Remembering Alexander Bickel's passive virtues and the Hobby Lobby cases  —  In the Hobby Lobby cases, five male Justices of the Supreme Court, who are all members of the Catholic faith and who each were appointed by a President who hailed from the Republican party, decided that a huge corporation …

Obamacare's next threat: A September surprise  —  Obamacare open enrollment closed March 31.  The White House's Obamacare war room did not.  —  Most state health insurance rates for 2015 are scheduled to be approved by early fall, and most are likely to rise, timing that couldn't be worse …

Sarah Palin On Hillary Clinton, Advice for ‘The View’ and Her Latest TV Show (Exclusive)  —  As Sportsman Channel orders a second season of her “Amazing America,” the GOP star offers her thoughts on the firings at daytime talker, Clinton's new book and our “incorrigibly disastrous” political system.

No one is reading ‘Hard Choices,’ either.  —  By now, the poor sales of Hillary Clinton's new book “Hard Choices” are well-documented.  (Relatively poor, we will add, given the complex topography of bookselling.)  —  But another metric came to our attention this weekend which allows us …

The Republican Party After the Apocalypse  —  Chill pills for the crazy party.  —  Last week, Marco Rubio delivered a speech outlining his economic agenda, and it was widely hailed as the cutting-edge statement of “reform conservatism,” an intra-Republican movement that is also the subject …

It's time for progressives to reclaim the Constitution  —  You cannot talk for very long to a conservative these days without hearing the words “constitutional” and “constitutionalist.”  —  Formulations such as “I am a constitutional conservative” or “I am a constitutionalist” are tea party habits …

To Improve Accuracy, BBC Tells Its Reporters To Stop Giving Air Time To Climate Deniers  —  Celebrity scientist Bill Nye and CNN Crossfire host S.E. Cupp debate whether climate change exists.  These kinds of debates will be few and far between on the BBC under a new policy announced Thursday.

NEA Wants Duncan's Resignation  —  The nation's largest teachers' union wants Education Secretary Arne Duncan to quit.  —  Delegates of the National Education Association adopted a business item July 4 at its annual convention in Denver that called for his resignation.

Forget Red State, Blue State: Is Your State “Tight” or “Loose”?  —  A new theory about the cultures of different regions could go a long way toward explaining why the United States is so polarized.  —  It is obvious to anyone who has traveled around the United States that cultural assumptions, behaviors, and norms vary widely.

Conservative Delusions About Inflation  —  On Sunday The Times published an article by the political scientist Brendan Nyhan about a troubling aspect of the current American scene — the stark partisan divide over issues that should be simply factual, like whether the planet is warming or evolution happened.

Fourth of July weekend toll: 82 shot, 14 of them fatally, in Chicago  —  For 10 minutes, it seemed like the shooting was everywhere in the South Chicago neighborhood.  —  It started when someone shot and wounded a couple, then two people fired at the shooter, then there was a chase …

Inside President Obama's secret schedule Yahoo News 1 hr ago  —  On May 29, President Barack Obama had lunch at the White House with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  The likely 2016 presidential contender has been to hundreds of West Wing meetings, first as first lady, then as senator …

Why the White House Ignored All Those Warnings About ISIS  —  Team Obama was told, over and over, that the Iraqi army couldn't stop a terror group that was ready to pounce.  But Washington was a prisoner to its paradox of an Iraq policy.  —  On November 1, 2013, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited …

The Latest Snowden Leak Is Devastating to NSA Defenders  —  The agency collected and stored intimate chats, photos, and emails belonging to innocent Americans—and secured them so poorly that reporters can now browse them at will.  —  Consider the latest leak sourced to Edward Snowden from the perspective of his detractors.

TSA to make U.S.-bound flyers turn on phones  —  The TSA is requiring passengers flying to the U.S. from some overseas airports to power up their electronic devices before boarding — or risk having to leave their phones or tablets behind.  —  News reports have suggested the Department …