Obama Administration Responds To Rand Paul On Drones  —  The U.S. government cannot target an American citizen who is not engaged in combat on American soil, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Thursday during his daily press briefing.  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) …

Yup, Samira probably sent those tweets  —  The row over Samira Ibrahim's tweets (written up by my fellow blogger Marc) is raging.  Mainstream US journalists are now beginning to cover the story, and Jeffery Goldberg has written that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum raised concerns …

Sen. Levin won't seek re-election in 2014  —  Washington (CNN) - Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, 78, announced Thursday that he will not run for a seventh term in 2014.  —  Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called it an “extremely difficult” decision and stated …

The Good, Racist People  —  Last month the actor Forest Whitaker was stopped in a Manhattan delicatessen by an employee.  Whitaker is one of the pre-eminent actors of his generation, with a diverse and celebrated catalog ranging from “The Great Debaters” to “The Crying Game” to “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.”

It's time to overturn DOMA  —  In 1996, I signed the Defense of Marriage Act.  Although that was only 17 years ago, it was a very different time.  In no state in the union was same-sex marriage recognized, much less available as a legal right, but some were moving in that direction.

Homeland Chair: Osama bin Laden's Son-in-Law ‘Cooperating’  —  Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, has been “cooperating” and has already revealed “key intelligence” about the current status, personnel and finances of al Qaeda even before he was secretly spirited to New York City, U.S. officials told ABC News today.

How Disney Bought Lucasfilm—and Its Plans for ‘Star Wars’  —  One weekend last October, Robert Iger, chief executive officer of Walt Disney (DIS), sat through all six Star Wars films.  He'd seen them before, of course.  This time, he took notes.  Disney was in secret negotiations to acquire Lucasfilm …

New York National Rifle Association official barred from carrying a gun  —  An order of protection stemming from a domestic disturbance at his Long Island home in 2010 prevents Richard D'Alauro, the NRA's field representative for the city and its suburbs, from carrying the weapons.

Lisa Madigan moves toward run in Illinois  —  Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan spoke with several of the nation's top progressive groups during a visit to Washington D.C. last week, further fueling expectations that the popular Democrat will run for governor in 2014.

The War On Entitlements  —  The debate over reform of Social Security and Medicare is taking place in a vacuum, without adequate consideration of fundamental facts.  —  These facts include the following: Two-thirds of Americans who are over the age of 65 depend on an average annual Social Security benefit …