Barack Obama furious at General Stanley McChrystal speech on Afghanistan  —  The relationship between President Barack Obama and the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan has been put under severe strain by Gen Stanley McChrystal's comments on strategy for the war.

Waitrose dumps Fox after Obama attack  —  His last-minute Olympic sprint to back Chicago may have come to nothing, the Afghan quagmire may be bubbling away and Sarah Palin may be topping the bestseller list, but Barack Obama can at least take comfort from the fact that Britain's most upmarket supermarket chain is on his side.

GOP leaders to Steele: Back off  —  GOP leaders, in a private meeting last month, delivered a blunt and at times heated message to RNC Chairman Michael Steele: quit meddling in policy.  —  The plea was made during what was supposed to be a routine discussion about polling matters …

Obama quietly tries to shore up Senate support for public option  —  The president has backed off from vocally supporting the idea of government-run healthcare, but he's working to build a coalition of supporters.  The challenge: Find a version that can pass.

The Politics of Spite  —  There was what President Obama likes to call a teachable moment last week, when the International Olympic Committee rejected Chicago's bid to be host of the 2016 Summer Games.  —  “Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard …

Obama's Meeting With the Dalai Lama Is Delayed  —  In an attempt to gain favor with China, the United States pressured Tibetan representatives to postpone a meeting between the Dalai Lama and President Obama until after Obama's summit with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, scheduled for next month …

Associate Producer of Polanski Documentary Spams This Blog With Multiple Anonymous Comments Attacking Me?  —  That's certainly what the evidence suggests to me.  Looks like I touched a nerve, huh?  —  Tonight the following comment started to appear on every single post I have written about Roman Polanski.

National Security Adviser: Obama won't lift gay ban until Iraq and Afghan wars finished - and even then, if there are more wars...  Apparently, General Jones would have us believe that President Obama wasn't aware that we were fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when he promised to lift …

Roubini Says Stocks Have Risen ‘Too Soon, Too Fast’  —  Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) — New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini, who predicted the financial crisis, said stock and commodity markets may drop in coming months as the gradual pace of the economic recovery disappoints investors.

Obama's Copenhagen trip wasn't cheap  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's failed bid to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago cost more than a bruised ego.  —  Taxpayers shelled out probably $1 million or more for the president, his wife and others to fly to Copenhagen and back to woo members …

Some thoughts on seeing “Capitalism: A Love Story.”  —  Here's the scene in the lobby at the Sundance Theater as we arrived for the 4:35 showing of Michael Moore's new movie:  —  “Dump ¢apitali$m/Join the Socialists.”  And, indeed, the movie was a big promotion of socialism.

New Yorker Rewrites Economic History  —  People following the financial meltdown would be surprised to read in the New Yorker's profile of National Economic Council Chairman Larry Summers that: “the banks with combined commercial and investment operations fared the best.”  Yeah, Citigroup is doing just great.

Inequality as Usual  —  Not long ago, liberals were insisting that income inequality was America's most serious economic problem.  —  Now there are more immediate crises: A 9.8 percent unemployment rate, a yawning budget deficit.  But the inequality issue hasn't gone away.

GOP senators: US, not Israel, should attack Iran ‘if necessary’  —  Two senior Republican senators say the United States, and not Israel, should attack Iran if military action becomes “necessary.”  —  They also say a simple strike at the country's nuclear capability wouldn't be enough …