US elections: Hillary Clinton ‘about to drop out’  —  Senator Hillary Clinton has referred to the next president as “he”, a slip that has fuelled speculation that she is on the verge of dropping out of the race for the White House.  —  As the former First Lady met voters at three events in West Virginia …

GOP's New Slogan Already Being Used To Market Anti-Depressant  —  In today's New York Times' Caucus blog, Carl Hulse reports that House Republicans have got themselves a brand-new slogan: … What the GOP doesn't seem to realize, because they are idiots, is that “the change you deserve” …

Republicans “Sore” At Obama's Metahpor  —  Obama almost had them.  All the way the end of his interview with the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, the probable Democratic nominee-in-waiting chose a metaphor to describe the effect of the perception of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The [Annotated] McCain Climate Speech  —  Senator John McCain used a visit to Vestas, a manufacturer of wind turbines in Portland, Ore., as a backdrop for a speech describing his views on human-caused climate change and what to do about it.  I'm immersed in unrelated reporting at the moment …

Obama on McCain speech: ‘Breathtaking,’ not in a good way  —  What Obama needs: More arguments on issues with John McCain, fewer interviews with West Virginians.  —  To that end, he responded to McCain's speech on the environment just now, hitting McCain on that long Senate record we're going to learn a lot about this year:

Charges dropped against ‘20th’ hijacker  —  U.S. officials have said Saudi was subjected to harsh treatment  —  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called “20th hijacker” in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday.

Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause  —  Danielle Ross was alone in an empty room at the Obama campaign headquarters in Kokomo, Ind., a cellphone in one hand, a voter call list in the other.  She was stretched out on the carpeted floor wearing laceless sky-blue Converses, stories from the trail on her mind.

Johnson Switches Sides Again, Endorses Obama  —  Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson, a Democratic convention delegate pledged to support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said yesterday that he thinks Sen. Barack Obama has “in a real sense” won the Democratic nomination and that he now plans …

Legal but Controversial, It Helped Get Out the Vote  —  In the threadbare border towns of South Texas, one of the country's poorest regions, enterprising locals like Candelaria Espinoza have long been paid to round up votes for candidates on Election Day.  There is even a name for these electoral soldiers of fortune: politiqueras.

In Pictures: Patrolling the Shorja Market with the Sons of Iraq  —  Click image to view slideshow of a night patrol through Shorja Market.  Photos by Bill Ardolino.  —  Last Friday, soldiers from the 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division conducted …

Obama Disses Boomers Who Opposed Vietnam War  —  Barack Obama the unity candidate?  Please.  Via Politico, here's Barack Obama stumping in West Virginia today: … Politico says: … In other words, Obama intends to battle the war-hero McCain by throwing us under the bus.  [More...]

Marine Corps meets 142 percent of recruiting goal  —  The Marine Corps far surpassed its recruiting goal last month and could eventually be more than a year ahead of schedule in its plan to grow the force to 202,000 members.  —  All military services met or exceeded their monthly recruiting goals in April …

Southland Development Invests in State Place  —  The unsold units in State Place condominium development have a new owner, and soon it will have new amenities and even a new neighbor.  —  Two vacancies in the western divisions of two state appeals courts have drawn a lot of interest from attorneys and judges in West Tennessee.