Rush Limbaugh, Pastor Terry Jones Were High School Classmates  —  Terry Jones, the Florida pastor threatening to burn a Koran tomorrow on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, was a high school classmate of Rush Limbaugh.  —  The Cape Central High School (Missouri) website …

Americans OK Allowing Tax Cuts for Wealthy to Expire  —  One in three favor keeping tax cuts for all taxpayers  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A majority of Americans favor letting the tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration expire for the wealthy.  While 37% support keeping the tax cuts for all Americans …

NRA backs Tea Party candidate in Delaware  —  The National Rifle Association endorsed conservative commentator Christine O'Donnell Friday in Delaware's Republican Senate primary.  The Tea Party-backed O'Donnell is looking to upset Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) on Tuesday.

The whole story: How Angle asked for a debate with Reid, how Reid agreed and Angle backed out  —  UPDATE: Here is the statement I received this morning from Angle spokesman Jarrod Agen:  —  “We obviously gave you the wrong signal and I apologize for that.  We have other events planned …

Obama awards living soldier the Medal of Honor  —  Under a bright Afghan moon, eight U.S. paratroopers trudged along a ridge in the Korengal Valley, unaware they were walking right into a trap.  Less than 20 feet away, a band of Taliban fighters executed the ambush plan perfectly …

Self-Described ‘Christian Counterpart To Osama Bin Laden’ Arrested In Plot To Bomb Abortion Clinic  —  A study released today by former leaders of the 9/11 Commission finds that “terrorism is increasingly taking on an American cast.”  Warning of “a much more diverse threat,” …

One block between Ground Zero mosque and human remains  —  Tweet  —  Here's the chilling proof that Ground Zero stretches well beyond the boundaries of the World Trade Center site, and reaches close to the proposed mosque and community center.  —  A map compiled by firefighters …

PRESIDENT OBAMA GOES RINGLESS AT PRESSER  —  Sometimes, a White House press conference can be a chance for a president to take some weight off his shoulders ... but weight off his fingers?  —  Eagle-eyed reporters noticed that President Barack Obama wasn't sporting his wedding ring during Friday's White House press conference.

'IT'S JUST US'.... President Obama hosted an unusually-long White House press conference this morning, which I thought went extremely well for him.  And for the most part, the press corps stuck to substantive issues and avoided some of the more sensationalistic issues of the day.  —  But there were exceptions.

Mississippi Congressional Race Shows Futility of Making Benefit Cuts to Social Security  —  RJ Eskow reported yesterday on a rumored deal coming out of the deficit commission on Social Security.  It sounds like a really bad version of progressive price indexing, where benefits are cut …

G.O.P. Has 2-in-3 Chance of Taking House, Model Forecasts  —  Republicans have a two-in-three chance of claiming a majority of House seats in November, the FiveThirtyEight forecasting model estimates.  And their gains could potentially rival or exceed those made in 1994, when they took a net of 54 seats from the Democrats.

Nine years after 9/11, let's stop fulfilling bin Laden's goals  —  The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, succeeded far beyond anything Osama bin Laden could possibly have envisioned.  This is not just because they resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths, nor only because they struck at the heart of American financial and military power.

Suddenly, their house is taken over  —  A Long Beach couple struggling with mortgage payments find out their home's been auctioned off by Wells Fargo when the new owner's representative shows up on their doorstep.  —  Mike and Ellen Kahara knew times were tough.

Infrastructure, you say?  Ask the city of San Bruno why we need it  —  Last night a neighborhood exploded.  One minute people were cooking dinner or sitting down to watch the football game or the news, and the next, their neighborhood was rocked by what felt like a terrible earthquake and then it just...exploded.

How is Lincoln Losing?  —  Earlier this afternoon, Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Rep. John Boozman met for their first official debate in the Arkansas state Senate race.  The particulars of this race are interesting but frustrating: it's hard to see how, whatever the climate, the soft-spoken …

Jon Stewart: MSNBC Should Take Notes From Fox News  —  Tonight, Jon Stewart noted President Obama's shift from bipartisan love machine to Republican-killing campaign shark, and—namely—the media's reaction to it.  The verdict?  MSNBC should emulate Fox News' skew-the-news-to-fit-our-narrative mantra …

The Genteel Nation  —  Most people who lived in the year 1800 were scarcely richer than people who lived in the year 100,000 B.C. Their diets were no better.  They were no taller, and they did not live longer.  —  Then, sometime around 1800, economic growth took off — in Britain first, then elsewhere.

Exiting The Imperial Presidency.  —  After Wednesday's ruling, it should be clear that we're past the point of “when the president does it, it's not illegal.”  The law of the land now is that when anyone in our professional intelligence services crosses the line in the name of national security …