Obama frets after ‘terrifying’ recall vote  —  President Obama will need to double down on his efforts to keep Wisconsin safely in his column after Gov. Scott Walker's (R) resounding victory in Tuesday's recall election.  —  Every Democratic presidential candidate since Walter Mondale in 1984 …

The Candidate Next Door  —  ON Dunemere Drive, it seems as if just about everyone has a gripe against the owners of No. 311.  —  The elderly woman next door complains that her car is constantly boxed into her driveway.  A few houses over, a gay couple grumbles that their beloved ocean views are in jeopardy.

George W. Bush least popular living ex-president, poll shows  —  Three and a half years after leaving office, a survey Thursday shows that former President George W. Bush remains unpopular among a majority of Americans — the only living president with an under 50 percent approval rating.

Senator Asks DOJ to Investigate SWAT-ting Attacks on Conservative Bloggers  —  A number of conservative bloggers allege they have been targeted through the use of harassment tactics such as SWAT-ting (fooling 911 operators into sending emergency teams to their homes), in retaliation for posts …

The Press Lines Up to Interview San Francisco Tea Party at Obama Fundraisers  —  Major Bay Area television, radio and newspaper reporters lined up to interview San Francisco Tea Partiers outside two Obama fundraisers in the Financial District on Wednesday.  In my three years of covering the Tea Party …

Estonian Rhapsody  —  Since Estonia has suddenly become the poster child for austerity defenders — they're on the euro and they're booming!  — I thought it might be useful to have a picture of what we're talking about.  Here's real GDP, from Eurostat:  —  So, a terrible — Depression-level …

Mitt Romney's campaign, GOP leaders ramp up coordination  —  Congressional Republicans and Mitt Romney's presidential campaign have stepped up their coordination in recent weeks through regular teleconference calls that highlight upcoming announcements and messaging strategies.

Did President Obama Just Make A Blowjob Joke?  —  So says the pool report from his gay and lesbian fundraiser at L.A.'s Beverly Wilshire tonight.  Incredibly awkward.  —  Obama speaks during a campaign event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills tonight.  —  (Getty Images / JEWEL SAMAD)

First Lady Requires Photo ID for Her Book Signings; Voter ID Law-hating Media Fail to Note Obama Hypocrisy  —  The Obama administration has done its best to oppose states from instituting new, stricter voter ID laws, complaining that many minority voters lack photo identification.

The Horace Mann School's Secret History of Sexual Abuse  —  From the elevated platform of the No. 1 train's last stop at 242nd Street, you can just about see the lush 18-acre campus of the Horace Mann School.  The walk from the station is short, but it traverses worlds.

14-Year-Old Talk Show Host — Homosexuality is ‘Perverted’ Choice  —  14-YEAR-OLD TALK SHOW HOST  —  Gays Choose Perversion  —  No Matter What Gaga Says  —  You gotta laugh just a little watching a 14-year-old radio talk show host blast homosexuality as a choice people make — regardless of what Lady Gaga says.

Obama's Third-Party History  —  On the evening of January 11, 1996, while Mitt Romney was in the final years of his run as the head of Bain Capital, Barack Obama formally joined the New Party, which was deeply hostile to the mainstream of the Democratic party and even to American capitalism.

Romney: Obama slowed recovery to push Obamacare  —  In an appearance in Texas Wednesday, Mitt Romney charged that President Obama “knowingly slowed down the recovery in this country...in order to put in place Obamacare.”  The president's action, Romney said, “deserves a lot of explaining.”