Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson has been slipping away from the Democratic Party on crucial votes over the past year–and now has decided to vote against Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court, which is a major, and rather gratuitous, statement of independence. I suspect that, if the Republicans make substantial gains in the midterm elections, [...]

The journey of the (Anti-)Defamation League from beacon of tolerance to slightly potty geyser of toxic foolishness continues apace. Two years ago, Abe Foxman–the ADL’s very much over the hill president–accused me of anti-semitism for pointing out the Israel-first tendencies of more than a few neoconservatives, especially when it came to plumping for war with [...]

Last week, Newt Gingrich suggested that Americans were being wusses for practicing religious tolerance while the Saudi Arabias of the world play hardball with other faith traditions. Maybe this is more what he had in mind. A conservative church in Florida is organizing “Burn a Qu’ran Day” to commemorate September 11, which happens to fall [...]

–The ethics subcommittee probing into Rep. Charlie Rangel’s alleged misdeeds recommended he receive a reprimand, which would be a relatively mild sanction. –The economy grew at a 2.4% annual rate during the second quarter, which ended June 30. That’s down from Q1′s revised rate of 3.7%, according to the Commerce Department, and worse than prognosticators [...]

Charles Krauthammer today dignifies Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent lunacy–he predicted a U.S. and Israeli attack on two middle eastern countries–by taking it seriously. Ahmadi’s foreign policy pronouncements are usually ill-informed, hateful nonsense designed for domestic consumption; it’s the Supreme Leader and Revolutionary Guard who control that show. Last September when a group of Time Editors interviewed [...]