WashPost TV critic smears ABC's Amanpour as possible terrorist sympathizer  —  This is really just beyond the pale.  —  Everyone knows that Post critic Tom Shales can't stand Christiane Amanpour and has what is now officially a creepy obsession with belittling her work.

Defining Prosperity Down  —  I'm starting to have a sick feeling about prospects for American workers — but not, or not entirely, for the reasons you might think.  —  Yes, growth is slowing, and the odds are that unemployment will rise, not fall, in the months ahead.  That's bad.

Arizona was once tolerant of illegal immigrants.  What happened?  —  Analysts suggest it was a perfect storm of demographic shifts, a scary criminal element, the recession and a new governor.  —  Reporting from Phoenix — Arizona has made a name for itself as the state with the harshest policies against illegal immigration.

Cordoba's Opportunity  —  The battle over a proposed $100 million mosque and Islamic center at Ground Zero could well be at a turning point, the New York Times reported over the weekend.  Its assessment was made after the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman …

To deal with the deficit, let the tax cuts expire  —  For the past few months, we have heard powerful, passionate arguments about the need to cut America's massive budget deficit.  Republican senators have claimed that we are in danger of permanently crippling the economy.

Ethics cases raise racial questions  —  The politically charged decisions by veteran Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California to force public trials by the House ethics committee are raising questions about race and whether black lawmakers face more scrutiny …

Even Fox News Can't Hide Sharron Angle's Wingnuttery in Their Special on the Mid-Term Elections  —  Well, it looks like Sharron Angle's favorite refuge Fox News can't manage to do a report on her without exposing just how extreme this woman really is.  The network aired a special Sunday night …

Congressman at Town Hall: ‘The Federal Government Can Do Most Anything in This Country’  —  This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

Obama Speech Begins Effort to Highlight Iraq Drawdown  —  WASHINGTON — Nearly eight years after he denounced what he called a “dumb war” in Iraq and nearly two years after he won the White House promising to end it, President Obama on Monday plans to mark the formal end of the combat mission there.

It's getting to be embarrassing to be a conservative  —  These days it's getting increasingly embarrassing to publicly identify oneself as a conservative.  It was bad enough when George Bush 43, the K Street Gang, and the neo-cons were running up spending, fighting an unnecessary war of choice in Iraq …

Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age  —  At Rhode Island College, a freshman copied and pasted from a Web site's frequently asked questions page about homelessness — and did not think he needed to credit a source in his assignment because the page did not include author information.

A food bill we need  —  Last spring, a class of fifth-grade students from Bancroft Elementary School in the District descended on the South Lawn of the White House to help us dig, mulch, water and plant our very first kitchen garden.  In the months that followed, those same students came …

Clinton's Gown Spoke Beyond the Silence  —  The newlyweds Marc Mezvinsky and Chelsea Clinton.  Ms. Clinton wore a strapless beaded gown designed by Vera Wang.  More Photos »  —  Chelsea Clinton isn't the first presidential daughter who has tried to keep private the details of her wedding day.

Arizona Sheriff: ‘Our Own Government Has Become Our Enemy’  —  (Correction: As initially posted, this story inaccurately said that Pinal County was contiguous with the Mexican border.  It is in southern Arizona, but not on the border.)  —  (CNSNews.com) - Pinal County (Ariz.) …

Fox News to move to Thomas' front-row briefing room seat  —  The White House Correspondents Association voted unanimously Sunday afternoon to move Fox News to the front row of the White House briefing room.  —  The seating change was prompted by the resignation of veteran UPI reporter Helen Thomas.

Republican Party eyes choking health law funding  —  Republicans may not be able to repeal the Democrats' health care reform law next year, but they're eyeing the next best thing: Deny the Obama administration the money it needs to implement the law.  —  GOP candidates across the country are running on a promise to repeal the law.

Dan Rather Says GOP Takes Back House in November, Matthews Painfully Agrees  —  Dan Rather this weekend said the odds are that the Republicans will take back the House in the upcoming midterm elections.  —  Maybe more surprisingly, Chris Matthews, with a look on his face like someone had given …

Voters want supersized government to crash diet  —  Let's put government on a diet.  That's what voters seem to be saying in response to the Obama Democrats' vast expansion of the size and scope of government.  —  Evidence comes from pollster Scott Rasmussen.

Two reasons not to care about the Clinton wedding  —  I've been on vacation and out of the country for a week, reading both the U.S. coverage of Chelsea Clinton's wedding and its foreign amplification - “American princess to wed” - with total bewilderment.  —  The tone of much of the coverage …