Obama's Bain ad: ‘Like watching an old friend bleed to death’ (Updated)  —  The Obama campaign's 2-minute ad on Mitt Romney's Bain Capital is record is out, and it is brutal.  —  Targeting Romney's involvement in the acquistion of GST Steel, the commercial shows workers at a shuttered plant pinning Romney and Bain with the blame.

Obama: JPMorgan Is ‘One of the Best-Managed Banks’  —  Just hours after a top JPMorgan Chase executive retired in the wake of a stunning $2 billion trading loss, President Obama told the hosts of ABC's “The View” that the bank's risky bets exemplified the need for Wall Street reform.

EXCLUSIVE: Wisconsin Dems furious with DNC for refusing to invest big money in Walker recall  —  Top Wisconsin Democrats are furious with the national party — and the Democratic National Committee in particular — for refusing their request for a major investment in the battle to recall Scott Walker, I'm told.

Clyburn seeks ‘national policy’ legalizing same-sex marriages  —  During an appearance on The Daily Rundown, Rep. James Clyburn, D -S.C., called for a national policy to give legal recognition to marriages between same-sex couples.  —  Rep. James Clyburn, the House Democrats' third-ranking leader …

U.S. Acceptance of Gay/Lesbian Relations Is the New Normal  —  For third year, majority says gay/lesbian relations are morally acceptable  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The slight majority of American adults, 54%, consider gay or lesbian relations morally acceptable.

The un-McCain campaign  —  Mitt Romney and his top aides are building a strategy, partly by design and partly because of circumstance, around what they consider John McCain's disastrously run campaign in 2008.  —  The strategy: whatever McCain did, do the opposite.

Henry Kissinger gets TSA pat-down  —  Seems no one is immune from the tender mercies of the TSA pat-down.  First, we learned that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was subjected to a handsy search.  And now we learn of the latest high-profile search-ee …

Andrew Sullivan on Barack Obama: The First Gay President  —  The president's bold support shifted the mainstream.  Andrew Sullivan on why it shouldn't be surprising—Obama's life as a biracial man has deep ties to the gay experience.  —  It was the spring of 2007, back when Barack Obama's bid …

Is prestigious genealogical society throwing media under the bus on Warren 1/32 Cherokee claim?  —  There is a new and bizarre twist in the Elizabeth Warren 1/32 Cherokee saga.  —  As discussed below, Warren's claim to 1/32 Cherokee heritage arose from comments attributed to the prestigious …

After Obama's Decision on Marriage, a Call to Pastors  —  WASHINGTON — About two hours after declaring his support for same-sex marriage last week, President Obama gathered eight or so African-American ministers on a conference call to explain himself.  He had struggled with the decision …

Ron Paul ends his hunt for votes  —  DEVELOPING:  —  Rep. Ron Paul of Texas said Monday he will not compete in primaries in any of the states that have not yet voted — essentially confirming Mitt Romney will win the Republican presidential nomination.  —  Mr. Paul said he will continue …

As European Austerity Ends, So Could the Euro  —  The euro currency is a malady that condemns at least a generation of Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese and Irish to the economic infirmary.  —  In these nations, unemployment rates are now at their highest levels in recent decades …

Titans of Twitter  —  In a discussion of the Romney campaign's outreach to the wingnutosphere earlier this month, I mentioned in passing the apparent preoccupation of these new partners in crime with Twitter wars, and particularly the belief that Hilaryrosengate represented some sort of historic triumph for The Cause.

Black Pastor Tells CNN His Church Won't Support Obama, ‘Plan To Stay Home’  —  President Obama's headline-grabbing flip-flop on gay marriage may cost him dearly in the more religious parts of the black community, reports CNN today, as pastors tell their congregations the president is wrong in stepping in.

Louisiana is the world's prison capital  —  Louisiana is the world's prison capital.  The state imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts.  First among Americans means first in the world.  Louisiana's incarceration rate is nearly triple Iran's, seven times China's and 10 times Germany's.