GOP internal debate: Is party repeating mistakes of 1998?  —  BARACK OBAMA BILL CLINTON JOHN BOEHNER 2014 ELECTIONS  —  For anyone who was around, it's hard to compare 1998 — the year of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Starr Report, and Bill Clinton's impeachment — with any other year.

LAWMAKERS TRY TO SEAL $225M AID PACKAGE FOR ISRAEL  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic and Republican members of Congress scrambled Tuesday to seal a $225 million boost to Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system before they break this week for a month-long recess.

Inside the Kerry-Israel Meltdown  —  The secretary of state has been furiously working on a Mideast ceasefire, but his ad hoc efforts were dealt another blow Monday when Israel rejected his latest peacemaking plan.  —  On Monday, Secretary of State Kerry took to the podium at the State Department …

Why I Have Become Less Pro-Israel  —  A bad run for liberal Zionism.  —  A half-dozen years ago, I attended the first conference of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel organization, to debate the meaning of the term pro-Israel itself.  Pitted against Matthew Yglesias, I maintained that …

George Zimmerman ‘patrolling’ Central Florida shop after gun theft  —  Owner of Pompano Pat's in DeLand says Zimmerman not working for him  —  DeLAND, Fla. -  —  Although he's not a hired security officer, George Zimmerman has been “patrolling” outside a Volusia County gun shop …

Downscale  —  I recently had a conversation with an intensely conservative businessman whose first foray into politics was fighting for a tax hike on his business and others like it.  The little town where he lived as a young man had no paved roads, waterworks, or sewage facilities …

“You damned Polack, you step one foot out of that door and I'll kill you,” Dowlut said the cop growled as he patted his gun. … The Webley Mark VI revolver that police said Dowlut dug up in the South Bend City Cemetery Indiana Supreme Court … Dowlut was already known to police …

A NYT Lede That Duplicates Wikipedia  —  Exhibit A is the fourth paragraph from the biography section of Wikipedia's entry for Italian Renaissance painter Piero di Cosimo (all underlining is ours):  —  During his lifetime, Cosimo acquired a reputation for eccentricity …

McDonald's: Regulator Says It's a ‘Joint Employer’  —  McDonald's says it has been notified by a labor regulator that it can be named a “joint employer” for workers in its franchisee-owned restaurants.  —  The decision by the National Labor Relations Board was being closely watched …

Appeals Court Strikes Down Law, Saves Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic  —  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal appeals court panel has ruled that a Mississippi law that would close the state's only abortion clinic is unconstitutional.  —  The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court …

Break up the states!  The case for the United Statelets of America  —  Here's how Wyoming, Vermont and North Dakota are exercising tyranny over the rest of us — and how to stop them  —  A ballot initiative that would support breaking California into six smaller and more coherent states …

No Labels, no respect: The bipartisan “solutions” group embodies the worst of D.C.  —  No Labels is raising money largely for itself, and its attempts to break gridlock are silly and self-defeating  —  No Labels was once the embodiment of a dream.  It was the dream of a bunch of wealthy …

Judge puts D.C. handgun ruling on hold  —  A federal judge on Tuesday put on hold his decision invalidating the District's long-standing ban on carrying handguns in public places.  —  The judge's stay, in effect for 90 days, gives city officials and D.C. police officers some breathing room …

Obama Thanks Muslims for ‘Building the Very Fabric of Our Nation’  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News)- As Ramadan came to a close, President Obama thanked the Muslim community “for its many achievements and contributions” and “building the very fabric of our nation” and “strengthening the core of our democracy.”

Tunnels Lead Right to the Heart of Israeli Fear  —  NEAR THE ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER — The curved concrete top of the tunnel grazes the dark-brown buzz cut of Lt. Col. Oshik Azulai, putting it 5 feet and 7 inches above the sand floor.  The walls are about 30 inches apart …