Standard & Poor's has been wrong before.  But they're right now.  —  Standard Poor's decision to downgrade the United States has led to a lot of criticism of Standard Poor's.  The White House called their performance, which included a miscalculation of about $2 trillion, “amateur hour.”

Copter Downed by Taliban Fire; Elite U.S. Unit Among Dead  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — In the deadliest day for American forces in the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter on Saturday, killing 30 Americans, including some Navy Seal commandos …

Perry prays for the U.S.  —  HOUSTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry prayed with more than 20,000 worshipers at an all-day Christian gathering here — and while he talked about God, not the Oval Office, he repeatedly hit on the themes that would drive his potential presidential campaign.

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. …

Mystery Romney supporter reveals himself after calls for investigation  —  Edward Conrad, a former executive at Bain Capital, has revealed himself as the mystery donor who gave a $1 million corporate contribution to a special political action committee supporting Mitt Romney.

Former Obama Economic Adviser on Downgrade: We're ‘Pretty Darn F—ked’  —  Christina Romer, the former chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers on Friday offered a rather strong opinion concerning the announcement by Standard & Poor's that the credit rating agency downgraded America's debt to AA+.

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.

The Madman Theory  —  I had breakfast this week with one of Hollywood's most ferocious, self-confident and successful doers of deals.  He was still steamed about what an unforgivably lousy negotiator his president had been on the debt ceiling agreement.  —  One particular Obama move he found appalling above all the rest.