Moral myopia at Ground Zero  —  It's hard to be an Obama sycophant these days.  Your hero delivers a Ramadan speech roundly supporting the building of a mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York.  Your heart swells and you're moved to declare this President Obama's finest hour, his act of greatest courage.

Obama now blames poor job numbers on congressional inaction.  Wait!  His party runs Congress  —  Just a few minor things to catch up on for the weekend now that the Fundraiser-in-Chief has gone on another vacation (Don't worry though.  White House chef Sam Kass went along, so the first family need not eat ordinary human food.)

Obama has himself to blame for Muslim problem  —  In 1985, Barack Obama had just arrived in Chicago for his new job as a community organizer when he headed to Smitty's Barbershop, a tiny storefront on the South Side.  As Smitty cut his hair, Obama listened to the men in the shop talk politics and racial grievance.

New Dem message: ‘Improve’ health care, don't talk cost  —  Key White House allies are dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and deficit and instead stressing a promise to “improve it.”

In First 2010 TV Ad, DNC Raises Specter Of Bush Once Again  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The Democratic National Committee is once again using the imagery and words of former President George W. Bush to present a stark “choice” to voters heading into November in what an aide said is the DNC's …

U.S. Persuades Israel That Iran's Nuclear Threat Is Not Imminent  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, citing evidence of continued troubles inside Iran's nuclear program, has persuaded Israel that it would take roughly a year — and perhaps longer — for Iran to complete …

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Be More Aggressive’: Tom DeLay Says GOP Needs to Go After ‘Obama Agenda’ Even Harder  —  Former GOP Leader Says He Still Speaks to Abramoff; Won't Rule Out Return to Politics  —  Despite the corruption and lobbying scandals that ensnared Republicans in Congress and triggered …

Jeffrey Goldberg's fabrication on NPR  —  This is really quite strange.  Yesterday, my inbox began filling up with email telling me that Jeffrey Goldberg had gone on NPR and, when asked about my critiques of his Atlantic article on bombing Iran, claimed I had “retracted” part of what I had written.

Will bacteria count beach Barack Obama?  —  WEST TISBURY - Welcome to Martha's Vineyard, Mr. President - but don't go in the water!  —  President Obama, who took a plunge in the Gulf last week to show Americans it was safe to swim the oil spill-plagued area, arrived on this supposedly …

Appeasing the Bond Gods  —  As I look at what passes for responsible economic policy these days, there's an analogy that keeps passing through my mind.  I know it's over the top, but here it is anyway: the policy elite — central bankers, finance ministers, politicians who pose as defenders …

The right stuff  —  Indiana's governor is a likeable wonk.  Can he save the Republicans from themselves and provide a pragmatic alternative to Barack Obama?  —  CLAY COUNTY  —  THE governor does not like to keep people waiting.  On a recent morning this small man leapt out of a trooper's Toyota …

President Obama's winning streak  —  This is a radical break from journalistic convention, I realize, but today I'd like to give credit where it's due — specifically, to President Obama.  Quiet as it's kept, he's on a genuine winning streak.  —  It's hard to remember that the inauguration was just 19 months ago.

The expanding Senate playing field  —  As we sat down to rank which ten Senate races are most likely to flip party control on November 2, it became immediately clear that our Line wasn't big enough.  —  The simple truth is that over the past six to nine months, the Senate playing field …

WWLTV poll shows Vitter leading Melancon by double digits  —  NEW ORLEANS - The two best-known candidates for Louisiana's U.S. Senate seat lead their party challengers by big margins, according to an exclusive Eyewitness News poll released Thursday.  —  In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup …

And now: The stealth Obama ocean grab  —  For the past few months, I've been spotlighting the Obama administration's War on the West, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's War on Jobs,  —  and the White House land lock-up (Part 1, Part 2).  Today's column exposes the next Obama environmental power grab — into the sea.

Dean: ‘Some’ Dems demonizing N.Y. mosque opponents  —  Former DNC Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday that some members of his party have “demonized” opponents of the Lower Manhattan mosque.  —  Dean — who surprised many political observers this week by saying that the planners should move …

Republican primary bruises not healing quickly  —  Three days after losing a race for a Republican Senate nomination in Washington state, former pro football player and “Tea Party” favorite Clint Didier plans to reveal today whether he'll get behind the winner, Dino Rossi.

At Treasury, Geithner Struggles to Escape a Past He Never Had  —  WASHINGTON — Timothy F. Geithner has been misidentified as a former Wall Street insider from Goldman Sachs so many times since he became the Treasury secretary that he and his advisers had taken to joking about it.  Then the joke backfired.

BP Oil Spill Settlements Likely to Shield Top Defendants  —  WASHINGTON — People and businesses seeking a lump-sum settlement from BP's $20 billion oil spill compensation fund will most likely have to waive their right to sue not only BP, but also all the other major defendants involved with the spill …

Gates and Buffett Take the Pledge  —  Wealthy businessmen often feel obligated to ‘give back.’ Who says they've taken anything?  —  Bill Gates and Warren Buffett announced this month that 40 of America's richest people have agreed to sign a “Giving Pledge” to donate at least half of their wealth to charity.

Obama had facts wrong about visit here  —  Finance director: Stimulus dollars didn't aid project  —  A local project that President Barack Obama cited during a visit Wednesday to Columbus as an example of how the federal stimulus package has worked isn't actually being funded with stimulus dollars.

At the Far Edge  —  For months, it has been clear that Republican Congressional candidates would benefit from independent voters' dissatisfaction with President Obama.  With the Republican field now largely in place, all voters might want to take a close look at who those candidates are.

Obama makes four recess appointments  —  President Obama made four recess appointments Thursday for nominees that have waited an average of 303 days for confirmation, the White House said.  —  “At a time when our nation faces so many pressing challenges, I urge members of the Senate …

Obama's energy meltdown  —  The decision by congressional Democrats to not try to pass a major energy bill in this Congress, while receiving a modest amount of media attention, actually constitutes one of the sharpest rebukes to a sitting president in recent memory.

The lost promise of Barack Obama  —  The most destructive gap for President Obama is not the Republican lead on the generic congressional ballot or even a job disapproval that has surpassed approval — it is the gap between aspiration and reality.  —  The Manhattan mosque controversy showed the problem in compressed form.

Arizona prison escapee, fiancée-cousin caught  —  Pair on lam since July 30, accused of killing elderly Oklahoma couple  —  Escaped inmate John McCluskey and his fiancée-cousin Casslyn Welch were captured in the northeast Arizona's Apache County, the U.S. Marshals Office said late Thursday.

New images indicate moon may be shrinking  —  The moon may be shrinking, scientists say.  —  But not to worry.  It won't disappear anytime soon.  —  NASA scientists studying images sent back to Earth from a spacecraft orbiting the moon have found curving lines of small cliffs on the surface …