Hillary Clinton backs Obama on Syria  —  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backs President Barack Obama's move to urge Congress to back a targeted effort in Syria, in the first comments from her camp since the president unveiled his plan, POLITICO has learned.

The Senate's Syria hearing: Live updates  —  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is hearing testimony Tuesday about the potential use of military force in Syria.  Testifying are Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.

LEADER CANTOR STATEMENT ON SYRIA AND REGIONAL CONFLICT  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor today released the following statement on Syria and the regional conflict following his meeting with President Obama at the White House:

Public Opinion Runs Against Syrian Airstrikes  —  Few See U.S. Military Action Discouraging Chemical Weapons Use  —  President Obama faces an uphill battle in making the case for U.S. military action in Syria.  By a 48% to 29% margin, more Americans oppose than support conducting military airstrikes …

McConnell offers no support for military strike against Syria  —  In a stark contrast with GOP leaders in the House, McConnell voiced skepticism about a strike and said Obama needed to explain more to Congress and the public.  —  “While we are learning more about his plans …

The ‘Mysterious’ Disappearance of a Quotation Has a Mundane Explanation  —  Was a quote about a pro-Israel group mysteriously scrubbed from a New York Times story?  A number of online commenters, in blog posts and on Twitter, wrote Tuesday that a quote calling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee …

Miley Cyrus, Steubenville and teen culture run amok  —  Miley Cyrus twerked.  I had to look up the word since my indefatigable spell checker had no idea what I meant.  I discovered from Wikipedia that twerking “involves a person, usually a woman, shaking her hips in an up-and-down bouncing motion …

Release Detail  —  September 3, 2013 - De Blasio Surges Past 40% In New York City Mayoral Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Quinn, Thompson Battle For Runoff Spot - If There Is One  —  With 47 percent of black voters and 44 percent of women voters, New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio surges …

Bradley rules out running for statewide office next year  —  Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley tells WMUR-TV that he will not run for statewide office in 2014, a significant blow to state Republicans who nearly took it for granted that Bradley would run for either governor or U.S. Senate next year.

Who Do Members of Congress Follow on Twitter?  —  Twitter has become such an integral medium for political communication that, according to our count, 97 percent of members of Congress now have an official Twitter presence.  But Twitter is a two-way street — you spread your message, and you listen to what others have to say.

What's Killing Poor White Women?  —  On the night of May 23, 2012, which turned out to be the last of her life, Crystal Wilson baby-sat her infant granddaughter, Kelly.  It was how she would have preferred to spend every night.  Crystal had joined Facebook the previous year …

Smackdown: Governors Take The Battle Over Business Public  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) are in what may be the most heated spat between one governor trying to poach companies from the other governor's state.  —  In the last week of August …

Android KitKat unveiled in Google surprise move  —  Nestle plans to sell more than 50 million chocolate bars featuring the Android mascot  —  Google is calling the next version of its mobile operating system Android KitKat.  —  The news comes as a surprise as the firm had previously indicated version 4.4 …

Pelosi Huddles with 5-Year-Old Grandson on Syria  —  Nancy Pelosi told reporters today she consulted her five-year-old grandson over the weekend about whether or not to support intervention in Syria.  —  The minority leader explained that when she was home this past weekend …

NY CASE PUTS N-WORD USE AMONG BLACKS ON TRIAL … NEW YORK (AP) — A federal jury has rejected the argument that use of the N-word among blacks can be a culturally acceptable term of love and endearment, deciding its use in the workplace is hostile and discriminatory no matter what.

Southern Baptists order their military chaplains not to perform same sex marriages  —  The North American Mission Board, the domestic arm of the Southern Baptist Convention's mission outreach programs, has issued guidelines ordering the religion's military chaplains not to perform, attend or participate in same sex weddings in any way.