S&P and the USA  —  OK, so Standard and Poors has gone ahead with the threatened downgrade.  It's a strange situation.  —  On one hand, there is a case to be made that the madness of the right has made America a fundamentally unsound nation.  And yes, it is the madness of the right …

Dozens of U.S. Troops Killed as Copter Shot Down in Afghanistan  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter during an overnight operation in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 people on board, a coalition military official said on Saturday.

The Tea Party, Take Two  —  In the four months since I began writing an Op-Ed column, the thing that has most surprised me is how darned liberal I sound sometimes.  I know that seems like a strange thing to say, so let me explain.  —  Growing up in heavily Democratic Providence, R.I. …

China tells U.S. “good old days” of borrowing are over  —  (Reuters) - China bluntly criticized the United States on Saturday one day after the superpower's credit rating was downgraded, saying the “good old days” of borrowing were over.  —  Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. long-term credit rating …

Widener Law School goes Soviet, demands law professor undergo psychiatric evaluation  —  Lawrence Connell is a tenured law professor at Widener Law School in Delaware.  I have noted in prior posts that Connell was accused of a wide range of racist and sexist conduct directed at students …

Obama and the Narcissism of Big Differences  —  ‘He becomes visibly agitated. . . . He does not like to be challenged on policy grounds,’ says the House majority leader of the president.  —  New York  —  Whatever the rhetoric that preceded this week's deal, the debt-ceiling debate was never really about the debt at all.

Perry's prayer gathering sets stage for national attention  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) high-profile prayer gathering Saturday is set to pave the way for his possible but increasingly likely late entry into the race for the Republican presidential nomination.