Sarah Palin gets in dustup with teacher  —  Sarah Palin was involved in a short argument over the weekend with an Alaska teacher over her decision to leave her post as governor of Alaska.  AP  —  Sarah Palin was involved in a brief argument over the weekend with an Alaska teacher …

The Marriage Ideal  —  Here are some commonplace arguments against gay marriage: Marriage is an ancient institution that has always been defined as the union of one man and one woman, and we meddle with that definition at our peril.  Lifelong heterosexual monogamy is natural; gay relationships are not.

GQ Exclusive: Rand Paul's Kooky College Days (Hint: There's a Secret Society Involved)  —  When the Lexington Herald-Leader reported last week that Rand Paul was, in effect, a college dropout, it looked like the 2010 midterms might feature yet another fabulist.

Why I'm Not Hiring  —  When you add it all up, it costs $74,000 to put $44,000 in Sally's pocket and to give her $12,000 in benefits.  —  With unemployment just under 10% and companies sitting on their cash, you would think that sooner or later job growth would take off.  I think it's going to be later—much later.

JetBlue Flight Attendant Uses Emergency Slide to Escape Dispute  —  A photo from Steven Slater's MySpace page.  “Would you like to buy an E190?” the caption asks, referring to the type of plane that Mr. Slater is said to have fled on Monday down the escape hatch.

Why Michelle Obama Vacationed in Spain: To Be With Grieving Friend  —  Michelle Obama returned to Washington on Sunday from five days on Spain's Mediterranean coast, taking a mother-daughter trip with Sasha, 9, that stirred controversy.  A White House source told me, however …

Greg Gutfeld: I'm raising money to build a Muslim gay bar next to the Ground Zero mosque  —  Andy Levy assures me that he's quite serious.  Media narrative on the GZ mosque: Shining beacon of liberal values bursting through the overcast skies of American intolerance.

Obama to GOP: I'm pretty good at politicking, remember?  —  (CNN) — President Barack Obama warned Republicans on Monday that he is back in campaign mode.  —  In a fundraising speech in Austin, Texas, Obama complained that while his administration has been governing the country since January 2009 …

Ed Rendell: Many Republicans ‘are nuts’  —  Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday said that Republican desires to repeal the 14th Amendment are “cuckoo” and prove that many in the GOP “are nuts.”  —  Asked during an MSNBC interview about many Republicans' calls to repeal the portion …

Tea Party Infiltration Done Wrong  —  It's rarely convincing when Tea Party activists brush off attacks on the movement by claiming that the bad apples at their rallies are really agents provocateurs.  That's just too convenient.  Sometimes, the people who make you look bad actually are part of your movement.

Ryan Rips Krugman: ‘Intellectually Lazy’ and ‘Bizarre’ Attack  —  Talking late this afternoon with THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Republican congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin blasted New York Times columnist Paul Krugman for his “intellectualy lazy” attack on Ryan's fiscal “Roadmap.”

SOAK THE VERY, VERY RICH  —  The fight on Capitol Hill over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts is about many things: deficit reduction, economic stimulus, supply-side ideology.  But at its core is a simple question: who counts as rich?  The Obama Administration's answer is that you're rich …

Horrible Obama-Smashing Carnival Game Wows Jersey Shore Patrons  —  Last week, a fair near Allentown, Pennsylvania grabbed some attention for its “Alien Attack” shooting-gallery game, where one could shoot at Barack Obama's likeness.  The game was pulled.  But there's still a similar game on the Jersey Shore boardwalk!

Levi Johnston for mayor. . . really  —  Reality show follows Palin player's bid for office  —  Levi Johnston is setting his sights on the dysfunctional family business.  —  Johnston will run for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska — yes, the same job that propelled Sarah Palin to governor of that state …

Where does the Laffer curve bend?  —  With the Bush tax cuts due to expire soon and debates about raising top rates further to cut the budget deficit soon to follow, the Laffer curve is bound to come up again.  The idea, popularized by economist Arthur Laffer and writer Jude Wanninski in the 1970s and '80s, is simple.

A joint policy proposal for an open Internet  —  Posted by Alan Davidson, Google director of public policy and Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president of public affairs, policy, and communications  —  The original architects of the Internet got the big things right.

The Golden State's War on Itself  —  California has long been a destination for those seeking a better place to live.  For most of its history, the state enacted sensible policies that created one of the wealthiest and most innovative economies in human history.

Sen. Tim Johnson hospitalized with fever  —  Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) was hospitalized over the weekend with a fever, his office said Monday.  —  Johnson was admitted to a Sioux Falls hospital on Sunday for a fever possibly due to an adverse reaction to an antibiotic, and is in stable condition.

Islam and 2012  —  A former Bush aide, watching the GOP's current discussion of Islam with some interest, noted to me today that the crucial thing will be how the 2012 presidential candidates handle mosques and Muslims rhetorically: With the deliberate embrace that Bush chose just post September 11 …