Kinky for Perry  —  Kinky Friedman once ran against Rick Perry for the Texas governorship.  So would the singer and writer vote for him for president?  Hell, yes!  The world's most famous Jewish cowboy on why he wants to live in Rick Perry's America.

In the ruins of Gadhafi's lair, rebels find album filled with photos of his ‘darling’ Condoleezza Rice  —  Msnbc.com and Associated Press report:  —  “Deeply bizarre and deeply creepy.”  —  That's how the State Department is describing a surprising find inside the compound …

Asking Candidates Tougher Questions About Faith  —  If a candidate for president said he believed that space aliens dwell among us, would that affect your willingness to vote for him?  Personally, I might not disqualify him out of hand; one out of three Americans believe we have had Visitors and, hey, who knows?

With Hurricane Bearing Down Cantor Spox Says Disaster Relief Should Be Paid For With Spending Cuts  —  Looks like House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) will extend his requirement that federal disaster relief be paid for by cutting spending elsewhere in the budget to Hurricane Irene.

Special prosecutor: No charges for Prosser, Bradley in fracas  —  By The Associated Press and Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison - Neither Supreme Court Justice David Prosser nor fellow Justice Anne Walsh Bradley will face criminal charges for an altercation this summer involving the two …

Steve Jobs: America's Greatest Failure  —  Steve Jobs's announcement that he is stepping down as CEO of Apple is not surprising.  He's a very sick man; and running the world's largest market-cap technology firm can't be easy for someone with pancreatic cancer and who-knows-what other ailments.

U.S. May Back Refinance Plan for Mortgages  —  The Obama administration is considering further actions to strengthen the housing market, but the bar is high: plans must help a broad swath of homeowners, stimulate the economy and cost next to nothing.  —  One proposal would allow millions …

Obama Leadership Image Takes a Hit, GOP Ratings Decline  —  Continued Dissatisfaction with Republican Field  —  OVERVIEW  —  The public is profoundly discontented with conditions in the country, its government, political leadership and several of its major institutions.

Kate Marshall expresses support for Israel, says “useful” to do so because “timely topic”  —  You don't see this too often: A campaign puts out a statement by a candidate on an issue she has never talked about and then helpfully explains the political strategy at play at the end.

Cheney Says He Urged Bush to Bomb Syria in '07  —  WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney says in a new memoir that he urged President George W. Bush to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor site in June 2007.  But, he wrote, Mr. Bush opted for a diplomatic approach after other advisers …

Rep. Steve Chabot Criticized By Tea Party Activists For Seizing Cameras From Democrats At Town Halls … WASHINGTON — After banning and confiscating cameras at his town hall events, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) is taking heat from all sides — including from Tea Party activists Eric Odom and Judson Phillips.

Expect a Third-Party Candidate in 2012  —  Ross Perot in 1992 and John Anderson in 1980 garnered exceptionally high levels of support.  —  The United States is in the midst of what we would both call a prerevolutionary moment, and there is widespread support for fundamental change in the system.

Market crash ‘could hit within weeks’, warn bankers  —  A more severe crash than the one triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers could be on the way, according to alarm signals in the credit markets.  —  The cost of insuring RBS bonds is now higher than before the taxpayer was forced to step in and rescue the bank in October 2008

The Nice Guy And The Manic Pixie Dream Girl  —  This is a bit off topic, but it's my blog and my last week here so bear with me.  I recently watched The Adjustment Bureau, a sort of sci-fi romance where the world is regularly nudged away from extinction by a covert bureaucracy of otherwordly chaperones …

Madoff: I'm a Victim, Too  —  Bernie Madoff is feeling pretty grand these days.  He's got reporters (including myself) hounding him for interviews and his insight into Wall Street and its misgivings.  He's the toast of the federal prison in Butner, NC., where he's serving a life sentence …

AFL-CIO head: Labor to ditch Democrats  —  The growing rift between labor and their Democratic allies was on full display Thursday, as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters that labor groups are planning to scale back their involvement with the Democratic Party in advance of the 2012 elections.

Why Libya sceptics were proved badly wrong  —  Let us do a thought experiment.  Imagine the UN did not vote to authorise the use of force in Libya in March.  Nato did nothing; Colonel Muammer Gaddafi over-ran Benghazi; the US stood by; the Libyan opposition was reduced to sporadic uprisings, quickly crushed.

Fiscalization Watch  —  A correspondent informs me that Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister, has just given a speech asserting that excessive public debt caused the 2008 crisis.  In fact, I'm told, he said that … OK, we can prove that wrong immediately: I dispute it …

Ohio GOP Rep. Wants Drug Tests For Anyone Who Seeks Unemployment Benefits  —  Ohio state Rep. Tim Grendell (R) said today that he will introduce legislation requiring Ohioans in need of unemployment benefits, welfare, or other government aid to take a drug test first.

UPDATED with Video] Barbarian Flashmob Converts “Marcus Bachmann” in Glitter Baptism at Clinic  —  The barbarians were locked out of the office, but remained undaunted and fabulous at the gates, along with newly converted “Marcus.”  —  Earlier today in Lake Elmo, Minnesota …