twitter fight on mosque  —  Sarah Palin, who waded into a New York political fight by endorsing Ann Marie Buerkle in NY-25, is drifting into a decidedly higher-charged battle: The fray over a planned mosque near Ground Zero.  —  “Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand …

Is NAACP blind to Farrakhan & Co.?  The Nation of Islam is built on racism and lies  —  I do not think that the NAACP was out of order in asking the Tea Party movement to separate itself from the racists in its midst, but the famous civil rights organization ought to start by following the same suggestion.

Poll: D.C. elites a world apart  —  In their opinions on policy and politicians ranging from President Barack Obama to Sarah Palin, elites in Washington have a strikingly divergent outlook from the rest of the nation, according to a new POLITICO poll released Monday.

BP Hopes to Keep Gulf Well Closed, but Seeping Is Detected  —  After three days of encouraging pressure tests, a senior BP official said Sunday that the company's recently capped well in the Gulf of Mexico was holding up and that BP now hoped to keep the well closed until it could be permanently plugged.

GOP Sees Path to Control of Senate  —  WASHINGTON—Democrats for the first time are acknowledging that Republicans could retake the Senate this November if everything falls into place for the GOP, less than two years after Democrats held a daunting 60-seat majority.

Sen. Cornyn: 'I Think A Lot Of People Are Looking Back With More Fondness On President Bush's Administration'  —  When Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) made an appearance on C-SPAN's “Newsmakers” yesterday, a host asked him whether Republicans plan to embrace the Bush legacy, and Cornyn suggested that they wholeheartedly would.

Senate Forecast, 7/18: Republican Outlook Improves with Focus on Likely Voter Polls  —  Our latest Senate simulation has the chamber convening in 2011 with an average of 53.4 Democrats (counting Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders), 46.1 Republicans, and 0.5 Charlie Crists.

Obama Gains Evangelical Allies on Immigration  —  At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders.  —  Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House …

Obama's Highest Half-Year Approval Ratings in D.C., Hawaii  —  Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia residents were least likely to approve  —  PRINCETON, NJ — During the first half of 2010, residents of Hawaii and the District of Columbia were most likely to approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president.

Shocking True Tales of Austerity: Bleak Growth Outlook Leads to Loss of Investor Confidence in Irish Debt  —  As you can see from Ireland, budget austerity doesn't reassure financial markets if austerity doesn't lead to growth: … To be clear, I don't blame Irish policymakers.

If you want a preview of President Obama's health-care “reform,” take a look at Massachusetts.  In 2006, it enacted a “reform” that became a model for Obama.  What's happened since isn't encouraging.  The state did the easy part: expanding state-subsidized insurance coverage.

Muslim bus drivers refuse to let guide dogs on board  —  Blind passengers are being ordered off buses or refused taxi rides because Muslim drivers or passengers object to their ‘unclean’ guide dogs.  —  One pensioner, a cancer sufferer, told how had twice been confronted by drivers and asked …

Union Goons In Action  —  This footage was shot at a pro-Democratic Party union rally in California.  If those shirts were brown instead of pink, the video would have a disturbingly retro feel:  —  It's funny how the political class is always wringing its hands about the potential for violence …

GOP candidates stiff mainstream press  —  Some of the most conservative and combative Republicans running for Congress are convinced that the media have it in for them.  —  But these candidates seem to regard it as an affront when reporters challenge them on their past statements and inconsistencies …

Celebrity poll shocker!  Fully 1% of Americans see need for more coverage of Mel, Lindsay, Justin et al  —  A new poll, just out, reveals that fully 1% of Americans think the news media need to focus more attention on celebrities.  Too much celebrity news coverage?  No, we don't do enough.

AC: It's not as cool as you think  —  Artificial cooling has had a profound effect on how, and where, we live and work.  —  When a national group of urban planning historians was asked to rank the most important influences on the American metropolis in the last half of the 20th century …

The great austerity debate  —  Over the next week some of the world's leading policymakers and economists will be addressing in the FT the all-consuming contemporary economic debate: austerity versus stimulus.  The writers, including Larry Summers, Jean-Claude Trichet and the FT's Martin Wolf …