President Pushover  —  Updated: Drew article now available.  —  The redoubtable Elizabeth Drew has a forthcoming article in the New York Review of Books — that confirms all our worst fears.  She tells us that past concessions have … Even more alarming, however, is her window on what the White House is thinking:

Make Way for the Radical Center  —  DID I mention that I've signed a pledge — just like those Republican congressmen who have signed written promises to different political enforcers not to raise taxes or permit same-sex marriage?  My pledge is to never vote for anyone stupid enough to sign a pledge …

Police Say Oslo Suspect Admits ‘Facts’ in Massacre  —  OSLO — The Norwegian man charged with attacks in and near Oslo, killing over 90 people, has admitted “to the facts” of the case, the police and his lawyer said on Sunday, and claims to have acted alone in a strike eerily foretold …

Taliban hang 8-year-old boy in southern Afghanistan  —  KABUL (BNO NEWS) — Suspected members of the Taliban on Friday hung the 8-year-old son of a local police commander in southern Afghanistan after ordering his father to surrender, according to a news report on Saturday.

Once-patient markets now nervous about debt talks  —  NEW YORK - Global markets were poised on a knife's edge Sunday as Washington remained locked in partisan battle over raising the nation's debt ceiling, with no final deal in sight.  —  High level administration officials wanted a deal …

Republicans, Zealots and Our Security  —  IF China or Iran threatened our national credit rating and tried to drive up our interest rates, or if they sought to damage our education system, we would erupt in outrage.  —  Well, wake up to the national security threat.

The 14th Amendment, the Debt Ceiling and a Way Out  —  WASHINGTON — A few days ago, former President Bill Clinton identified a constitutional escape hatch should President Obama and Congress fail to come to terms on a deficit reduction plan before the government hits its borrowing ceiling.

Same-sex couples rush to say ‘I do’  —  NIAGARA FALLS — At the very moment the state extended the right to marry to same-sex couples, Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd — surrounded by hundreds of friends and well-wishers in a historic ceremony against the backdrop of the rainbow-lit Falls — said, “I do.”