Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security chief, to head UC  —  U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is being named the next president of the 10-campus UC system.  (Alex Wong / Getty Images / July 18, 2012)  —  Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona …

Statement by Edward Snowden to human rights groups at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport  —  Edward Joseph Snowden delivered a statement to human rights organizations and individuals at Sheremetyevo airport at 5pm Moscow time today, Friday 12th July.  The meeting lasted 45 minutes.

This, Courtesy of MSNBC, Is Trayvon Martin's Dead Body.  Get Angry.  —  A reader of mine sent me this photo last night.  As the murder trial of George Zimmerman wheezes to its conclusion, the TV networks dutifully pipe in live pool video from the courtroom, as if it is force-fed …

Pass the Bill!  —  It's beginning to look as though we're not going to get an immigration reform law this year.  House Republicans are moving in a direction that will probably be unacceptable to the Senate majority and the White House.  Conservative commentators like my friends Bill Kristol …

Why I Think the GOP Will Have Control in 2017  —  My assertion that there's a 70% chance that the GOP controls White House, Senate, and House in 2017 has attracted a lot of pushback.  And it's certainly possible that I'm wrong!  Here's my thinking, for what it's worth:

Iowa Supreme Court: It's OK To Fire A Woman For Being Too Attractive  —  Joseph Diebold is an intern with ThinkProgress.  —  Standing by a December decision, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that a male dentist who fired a female assistant because she was too attractive and threatened his marriage did not commit sex discrimination.

Concerning “Libertarian Populism”  —  Like any political tradition associated with the defense of privilege, American conservatism has been the object of many efforts to give it a popularizing makeover.  There was the “Modern Republicanism” of the Eisenhower era, which was a useful device …

Coming to Do Good, Staying to Do Well  —  For 20 years, since the weekend of Bill Clinton's first inauguration, I have rented against all financial prudence an apartment in Washington, D.C. even though I really live in Manhattan.  So, at least in a real-estate sense, I can rightfully claim …

Bob McDonnell's stunning fall from grace  —  In 2010, the political world pegged Bob McDonnell as a president in the making.  Last year, they put him on every VP list.  As recently as May, they called the popular Virginia governor a political model for his would-be successors in Richmond, Democrat and Republican alike.

New front opens in Syria as rebels say al Qaeda attack means war  —  (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said on Friday the assassination of one of their top commanders by al Qaeda-linked militants was tantamount to a declaration of war, opening a new front for the Western-backed fighters struggling against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

It's the real Texans who count  —  Editor's note: Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas Senate in 2008 and lives in Fort Worth.  —  (CNN) — I stood up and began talking on the floor of the Texas State Senate not long ago because I hoped the Republicans in power …

Another IRS Scandal Waiting to Happen  —  Federal Elections Commissioner Donald McGahn wants to rein in the bureaucracy of this sensitive agency.  The political left is furious.  —  The Obama administration claims it wants to ensure that the rank political abuse perpetrated by the Internal Revenue Service is never repeated.