How you know the negotiations have truly failed  —  (SHAWN THEW VIA BLOOMBERG) The best advice I've gotten for assessing the debt-ceiling negotiations was to “watch for the day when the White House goes public.”  As long as the Obama administration was refusing to attack Republicans publicly …

Round 1 in Appeals of Health Care Overhaul Goes to Obama  —  The Obama administration prevailed Wednesday in the first appellate review of the 2010 health care law as a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that it was constitutional for Congress …

Obama Breaks Silence About Boeing v. NLRB Labor Dispute  —  ABC News' Amy Bingham reports:  —  President Obama broke his silence today about the dispute between Boeing and the National Labor Relations Board over a proposed plant in South Carolina.  —  The move by the NLRB to block Boeing's plan …

Republicans reject president's call to include tax revenues in debt deal  —  (CNN)-Republican congressional leaders Wednesday rejected President Barack Obama's call to include tax revenues as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.  —  Obama said at a White House press conference Wednesday …

Lennon was a closet Republican: Assistant  —  John Lennon was a closet Republican, who felt a little embarrassed by his former radicalism, at the time of his death - according to the tragic Beatles star's last personal assistant.  —  Fred Seaman worked alongside the music legend from 1979 …

Sarah Palin Blasts Hollywood Stars as ‘Full of Hate’ at Movie Premiere (Exclusive Audio) … PELLA, Iowa — Sarah Palin stared a bit uncomfortably at a movie screen Tuesday night watching a montage of Matt Damon, David Letterman, Madonna, Howard Stern, Bill Maher, Louis C.K. and other celebrities malign her …

Bachmann's Husband Calls Homosexuals ‘Barbarians’ Who ‘Need To Be Educated’ And ‘Disciplined’  —  When trying to figure out where presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) gets her stringent, anti-gay views, you only have to look as far as her husband.

Has Bachmann Met Her Waterloo? … Like This Story  —  Follow Slate's Fighting Words … - Do Gay Bars Make a Lot of Money?  - Extremely Witty Poems by a Poet Who Was Sure He Was Going to Hell- Shafer: Why Patch and Other Hyperlocal Journalism Is a Complete Waste …

RI Senate OKs civil unions bill  —  Gov. Chaffee says he'll sign it in to law  —  PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Rhode Island moved one step closer to allowing same-sex civil unions on Wednesday after the Senate passed a bill to legalize them.  —  The Senate Judiciary committee voted 7-4 to approve the measure.

Obama press conference - false choices and demagoguery  —  I watched Obama's press conference today, and he is a wonder to behold.  He is a relentless demagogue who plays Americans against Americans and sets up false choices as part of a class warfare agenda.

Nerves Show on Team Obama  —  Recent scrambling by the president's political advisers indicates they're very worried about his reelection chances.  —  Fretful: President on defense.  —  It's been a rough June for the White House.  Instead of being able to run a campaign taking credit …

U.S. Designates Israel as Country That Tends ‘To Promote, Produce, or Protect’ Terrorists; Also Calls Israel Anti-Terror Partner  —  (CNSNews.com) - In an implicit admission that Israel is so threatened by terrorism that it is not only surrounded by countries and territories that produce terrorists …

Bush v. Gore  —  Is it worse for a child to see pornography or graphic violence?  —  The Supreme Court struck down a California law regulating the sale of violent video games to children on Monday.  Writing for the majority, Justice Scalia noted that, unlike sexual content, which can be regulated …

Exclusive: Myspace to Be Sold to Specific Media for $35 Million  —  Closing another chapter on one of the Internet's most iconic properties, Myspace has been sold to Specific Media, an advertising network, for $35 million.  —  Sources close to the situation said the deal is being completed today …

WOMAN SEATED NEAR BECK AT MOVIE CLAIMS INNOCENCE...BUT WHAT DOES TWITTER TELL US...  (WITH UPDATES!)  —  On Tuesday, Glenn Beck told his radio and TV audiences how he and his family were harassed during an outing to an outdoor movie in New York City's Bryant Park.  —  You can listen to Glenn describe what happened here.

What Does Newt Gingrich Know?  —  Let's consult the literature — all 21 books by the self-proclaimed ideas man of politics.  (Gingrich cites 23 books on his Web site.  We are not counting the Contract With America or the coffee-table book “Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous With Destiny.")  —  Multimedia

Christie Loses Support for Second Term as Residents Oppose Cuts  —  More than half of New Jersey residents say they wouldn't back Governor Chris Christie for a second term, disapproving of his choices on a range of policy and personal issues, from killing a commuter tunnel to using …

North Korea to Chair UN Disarmament Conference  —  Despite numerous breaches of arms embargoes and continued threats to expand its nuclear weapons program, North Korea has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament.  In a speech to the 65-nation arms control forum in Geneva …

Rudy breaks vows  —  The gay car dealer who opened his home to Rudy Giuliani in 2001 during his humiliating divorce battle says the former mayor offered to preside at his wedding if same-sex marriage were ever legalized — but is now ducking his calls to make good on the offer.

Common Sense and Sensibility  —  This month, the Supreme Court ruled that police, when questioning a child suspected of committing a crime, must take the suspect's age into account and may have to provide Miranda warnings in circumstances that would not require the warnings to be given to an adult suspect.

Jewish Dems losing faith in Obama  —  David Ainsman really began to get worried about President Barack Obama's standing with his fellow Jewish Democrats when a recent dinner with his wife and two other couples — all Obama voters in 2008 — nearly turned into a screaming match.

Greece Passes Austerity Budget.  Did they Make a Mistake?  —  This morning, Greece passed another austerity budget.  This has been, to put it mildly, unpopular.  The country has been beset by days of riots in protest of the spending cuts, apparently led by self-proclaimed anarchists who seem …