Getting to Crazy  —  There aren't many positive aspects to the looming possibility of a U.S. debt default.  But there has been, I have to admit, an element of comic relief — of the black-humor variety — in the spectacle of so many people who have been in denial suddenly waking up and smelling the crazy.

Sarah Palin Movie Debuts to Empty Theater in Orange County  —  “Why aren't you seeing Harry Potter?” an usher said to the reporter sitting alone in the audience  —  When the clock struck 12:01 am today, AMC theaters in select cities were permitted to start showing “The Undefeated,” a feature length documentary about Sarah Palin.

Phone Hacking: Rupert Murdoch's daughter in ‘furious’ attack on Rebekah Brooks  —  Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth has made a “furious” attack on Rebekah Brooks's handling of the phone hacking scandal at News International, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.  —  Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert

Marcus Bachmann says his clinics not anti-gay  —  Therapists will oblige if patients ask for counseling to become heterosexual, but they don't force treatment, he said.  —  The husband of Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann has come forward to defend his family-owned Christian …

The Tragedy of Tim Pawlenty  —  He did everything right.  And that was the problem.  —  At almost precisely the minute that Michele Bachmann was declaring her presidential candidacy in Iowa at the end of June, I was interviewing Tim Pawlenty in a borrowed conference room in a midtown Manhattan financial firm.

It Was Debt What Did It  —  Never mind William Galston's strange belief that debt-deleveraging is a new theory, unknown to Keynesian economics; Mian and Sufi are in fact doing terrific work.  They have been testing the effects of household leverage by looking at cross-sectional evidence, in particular county-level US data.

S&P warns that chance of downgrading U.S. credit rating is 50 percent  —  Standard & Poor's said late Thursday that it could downgrade the U.S. credit rating as soon as this month, and there is a 50 percent chance it will do so within three months, if Washington fails to come to an agreement over the nation's debt.

U.S. Formally Recognizes Libya Rebels  —  ISTANBUL (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration has decided to formally recognize Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government.  The move gives foes of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi a major financial and credibility boost.

Bachmann raises $2 million in two weeks to start campaign  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) raised more than $2 million in the two and a half weeks since she announced her candidacy and has $4 million cash on hand after a $2 million transfer from her House account, according to CBS News.

Can Obama Pull a ‘Clinton’ on the GOP?  —  He's following the budget-showdown script Bill Clinton used to win re-election.  But the economy added 434,000 new jobs in February 1996.  —  After a bruising midterm election, the president moves to the political center.  He distances himself from his Democratic base.

DOJ Tells Court It “Continues to Defend” DADT, Seeks Reinstatement of Law “By the Close of Business Tomorrow”  —  The Department of Justice filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Ciruit in the Log Cabin Republicans v. United States case today, asking the court for “emergency” …

GOP threatens to bolt on McConnell's plan  —  A plan to cut spending, put caps on future expenditures and pass a constitutional amendment to balance the budget is certain to come up, lawmakers said.  Also on the unofficial agenda of lawmakers are several bills to force the president …

Eric Bolling: 'I'll Never Forget 9/11, But Thank You, Liberals, For Reminding Me How Petty You Can Be'  —  In an emotional statement on Fox's The Five Thursday, Eric Bolling shot back at the “radical liberal left” that “pounced” on him after he said on the program Wednesday that “America was certainly safe between 2000 and 2008.

Gov. John Kasich spends $2 million off-the-cuff; unexpected cash is for the state's children's hospitals to collaborate  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. John Kasich on Thursday spent $2 million so calmly and nonchalantly you would have thought he was just handing over $2.