John McCain: Getting Back To Maverick, With An Eye On Retirement  —  WASHINGTON — Last August, a few minutes before GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took the stage at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., I was hurrying down a flight of stairs to get to the floor to watch.

How the GOP forced President Obama's hand  —  President Barack Obama used to want a grand deficit deal because he philosophically believed it was best for the country, and politically believed it was best for him.  —  Now he needs it because he has no choice.

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.

Unemployment rate falls to lowest level since 2008  —  Hiring picked up in February, helping to bring the unemployment rate down to its lowest level since December 2008.  —  The U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in February, according to a Labor Department report released Friday.

The Scariest Climate Change Graph Just Got Scarier … Back in 1999, Penn State University climate scientist Michael Mann released the climate change movement's most potent symbol: The “hockey stick,” a line graph of global temperature over the last 1,500 years that shows an unmistakable …

Wonket Sexclusive: Totally Blameless Crime-Stopper James O'Keefe To Pay $100,000 To ACORN Criminal  —  James O'Keefe—the blonde bombshell who set the conservative world of hidden-camera YouTube movies ablaze—has just agreed to a $100,000 settlement to calm down the unjustly fired …

New Study Finds Firearms Laws Do Nothing to Prevent Homicides  —  That's the headline you should be seeing, but won't.  Instead, you will see headlines like this one, on CNN: “Study links gun laws and lower gun mortality.”  Or this one, from the Chicago Tribune: “States with strict gun laws found to have fewer shooting deaths.”

Noonan: The Anti-Confidence Man  —  Just when America needs a boost, we're stuck with Dr. Doom in the White House.  —  It's not a debt and deficit crisis, it's a jobs crisis.  The debt and the deficit are part of it, part of the general fear that we're on a long slide and can't turn it around.

Rand Paul Praises Horrendous Supreme Court Decision, Would Let Employers Ruthlessly Exploit Workers  —  Lochner v. New York is widely viewed as one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in American history.  It is taught in law schools, alongside decisions upholding segregation …

Juan Williams' plagiarism problem  —  EXCLUSIVE: Fox News pundit blames researcher for word-for-word similarities.  “Unacceptable,” says Hill editor  —  In a case of apparent plagiarism, Fox News pundit Juan Williams lifted — sometimes word for word — from a Center for American Progress report …

Priebus: GOP needs new strategy  —  He says party must look beyond early caucuses, primaries.  —  If the GOP is going to win presidential elections, candidates can't compete just in Iowa and the seven other early states, the party's national chairman said during a visit here Thursday.

Officials: Most NYC High School Grads Need Remedial Help Before Entering CUNY Community Colleges  —  NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — It's an education bombshell.  —  Nearly 80 percent of New York City high school graduates need to relearn basic skills before they can enter the City University's community college system.

Hagel arrives in Afghanistan on first trip as defense secretary  —  (CNN) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel arrived in Afghanistan on Friday night in his first visit as secretary of defense, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.  —  Hagel, in a message to ISAF pesonnel …

Samira Ibrahim Speaks  —  Yesterday, THE WEEKLY STANDARD first reported that the State Department was about to bestow an International Woman of Courage Award on an anti-Semite and 9/11 fan.  Egypt women's rights activist Samira Ibrahim had left a record on her Twitter feed of statements quoting Hitler …

Syrian Rebels In Jordan Trained In U.S.-Led Effort  —  Exclusive: UK and French instructors involved in US-led effort to strengthen secular elements in Syria's opposition, say sources  —  Western training of Syrian rebels is under way in Jordan in an effort to strengthen secular elements …

Markey who?  GOP: Poll ‘speaks volumes’ … Massachusetts GOP leaders say they are encouraged by a new UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll showing Democratic front-runner U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey remains largely unknown by most voters despite a 36-year career in Congress.