Obama's Speech on ISIS, in Plain English  —  Qua speech, Barack Obama's address Wednesday on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria was surprisingly terrible: a disorganized mess, insincere and unconvincing.  To appreciate just how bad and bizarre it was, compare the president's speech announcing …

Shedding Light on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC): Court Findings from Our 2007-2008 Case  —  Today we are pleased to announce the release of more than 1,500 pages of once-secret papers from Yahoo's 2007-2008 challenge to the expansion of U.S. surveillance laws.

Loose Lips: Hell hath no fury like a Palin family visit.  Campaigns gear up.  Mayor Dan grabs a Tiger by the tail.  —  About 65 people showed for the fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker and lt. gov. candidate Byron Mallott on Monday night.  It wasn't the usual Dem crowd.

New Michael Brown shooting witnesses describe scene  —  (CNN) — Two men, shocked at what they saw, describe an unarmed teenager with his hands up in the air as he's gunned down by a police officer.  —  They were contractors doing construction work in Ferguson, Missouri, on the day Michael Brown was killed.

Ray Rice told Goodell he hit fiancee  —  Ray Rice told NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on June 16 that he punched his then-fiancee in a casino elevator, four sources have told “Outside the Lines,” an assertion that contradicts Goodell's statement this week that “when we met with Ray Rice …

Stop the Anti-Obamacare Shenanigans  —  SO far, opponents of the Affordable Care Act have lost every major battle to repeal or invalidate it.  Some of them are now urging the courts to interpret the health reform law in a way that would guarantee its failure.

North Carolina Senate: Hagan (D) 45%, Tillis (R) 39%  —  Is Kay Hagan's “war on women” strategy beginning to pay off?  The embattled incumbent Democrat has now moved ahead of Republican challenger Thom Tillis in North Carolina's U.S. Senate race.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey …

U.S. seeks up to 16 months in prison for Dinesh D'Souza  —  (Reuters) - The U.S. government wants conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza to be sentenced to as much as 16 months in prison, following his guilty plea to a campaign finance law violation.

Kansas High Court Rejects Kobach's Request To Transfer Senate Case  —  The Kansas Supreme Court has decided to hear the lawsuit Democratic Senate nominee Chad Taylor has brought against Secretary of State Kris Kobach, after Kobach argued that the case should be transferred to a lower court.

Obama's New War on ISIS May Be Illegal  —  In a stunning turnaround, the Obama administration is arguing that a law authorizing a war on al Qaeda be used to justify strikes on al Qaeda's foes.  —  President Obama's new war against ISIS is off to a shaky legal start.

Arnold had Shriver scrubbed from portrait  —  He scrubbed her from his heart!  —  Arnold Schwarzenegger was so hot to erase any memory of his marriage to Maria Shriver that he had her face scrubbed from his official portrait as governor of California — and he didn't even care …

The Grand Strategy Obama Needs  —  Washington — The twin crises in Ukraine and the Middle East are perhaps the most serious President Obama has faced.  He has been spurred into action, but still hopes to balance his show of leadership with his own inclination to protect America from foreign engagements.

Judge strikes down Ohio law on election lies  —  A federal judge has struck down an Ohio state law that allows the government to regulate political falsehoods.  —  In a Thursday decision (posted here), U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black sided with the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List …

Oscar Pistorius Not Guilty of Murder; Still Faces Lesser Homicide Charge  —  PRETORIA, South Africa — The judge presiding over the trial of Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic athlete, cleared him of the two most serious murder charges against him on Thursday, almost certainly sparing him a long prison sentence.

Poll gives GOP 23-point lead in keeping US safe  —  The public thinks Republicans will do a better job keeping the U.S. safe by a wider margin than at any time since 2002, according to a Gallup poll.  —  The poll finds that 55 percent of adults think Republicans will do a better job protecting …

Georgia Secretary Of State Laments That Democrats Are Registering Minority Voters  —  Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R)  —  CREDIT: Office of the Secretary of State  —  A day after the Senior Deputy Whip for the Georgia Senate Republicans vowed to block early voting dates and locations …