The Big Hate  —  Back in April, there was a huge fuss over an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security warning that current conditions resemble those in the early 1990s — a time marked by an upsurge of right-wing extremism that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Obama Gives Up on Resettling Cleared Guantanamo Detainees in U.S., Officials Say  —  Administration Gives Up on Bringing Cleared Inmates to U.S., Officials Say  —  The Obama administration has all but abandoned plans to allow Guantanamo Bay detainees who have been cleared for release to live …

Oh my: NOW inducts Letterman into its “Media Hall of Shame”  —  Credit where credit's due. … People on Twitter are grumbling about that last paragraph but (a) given how peeved the sisterhood will be that they're defending Palin, surely you won't begrudge NOW some sort of ass-covering knock …

Has Kent Conrad Solved the Public Plan Problem?  An Interview.  —  (Earlier today, Sen. Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, introduced a “potential compromise” on the public plan: A system of federally-chartered co-ops that could offer …

What's behind Obama's sudden attempt to fire the AmeriCorps inspector general?  —  Some strange and potentially suspicious events tonight concerning the Obama White House and the AmeriCorps program.  I've been told that on Wednesday night the AmeriCorps inspector general, Gerald Walpin …

Barack Obama Surveys the World  —  “And the Spirit of God hovered upon the face of the waters”  —  When President Obama returned from his first European trip, I observed that while over there he had been “acting the philosopher-king who hovers above the fray mediating” between America and the world.

Lebanon's Triumph, Iran's Travesty  —  WITH elections in Lebanon and Iran occurring in the same week, it's inevitable that they are viewed as twin tests of efforts to spread democracy to the Muslim world.  Should we celebrate the outcome in Lebanon and push for elections throughout the Middle East …

Senators who opposed tobacco bill received top dollar from industry  —  WASHINGTON — Among the 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco are some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry …

Andrew Breitbart: Holocaust Museum Killer Was a ‘Multiculturalist’  —  Former Drudge alter ego Andrew Breitbart thinks James von Brunn was a “multiculturalist just like the black studies and the lesbian studies majors on college campuses.”  How do we know?  He left us an enraged voicemail!

Blaming the Guy Who Came Before Doesn't Work Long  —  WASHINGTON — As President Obama struggles to turn around the moribund economy and confront multiple international issues, he wastes few opportunities to remind the country that the problems are not of his making.

Delay the Minimum-Wage Hike  —  A recession is the worst time to raise the cost of low-skilled employment.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Despite severe economic difficulties confronting businesses, and soaring unemployment among youths and minorities, the federal minimum wage is slated to increase to $7.25 in July from $6.55 today.

Tax Man's Target: The Mobile Phone  —  The use of company-issued mobile phones could trigger new federal income taxes on millions of Americans as a “fringe benefit.”  —  The Internal Revenue Service proposed employers assign 25% of an employee's annual phone expenses as a taxable benefit.

Dems brace for CBO score  —  Senate Democrats are bracing for what they expect will be a huge price tag connected with revamping the nation's healthcare system.  —  The soon-to-be-delivered estimate on Democratic healthcare reform proposals is expected to be so expensive that lawmakers …

Boehner: ‘Digging Ourselves Out of a Deep Hole’  —  House GOP leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, invited me to his “smoke-filled room” in the Capitol this  —  afternoon.  —  Offering me a Diet Coke and pulling out a Camel 99 for himself, he spent the next

A Town Hall, and a Health Care Model, in Green Bay  —  The President just concluded a town hall at Southwest High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with a focus on one of the President's top priorities for his entire presidency.  Over the past two weeks, the President has spelled out his vision …