A Time for Choosing  —  To govern is to choose.  To vote is to choose.  To vote against John Boehner on the House floor this week in the biggest showdown of the current Congress is to choose to vote with Nancy Pelosi.  To vote against Boehner is to choose to support Barack Obama.

Credit hit worries Obama, Congress more than default  —  It's not the default that strikes the most fear in the White House and Congress these days.  It's the downgrade.  —  Even Republican leaders say the country can't go into default, and they'll do everything possible to raise the debt limit by Aug. 2.

Romney Leads Field of Announced GOP Candidates  —  Perry would be more competitive with Romney than Palin, Giuliani  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney is the leader for the GOP nomination among the current field of official candidates, supported by 27% of Republicans, compared with 18% for Michele Bachmann.

The Cult That Is Destroying America  —  Watching our system deal with the debt ceiling crisis — a wholly self-inflicted crisis, which may nonetheless have disastrous consequences — it's increasingly obvious that what we're looking at is the destructive influence of a cult that has really poisoned our political system.

Can't We Do This Right?  —  There is only one thing worse than Republicans and Democrats failing to agree to lift the debt ceiling, and that is lifting the debt ceiling without a well-thought-out plan and with hasty cuts totaling trillions of dollars over a decade.

Indicted Al-Shabaab Recruiter Continues Jihad on Facebook  —  Terror recruiter has 500+ Facebook friends, mostly Somali-American high school and college students.  —  As the House Homeland Security Committee prepares to hold hearings this week on the issue of radicalization in the Somali community …

U.S. officials believe al-Qaeda on brink of collapse  —  U.S. counterterrorism officials are increasingly convinced that the killing of Osama bin Laden and the toll of seven years of CIA drone strikes have pushed al-Qaeda to the brink of collapse.  —  The assessment reflects a widespread view …

Krauthammer: Bachmann is “unbelievably irresponsible” on debt ceiling  —  Charles Krauthammer, after being asked about Michele Bachmann's opposition to any plan that raises the debt ceiling.

The Guilty Parties  —  There's actually a simple way to resolve the debt ceiling crisis: non-crazy Republican leaders could support something like the Reid plan — which is, let's be clear, a huge victory for the right and defeat for progressives — and pass it with limited GOP support and overwhelming Democratic support.

ATF Manager says he shared Fast and Furious Info with White House  —  At a lengthy hearing on ATF's controversial gunwalking operation today, a key ATF manager told Congress he discussed the case with a White House National Security staffer as early as September 2010.

The next meltdown: Gas tax renewal  —  Looking beyond the horizon of the current insoluble legislative meltdown, a nervous Democrat pointed me yesterday to the next one: Most of the gas tax is set to expire on September 30.  —  An accountant's memo lists the taxes expiring that day, including:

Romney-McDonnell 2012?  —  Former Massachussets governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney was in Virginia Beach yesterday attending a fundraiser at the home of State Sen. Jeff McWaters.  —  The $1200 per plate event brought up some interesting data points regarding Governor Bob McDonnell.

The triumph of politics  —  America is the only country in the world that that has the luxury of creating an economic crisis when there isn't one.  Ours is the only democracy with a debt ceiling, with the exception of Denmark, which raises its ceiling well in advance of when it would be reached.

Stinger: James O'Keefe's Greatest Hits  —  The temperature was hovering near 90 degrees on the afternoon of Memorial Day when James O'Keefe III emerged from the woods and ambled over to my car.  He was tall and thin, with pale skin and matted reddish hair.  When his mug shot ran in the papers …

Captain America's Faux Integration, Ctd  —  Alyssa Rosenberg argues that Captain America: The First Avenger lacks any acknowledgement of Armed Forces segregation because The Avengers is about “institutional optimism.”  —  I'm not buying it.  Not just because these kinds of issues …

Analysis of 2 Debt Plans Sets Off New Moves in Congress  —  WASHINGTON — House Republicans and Senate Democrats fine-tuned their competing plans for resolving the looming fiscal crisis, as Congressional leaders alternately voiced optimism, determination and a haggard frustration as they struggled …