EXCLUSIVE: Richard Grenell hounded from Romney campaign by anti-gay conservatives  —  Richard Grenell, the openly gay spokesman recently hired to sharpen the foreign policy message of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, has resigned in the wake of a full-court press by anti-gay conservatives.

How The White House Smothered The News Of Obama's Trip To Afghanistan  —  How the White House played whack-a-mole, and why I deleted my tweet.  Drudge wouldn't budge.  —  Shortly before 9:19 a.m. this morning the Afghanistan-based 24-hour broadcast news station TOLONews tweeted that President Barack Obama had landed in Afghanistan.

OCCUPY LEADERS APPARENTLY INVOLVED IN BRIDGE BOMB PLOT, SUSPECTS NAMED  —  One of the leaders of the Occupy Cleveland movement, Brandon Baxter, is one of those arrested for today's terrorist plot to bomb a bridge in Cleveland.  Occupier Brandon Baxter appears to have gotten the guidance he sought.

Excerpts of the President's Address to the Nation from Afghanistan  —  As Prepared for Delivery -  —  “Already, nearly half the Afghan people live in places where Afghan Security Forces are moving into the lead.  This month, at a NATO Summit in Chicago, our coalition will set a goal …

Elizabeth Warren's embattled campaign: Cherokee tie found 5 generations ago  —  Cherokee tie found 5 generations ago  —  Desperately scrambling to validate Democrat Elizabeth Warren's Native American heritage amid questions about whether she used her minority status to further her career …

Trashed Mission District businesses want answers  —  (05-01) 16:39 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Business owners in San Francisco's Mission District, cleaning up after a night in which protesters damaged more than 30 stores and restaurants and vandalized cars, questioned Tuesday why activists had singled …

Victims of Communism Day  —  Today is May Day.  Since 2007, I have been commemorating this day here at the Volokh Conspiracy as Victims of Communism Day.  Various other websites and blogs have promoted the same concept.  In time, we hope to make this a worldwide commemoration similar to Holocaust Memorial Day.

House Republicans: No offsets for extending Bush-era tax rates  —  House Republicans say they have no plans to pay for the extension of the Bush-era tax rates, a move that could erase the deficit reduction they have achieved since winning their majority in the chamber in 2010.

Obama leads in Virginia  —  Barack Obama continues to look like the favorite to win Virginia this fall.  He has a 51-43 lead over Mitt Romney in the state.  We have consistently found Obama leading in Virginia by margins similar to his 6 point victory there in 2008- he led Romney by 6 in December …

“Black Bloc” Occupiers Turn On Media  —  Protesters attacked photographers, and sought to seize their cameras, during May Day protests, journalists say.  “One girl walks up to one of the photogs and nailed him right in the face,” says Village Voice's Muncy.  —  Source: @CSMuncyPhoto

Republican Judge Jerry Smith Blocks Pro-Planned Parenthood Order Just Hours After It Was Issued  —  Last month, Republican Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith pitched a tantrum in open court, demanding that the Department of Justice respond to some imprecise political rhetoric by President Obama in an attempt to embarrass the president.

Brown says daughter, 23, insured under health law  —  Senator Scott Brown, who won office vowing to be the 41st vote to block President Obama's health care law and who has since voted three times to repeal it, acknowledged Monday that he takes advantage of it to keep his elder daughter on his congressional health insurance plan.