Will Chelsea Clinton's Pregnancy Become Another Right Wing Conspiracy?  UPDATED  —  It's a plot!  —  On Thursday, Chelsea Clinton made the happy announcement that she was with child: … That's wonderful news.  My niece's baby girl Millie just celebrated her first birthday and my sister …

Vladimir Putin must be called to account on surveillance just like Obama  —  I questioned the Russian president live on TV to get his answer on the record, not to whitewash him  —  On Thursday, I questioned Russia's involvement in mass surveillance on live television.

‘Ridiculous’: Administration punts on Keystone, Obama faces Dem revolt  —  FILE: February 17, 2012: Protestors rallied in front of the Lamar County courthouse before a hearing on the Keystone pipeline in Paris, Texas.REUTERS  —  The Obama administration once again has punted on a final decision …

Deadbeat on the Range  —  Imagine a vendor on the National Mall, selling burgers and dogs, who hasn't paid his rent in 20 years.  He refuses to recognize his landlord, the National Park Service, as a legitimate authority.  Every court has ruled against him, and fines have piled up.

Obama Is Wrong.  Democrats Shouldn't Pivot From the Obamacare Fight.  —  The obvious inspiration for President Obama's Thursday press conference was to announce that the Affordable Care Act has eclipsed new milestones—8 million private exchange enrollees the most significant among them.

Princeton Study: U.S. No Longer An Actual Democracy  —  A new study from Princeton spells bad news for American democracy—namely, that it no longer exists.  —  Asking “[w]ho really rules?” researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that over the past few decades America's political system …

This Wily Gatecrasher at the White House Is a Red Fox  —  Elusive Fox Marked His Territory During Government Shutdown; Rose Garden Stroll  —  There's a red fox living on the grounds of the White House.  The elusive critter has called the presidential residence home since last fall, and no one's been able to catch him.

Iran Gets an Unlikely Visitor, an American Plane, but No One Seems to Know Why  —  President Obama has warned that Iran is not open for business, even as the United States has loosened some of its punishing economic sanctions as part of an interim nuclear pact.

This Unsent Shade-Filled Letter From Clinton Staffers To A '90s Radio Host Is A Goddamn Masterpiece  —  A gem of a letter to Don Imus from the latest Clinton library document dump.

Why atheism doesn't have the upper hand over religion  —  There are certain experiences that atheism simply cannot explain  —  I  —  n my last column, I examined some of the challenges facing religion today.  Those challenges are serious.  But that doesn't mean that atheism has the upper hand.

Peoria Mayor Sends Police to Track Down Twitter Parodist  —  Politicians can be a thin-skinned bunch.  You'd think they'd let insults roll off their backs given how much power they have over the lives and livelihoods of others.  But if you have all that power, why bother letting insults roll …

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch on Obamacare's election toll: It'll bury Dems  —  Dem sees Obamacare crisis  —  Video of U.S. Rep Stephen Lynch talks ObamaCare on Boston Herald Radio  —  By:  —  U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, the lone member of the Bay State delegation to vote against Obama­care four years ago …

Major Clinton doc dump set for afternoon  —  Get ready for the biggest batch of Clinton files yet.  —  The Clinton Library in Little Rock, Ark. is set to release 7,500 pages Friday at 1 p.m., according to the National Archives — nearly as many as the 10,000 pages total that have been released in three previous installments.

Salvation Gets Cheap  —  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which pools the efforts of scientists around the globe, has begun releasing draft chapters from its latest assessment, and, for the most part, the reading is as grim as you might expect.  We are still on the road to catastrophe without major policy changes.

U.S. ground troops going to Poland, defense minister says  —  Poland and the United States will announce next week the deployment of U.S. ground forces to Poland as part of an expansion of NATO presence in Central and Eastern Europe in response to events in Ukraine.