White House defends position on Israel, Iran  —  Defense comes amid GOP criticism that Obama minimized Iran threat, downgraded Israel's status as close US ally in interview.  —  WASHINGTON - The White House defended itself Monday from GOP criticism that US President Barack Obama …

Romney Doesn't Understand Why You Can't Roll Down Windows On A Plane … On Monday, Mitt Romney offered a remedy to the problem that caused his wife's airplane to land prematurely last week: Allow passengers to roll down the airplane windows.  —  Ann Romney's plane was grounded Friday after the main cabin filled with smoke.

Veterans retreating from Barack Obama  —  President Barack Obama is trying hard to win veterans, but it looks like they'd prefer a new commander in chief.  —  The Obama campaign had been hoping that veterans and their families — especially among the post-Sept. 11 generation that served …

Obama offers himself up as ‘eye candy’ on ‘The View’  —  * President aims to connect with women, a key voting block  —  * Obama says problems in economy won't be solved overnight  —  President Barack Obama on Monday sought to woo women voters at a taping of the daytime talk show “The View …

Christie on Romney: If Election Were Tomorrow ‘That Would Be a Problem’  —  Photograph by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images  —  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses the 2012 Republican National Convention.  —  Republican Mitt Romney has been forced to take a more aggressive tack …

Hillary Clinton Aide Tells Reporter To “F**k Off” And “Have A Good Life”  —  As the State Department's story about what happened in Benghazi crumbles, Clinton's personal spokesperson, Philippe Reines, loses his temper.  “Have a good day.  And by good day I mean F**k Off.”  —  Clinton and Reines in China in 2010.

Conservatives Embrace Alternate Polling Reality  —  Dean Chambers, founder of unskewedpolls.com, has reweighted national polling data based on Rasmussen partisan trends.  His results give Romney a wide lead.  —  Via: unskewedpolls.com  —  Republicans have taken their complaints …

Ancient (and Modern) Ignorance  —  I suppose the thing I most enjoy about religion commentary in the New York Times is the serenity of its ignorance.  All sorts of NYT writers just say stuff about religion, without much caring whether any of it is true.  A lovely recent example is this column …

State Rep. Mike Horner resigns after being linked to brothel in Orange County  —  TALLAHASSEE — State Rep. Mike Horner, a Republican from Kissimmee, has abruptly resigned his seat in the Florida House following reports linking his name to a prostitution investigation in Central Florida.

‘Top-Two’ Election Change in California Upends Races  —  PLEASANTON, Calif. — Running against the Vietnam War, Representative Pete Stark entered Congress the year Richard M. Nixon was re-elected president.  Since then, ensconced in Democratic strongholds here in the Bay Area, Mr. Stark was easily re-elected 19 times.

No, Elizabeth Warren Did Not Engage in the Unauthorized Practice of Law  —  At Legal In.sur.rec.tion, Professor Jacobson contends that Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Senate candidate, liberal firebrand, and Harvard law professor, has engaged or appears to have engaged in the unauthorized practice …

The Statistical State of the Presidential Race  —  With fewer than 45 days left in the presidential campaign, it's no longer a cliché to say that every week counts.  And there are a few polling-related themes we'll be watching especially closely this week.

Todd Akin: Constituents Who Want My Attention Should ‘Write Me A Decent Check’  —  Rep. Todd Akin's (R-MO) Senate campaign has struggled to rebound after his claim that women could not get pregnant from “legitimate rape” led to a drop in fundraising and GOP establishment support.

Mitt Romney's transition efforts intensifying  —  Mitt Romney's campaign may be struggling, but his transition operation is moving full steam ahead.  —  The GOP presidential candidate's Washington team is intensifying its efforts, moving into official office space and holding meetings on Capitol Hill.

Checking in on Financial Crises Recoveries  —  Seeing that it has been a year since the update to Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff's great work on financial crises, I thought it would be a good idea to check in on how the U.S. is doing relative to these other historical crises.