Judge keeps California gay marriage ruling on hold  —  The federal judge who last week overturned the state's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, agreed to a continued hold on his ruling while foes appeal.  —  Reporting from San Francisco — A federal judge Thursday refused to permanently stay …

Legislator resigns after ‘dead Palin’ comment  —  New Hampshire State Rep. Timothy Horrigan resigned Thursday after making comments about Sarah Palin on Facebook.  —  (CNN) - A New Hampshire state legislator resigned his office Thursday after becoming the second Democrat in as many days …

CBS 5 Poll: Fiorina Widens Lead Over Boxer  —  Dead Heats In Governor, Lt. Governor Races; Marijuana Prop.  16 Passing  —  SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ― California Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has increased her lead over Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer …

Are We At War With All Of Islam?  Right Wingers Think So  —  Nearly every oath of service in this nation includes the phrase “Defend and protect the Constitution of the United States of America” in some form or the other.  Not having a King we needed an object of loyalty, something bigger than the individual to focus our loyalty on.

OUR DAUGHTER ISN'T A SELFISH BRAT; YOUR SON JUST HASN'T READ  —  ATLAS SHRUGGED.  —  I'd like to start by saying that I don't get into belligerent shouting matches at the playground very often.  The Tot Lot, by its very nature, can be an extremely volatile place—a veritable powder keg …

GOP candidate calls for internment camps for ‘people that snuck into the country.’  —  Speaking at a rally sponsored by Glenn Beck's 9/12 Project, GOP state house candidate in Florida, Marg Baker, endorsed building concentration camps for undocumented immigrants: … Watch it:

Dem group launches ‘F*ck Tea’ campaign  —  Last summer, Democrats argued that the Tea Party movement was the astroturf creation of corporate groups.  Now that the grassroots conservative resurgence has emerged as a clear force on the right, the left is making a different case: That tea parties are simply the enemy.

FULL AUDIO: Dr. Laura Schlessinger's N-word rant  —  On August 10, Dr. Laura Schlessinger launched into a racially charged rant, during which Schlessinger — in her own words — “articulated the ‘n’ word all the way out — more than one time.”  Among other things, Schlessinger also told …

The difficulty of opposing gay marriage  —  When we talk about gay marriage, we should first be clear about what we're discussing: State-sanctioned marriage is a central element in American life.  It includes both legal and substantial, important cultural benefits.

The Bush tax plan vs. the Obama tax plan in one chart  —  Source.  —  United States - Tax - Democratic Party - Accounting - President

Justice Alito refers Orly Taitz's request to reverse sanctions to U.S. Supreme Court  —  A request to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito by “birther” attorney Orly Taitz asking that $20,000 in sanctions against her be reversed was referred on Tuesday to the entire court.

Department of Strategery  —  The latest poll numbers show the same thing that poll numbers have shown since January of 2009.  Barack Obama is more popular than congressional Democrats who are more popular than congressional Republicans:  —  The vast majority of congressional Democrats have …

Op-Ed Columnist: Paralysis at the Federal Reserve  —  Ten years ago, one of America's leading economists delivered a stinging critique of the Bank of Japan, Japan's equivalent of the Federal Reserve, titled “Japanese Monetary Policy: A Case of Self-Induced Paralysis?”

With Off-the-Record Lunch, Obama Extends a Hand  —  It may seem odd, but the journalists assigned to cover President Obama on a daily basis often have less access to him than the columnists, television personalities and feature writers who cover the president less frequently.

Updated Senate and Governor rankings!  —  With the 2010 primary season (nearly) over, the Fix and Post senior political reporter — and co-author of “The Battle for America” — Dan Balz sat down to revisit our rankings of the most competitive Senate and governor's races in the country.

The Strategic Angle  —  This week, the campaign for Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle will run 1,000 to 1,600 points' — about $575,000 — worth of television advertising.  Normally, an advertising onslaught such as this one would be well-suited to the final weeks of a campaign — and a bit much for the dog days of August.

Too Big Not to Fail  —  THE Obama administration is set to discuss the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants that largely escaped reform in the financial overhaul of the Dodd-Frank law, at the Treasury Department on Tuesday.  —  It's about time: the government's role …

Adios, Gray Lady  —  Joseph Epstein cancels his ‘New York Times’ subscription.  —  The New York Times used to be called the Gray Lady of American newspapers.  The sobriquet implied a certain stateliness, a sense of responsibility, the possession of high virtue.  But the Gray Lady is far from the grande dame she once was.

Race Card Is Maxed Out … - Recommended

Iran TV airs ‘confession’ from woman facing stoning  —  The BBC's Jon Leyne explains what the footage showed  —  Iranian state TV has aired what it says is a confession by a woman under threat of being stoned to death for adultery.  —  In the interview shown on Wednesday …

Obamas Plan Fifth Vacation Since July  —  There they go again.  For the fifth time since July, the first family has set plans to board Air Force One for a frilly vacation, a 10-day return trip to exclusive Martha's Vineyard where they are expected to stay at the 28-acre oceanfront Blue Heron Farm that rents for up to $50,000 a week.

Negative ads help push Bill McCollum ahead of Rick Scott, poll shows  —  The bare-knuckle Republican race for Florida governor is almost a tie right now.  The big beneficiary: Democrat Alex Sink.  —  Bill McCollum's nonstop attacks on Republican rival Rick Scott's integrity and business record …

How propagandists function: Exhibit A  —  Jeffrey Goldberg, in the new cover story in The Atlantic, on an Israeli attack on Iran: … Good news!  Israel can successfully end a country's nuclear program by bombing them, as proven by its 1981 attack on Iraq, which, says Goldberg, halted …