A Time for Choosing  —  To govern is to choose.  To vote is to choose.  To vote against John Boehner on the House floor this week in the biggest showdown of the current Congress is to choose to vote with Nancy Pelosi.  To vote against Boehner is to choose to support Barack Obama.

House Republicans Psyche Themselves Up By Watching Ben Affleck Prepare To Beat Some Guys Up  —  For some reason the Washington Post's reporters decided to sanitize the anecdote, but apparently House GOP leaders are trying to garner support for John Boehner's debt ceiling plan by comparing …

The Cult That Is Destroying America  —  Watching our system deal with the debt ceiling crisis — a wholly self-inflicted crisis, which may nonetheless have disastrous consequences — it's increasingly obvious that what we're looking at is the destructive influence of a cult that has really poisoned our political system.

Credit hit worries Obama, Congress more than default  —  It's not the default that strikes the most fear in the White House and Congress these days.  It's the downgrade.  —  Even Republican leaders say the country can't go into default, and they'll do everything possible to raise the debt limit by Aug. 2.

Suicide blast kills mayor of Afghanistan's Kandahar  —  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed the mayor of Afghanistan's Kandahar Wednesday, a further blow to stability in the southern city still reeling from the assassination two weeks ago of President Hamid Karzai's powerbroker half-brother.

Romney Leads Field of Announced GOP Candidates  —  Perry would be more competitive with Romney than Palin, Giuliani  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney is the leader for the GOP nomination among the current field of official candidates, supported by 27% of Republicans, compared with 18% for Michele Bachmann.

U.S. officials believe al-Qaeda on brink of collapse  —  U.S. counterterrorism officials are increasingly convinced that the killing of Osama bin Laden and the toll of seven years of CIA drone strikes have pushed al-Qaeda to the brink of collapse.  —  The assessment reflects a widespread view …

FBI report at odds with ATF claim on weapons  —  A copy of the FBI document shows ballistics tests did not rule out the Fast and Furious guns in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry.  —  Reporting from Washington— The claim by senior ATF officials that none of the weapons lost …

Bachmann: other House GOPers “will have to come to their own conclusion” (audio)  —  GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann held a news conference in Ankeny early this afternoon.  “I wanted to be able to have just a word with you in response to President Obama's statement last night regarding raising the debt ceiling,” she began.

Captain America's Faux Integration, Ctd  —  Alyssa Rosenberg argues that Captain America: The First Avenger lacks any acknowledgement of Armed Forces segregation because The Avengers is about “institutional optimism.”  —  I'm not buying it.  Not just because these kinds of issues …

Sen. Manchin Maintains Lucrative Ties to Family-Owned Coal Company  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is more than just a supporter of his state's influential coal producers — he's a full-fledged industry insider.  —  On his financial disclosures for 2009 and 2010, Manchin reported significant earnings …

Norway PM: Attacks response to be ‘more democracy’  —  OSLO, Norway (AP) — Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg vowed Wednesday that the twin terror attacks that have stunned his country will not intimidate Norway and that his countrymen will fight back with “more democracy.”

Romney-McDonnell 2012?  —  Former Massachussets governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney was in Virginia Beach yesterday attending a fundraiser at the home of State Sen. Jeff McWaters.  —  The $1200 per plate event brought up some interesting data points regarding Governor Bob McDonnell.

The next meltdown: Gas tax renewal  —  Looking beyond the horizon of the current insoluble legislative meltdown, a nervous Democrat pointed me yesterday to the next one: Most of the gas tax is set to expire on September 30.  —  An accountant's memo lists the taxes expiring that day, including:

Can't We Do This Right?  —  There is only one thing worse than Republicans and Democrats failing to agree to lift the debt ceiling, and that is lifting the debt ceiling without a well-thought-out plan and with hasty cuts totaling trillions of dollars over a decade.

The Guilty Parties  —  There's actually a simple way to resolve the debt ceiling crisis: non-crazy Republican leaders could support something like the Reid plan — which is, let's be clear, a huge victory for the right and defeat for progressives — and pass it with limited GOP support and overwhelming Democratic support.