Let's Not Be Civil  —  Last week, President Obama offered a spirited defense of his party's values — in effect, of the legacy of the New Deal and the Great Society.  Immediately thereafter, as always happens when Democrats take a stand, the civility police came out in force.

What's Donald Trump really after?  —  Despite an almost universal refusal by Republican establishment figures and the press to take him seriously, Donald Trump is taking very concrete steps toward forming - and announcing - a presidential campaign.  —  He has interviewed at least two people …

Vandals Break In WI Office - Steal Fleebagger Recall Petitions Hours After It Was Announced Enough Signatures Were Collected (Video)  —  On Thursday Wisconsin conservatives announced that they had collected enough signatures 15,000 to recall fleebagger Senator Dave Hansen of Green Bay.

Huntsman team plans South Carolina campaign  —  Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - If ambassador to China Jon Huntsman does decide to run for president after returning to the United States in early May, his advisers are planning to make a serious play for South Carolina, the early primary state …

The Middle-Class Tax Trap  —  “Let's tell the truth,” Walter Mondale said, accepting the Democratic nomination in 1984.  “Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you.  I just did.”  —  Three months later, Mondale lost 49 states, and liberal politicians learned a valuable lesson.

As debt ceiling vote nears, the pressure's on House Republican freshmen  —  They ran against debt.  They swore and swore again that they'd cut up the nation's credit card.  —  But now the 87 freshmen House Republicans are facing intense pressure from administration officials …

TheDC Exclusive: Conservatives hit Beck for taking content without attribution  —  A number of conservative activists and bloggers say they're furious at media magnate Glenn Beck for what they call content theft.  Over the past several years, Beck has relied on video, audio and written content …

President Obama to ignore ‘czar’ ban  —  President Barack Obama is planning to ignore language in the 2011 spending package that would ban several top White House advisory posts.  —  House Republicans tacked on language to the contentious spending bill to cut the salaries for four so-called czars …

Where the Tax Money Is  —  Obama targets the middle class while pretending to tax only the rich.  —  A dominant theme of President Obama's budget speech last Wednesday was that our fiscal problems would vanish if only the wealthiest Americans were asked “to pay a little more.”

Al-Jazeera has fans in Obama W.H.  —  In the halls of American power, the Arab Spring has brought Al-Jazeera in from the cold.  —  Seven years after then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the broadcaster's reporting “vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable” and President George W. Bush joked …

Relieve Pain by Swearing, Study Says  —  Hey, after all these years, I'm vindicated at last: … And, indeed, some of what we were taught in schools was wrong.  —  For instance, the story has it Patrick Henry said “Give me liberty or give me death.”  He really said: “Wear one of those dreadful Tory hats?

S&P Affirms US AAA Rating, Cuts Outlook to Negative  —  Standard & Poor's on Monday downgraded the outlook for the United States to negative, saying it believes there's a risk U.S. policymakers may not reach agreement on how to address the country's long-term fiscal pressures.

Unhinged Lunatics Message to Madison Tea Party & Sarah Palin  —  These protesters at the Madison, Wisconsin Tea Party Protest featuring Andrew Breitbart and Sarah Palin unleashed a furious message in the following video.  Unfortunately, we have absolutely no idea what this message means...

US Rep. Mo Brooks retracts ‘socialist’ remark  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville withdrew a statement he made Friday morning on the House floor about other members of Congress being socialists, but he said later he did not regret his remarks and thought Democrats who objected to the label were being “thin-skinned.”

E.J. Dionne Jr.  —  America's elites have a duty to the rest of us  —  The American ruling class is failing us — and itself.  —  At other moments in our history, the informal networks of the wealthy and powerful who often wield at least as much influence as our elected politicians accepted …

Ryan Budget Plan Defended as Republicans Return Home to Voters  —  First-term Representative Bobby Schilling is getting ready for some uncomfortable conversations.  —  The pizzeria owner-turned-Republican lawmaker supported his party's 2012 budget plan that passed in the House last week …

GANG OF SIX ‘VERY CLOSE’ TO AN AGREEMENT, INTENDS TO ‘MAKE EVERYBODY MAD’.... Two months ago, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the bipartisan “Gang of Six” deficit-reduction talks, said the group was “getting close” to striking a deal.  Two weeks ago, however, the negotiations …

Radial Islamist groups gaining stranglehold in Egypt  —  The rapid spread of Muslim political parties ahead of September's parliamentary elections has strengthened fears that Egyptian democracy will be dominated by radical Islamic movements.  —  Mohammed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader …

Douglas Kmiec resigns as U.S. ambassador to Malta  —  Ambassador Douglas Kmiec rejects the inspector general's conclusion that his interfaith advocacy is outside his official mission  —  The American ambassador to Malta resigned his post Saturday after criticism from the State Department's inspector general …

U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, cables released by WikiLeaks show  —  / AP - Syrian anti-government protesters march in Banias, Syria on Sunday.  The Arabic banner at center reads: “All of us would die for our country.”  —  The State Department has secretly financed Syrian …

Texas seeks more help as wildfires burn Austin homes  —  (Reuters) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry sought additional federal help in battling wildfires across his drought-parched state as a woodland blaze gutted at least six homes on Sunday and threatened hundreds more in Austin, the state capital.