Bill Clinton rips left in Arkansas race  —  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former President Bill Clinton returned to his home state Friday to help a beleaguered ally and delivered a broadside against some of the most powerful interests in the Democratic Party.  —  Using unusually vivid language …

Pathetic: BP Buses in Temps for Obama Photo Op  —  Maybe the alternate photo caption should read something like “I can see the end of my presidency from here.”  Well, we all figured this would be a carefully choreographed photo op for the current occupant of the White House …

Glenn Beck smears Obama's 11-year-old daughter  —  Glenn Beck, who repeatedly and angrily tells his alleged persecutors to “leave the families alone,” spent a good chunk of his radio program this morning mocking and attacking the intelligence of President Obama's 11-year-old daughter, Malia.

Swedish Murder Rate  —  This Foreign Policy article on Steig Larsson and the decline of the Swedish utopia concludes with what seems to me to be a whopper of a factual error: … In fact, there are 9.3 million people in Sweden and only 600,000 in Sweden.  In other words, Sweden …

Scientists Build Case for Undersea Plumes  —  IN THE GULF OF MEXICO — The ocean caught fire.  —  As it blazed, a dense column of black smoke rose toward the sky.  Oily water, the color of strong tea, slopped up the sides of boats.  The breeze carried an acrid smell, like gasoline fumes.

Gary Coleman dies at age 42  —  Gary Coleman, the child star of the TV sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, died Friday after suffering an intercranial hemorrhage.  He was 42.  —  Utah Valley Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Janet Frank says life support was terminated and Coleman died at 12:05 p.m.

Joe McGinniss talks about why he moved in next to Sarah Palin  —  When a source told Joe McGinniss that he could rent the house next to Sarah Palin's Wasilla, Alaska, home, the author was sold.  —  A room at the Best Western, not far away, would have been prohibitively expensive.

Remarks by the President After Briefing on BP Oil Spill  —  THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody.  I know it's a little warm out here so want to get started.  I've just had a meeting with these governors, members of Congress, local officials, as well as Admiral Thad Allen …

Give Them Something They Can Feel  —  There are many things at which the president is extraordinarily gifted.  Emoting isn't one of them.  —  Thursday, in the opening remarks of his press conference, the president said: “Every day I see this leak continue I am angry and frustrated.”

Blagojevich trial delay request denied  —  Corruption trial of former governor set to open Thursday  —  WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens refused Friday to delay the trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, scheduled to begin Thursday.  —  Stevens, who handles emergency appeals …

Workers at 3 medical marijuana businesses in Oakland unionize  —  About 100 new members join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.  It is another step in a campaign to bring legitimacy to the emerging industry and boost a marijuana-legalization initiative.

Obama Gets Lesson on Tar Balls  —  President Barack Obama visited Fourchon Beach in Louisiana Friday to view the environmental impact of the BP PLC oil gusher in the Gulf.  —  Touring the beach with the parish president, Charlotte Randolph, and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen …

House passes defense policy bill  —  The House on Friday passed its version of the defense policy bill for fiscal 2011, drawing a new veto threat from President Barack Obama, even though the legislation includes language that would allow the Pentagon to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Friday Thought: Has The Tea Party Done Anything For The GOP?  —  With the exception of Scott Brown's miraculous Senate race victory in Massachusetts — and even there, one can question the premise — has the Tea Party movement really done anything to help the Republican Party this cycle?

Rand Paul Endorses Obviously Unconstitutional Plan To End Birthright Citizenship  —  Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul is best known for radical anti-government views that lead him to oppose the federal ban on whites-only lunch counters, while claiming that governmental criticism of BP is “un-American.”