The New Republic

  ...and getting rousted by the police, no less. Who says children need to be sheltered from life's unhappier realities? READ MORE >>

Here is Glenn Beck on Barack Obama: READ MORE >>

I realize that, within the world of political punditry, being provocative is the way to fame and fortune. But when even Bill O'Reilly is struggling to talk sense into Lou Dobbs on this crackpot birther business, it is time for CNN to reconsider its commitment to its famously arrogant, uncontrollable--and increasingly unhinged--host. READ MORE >>

Defense Secretary Robert Gates tells reporters that the U.S. may silghtly accelerate its withdrawal from Iraq. He says General Odierno is telling him the security situation in Iraq is better than expected. READ MORE >>

This one from a group of hard-liners: They've warned him, in the words of the LAT, "that he could be deposed like past Iranian leaders if he continue[s] to defy the country's supreme religious leader. --Michael Crowley READ MORE >>

Richard Posner is against the proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). This is, of course, not a surprise. Posner has always been an articulate advocate of the view most often associated with economics at the University of Chicago: Market-based outcomes are invariably better than the alternatives, and anything that interferes with consumer choice is a bad idea.  READ MORE >>

Doubt: The Professor’s Problems Started When The NBC Camera Crew Arrived On Campus And Accused Him Of Genocide…, by Andrew Rice The Secret Weapon In The Battle To Reform Health Care, by The Editors READ MORE >>

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  Jed Perl has written a review of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit "Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages." Click through for a look at some of the work in the exhibit. Book of the Maccabees (above) Circa 850-925 --Sharon Eliza Nichols  READ MORE >>

In an update to an item about today's NYT opinion piece by Ha'aretz's Aluf Benn ("Why Won't Obama Talk to Israel?"), Joe Klein adds:  I'm told that Obama is already planning to make this sort of effort--Israeli television interviews etc.--in the coming weeks. READ MORE >>