2012 and the Republican rescue fantasy  —  Chief Political Correspondent Follow Him @ByronYork  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. - Talk to enough people around this key primary state and you'll learn two lessons, over and over again.  One is that there is absolutely, positively no unity among Republicans …

Whose Foreign Policy Is It?  —  For those with eyes to see, the daylight between the foreign policies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama has been shrinking ever since the current president took the oath of office.  But last week made it official: When the story of America's post-9/11 wars is written …

Home Market Takes a Tumble  —  Turnaround More Distant After 3% Drop, Steepest Quarterly Decline Since 2008  —  The U.S. housing market's 1Q 2011 decline was the steepest in three years.  Additionally, a Zillow.com survey indicates nearly 30% of borrowers owe more than their homes are worth.

The Unwisdom of Elites  —  The past three years have been a disaster for most Western economies.  The United States has mass long-term unemployment for the first time since the 1930s.  Meanwhile, Europe's single currency is coming apart at the seams.  How did it all go so wrong?

Trump: ‘I Am The Least Racist Person There Is’ Because A Black Guy Won The Apprentice Six Years Ago  —  Potential presidential candidate Donald Trump has often found himself in hot water for making racially-tinged comments — saying in the span of a single press conference, for example …

Why I Will Not Support Jon Huntsman.  Ever.  —  “I cannot tolerate a man serving as our ambassador to our chief strategic adversary in the world plotting, while in that capacity, to run against the President of the United States.”  —  Ambassador Jon Huntsman is gearing up now to run for President of the United States.

Heller takes Senate oath  —  Republican Dean Heller of Nevada was sworn into the Senate Monday by Vice President Joe Biden, replacing embattled Sen. John Ensign who resigned last week over a sex scandal involving a former aid.  —  Heller was joined at the dais by Majority Leader Harry Reid …

Osama Bin Laden wasn't on kidney dialysis, took herbal Viagra while living in compound  —  Osama Bin Laden wasn't on kidney dialysis - but he did need an herbal impotence drug.  —  “He believed in his own medication,” said his youngest widow, Amal al-Sadeh, who was shot in the leg …

Osama Bin Laden Tapes Show ‘Pathetic’ Side of Al Qaeda Leader: Experts  —  Osama bin Laden speaks in this undated image taken from video provided by the U.S. Department of Defense and released on Saturday, May 7, 2011.  The videos show bin Laden watching himself on television and rehearsing for terrorist videos.

Over 100 Michigan Law Students Walk Out Of Own Graduation To Protest Anti-Gay Speaker Rob Portman  —  Over 100 newly-minted lawyers walked out of their own graduation at the University of Michigan Law School on Saturday to protest the ceremony's commencement speaker, anti-gay Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH).

Democrats See Strategy to End Big Oil Tax Breaks  —  WASHINGTON — Linking two of the politically volatile issues of the moment, Senate Democrats say they will move forward this week with a plan that would eliminate tax breaks for big oil companies and divert the savings to offset the deficit.

WHERE PEOPLE GO, HOW THEY GET THERE AND WHAT LURES THEM AWAY  —  Whatever the future of journalism, much of it depends on understanding the ways that people navigate the digital news environment—the behavior of what might be called the new news consumer.  —  Despite the unprecedented level …

Gay donors fuel Obama's 2012 campaign  —  President Barack Obama's reelection campaign is banking on gay donors to make up the cash it's losing from other groups of wealthy supporters who have been alienated and disappointed by elements of Obama's first term.

Falsehood?  Or Mostly Accurate Prediction?  —  Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler isn't so enamored with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius after she made this claim last week: … Kessler gives Sebelius three “Pincocchios” (out of a possible four) and offers this explanation:

Leak of C.I.A. Officer's Name Is Sign of Rift With Pakistan  —  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — For the second time in five months, the Pakistani authorities have embarrassed the Central Intelligence Agency by leaking the name of the C.I.A. station chief in Islamabad to Pakistani news media …

Bristol Palin Reality Show: Palin, Massey Brothers In New BIO Channel Show … Bristol Palin , Bristol Palin Bio Channel , Bristol Palin Kyle Massey , Bristol Palin Reality Show , Entertainment News  —  Bristol Palin is making it a reality show hat trick.  —  The daughter of former Alaska …

Primary Election 2012: Conservative Fears Of Permanent Welfare State May Create Wild Ride … COLUMBIA, S.C. — At this weekend's South Carolina GOP convention, Republican lawmakers warned that a second term for President Obama would kill America's independent spirit and guarantee a permanent big government welfare state.

Staten Island mom ‘hit’ boyfriend over head with cooking pot  —  Maybe he should buy flowers next time.  —  A Staten Island mom allegedly whacked her baby daddy over the head with a cooking pot yesterday — because she was furious that he hadn't bought her a Mother's Day gift.

Announcing the Power Line Prize  —  Our nation faces an unprecedented financial crisis.  Every knowledgeable citizen understands that the fiscal path we are on is unsustainable.  Indefinite continuation of the status quo is not an option.  There are only two possibilities: reform and collapse.

US Navy Gives OK for On Base Same-Sex Marriages  —  It would appear the Navy has decided to let same-sex couples in the Navy, get married in Navy chapels that are located on bases in state where same-sex marriage is legal, and will allow willing Navy chaplains to perform those ceremonies.

Midair security scares on 3 U.S. flights  —  American Airlines passenger subdued, cuffed after banging on cockpit door day after 2 other flights diverted  —  SAN FRANCISCO - Crew members and passengers wrestled a 28-year-old man to the cabin floor after he began pounding on the cockpit …

OPINIONS ‘SAME AS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS’  —  Devan Maistry's case is the latest in a string of decisions to rule that everyday opinions should have the same status as religious beliefs.  —  Two years ago, a tribunal found that company executive Tim Nicholson, a firm believer in climate change …

Hobbling gasbag  —  Gasbag Keith Olbermann can't seem to wrangle staff for his Current TV show, “Countdown.”  Still in need of an executive producer and other staff, famously difficult Olbermann has crawled back to his contacts at MSNBC, many of whom he offended while there, to beg for staff.