GOP Signals Its Anti-Kagan Agenda

Even before Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan gave her opening remarks, Republicans were ready to oppose her.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (pictured with Kagan and Judiciary Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy), ranking Republican on the panel, said he had “serious concerns about this nomination,” citing both Miss Kagan’s lack of judicial and courtroom experience compared to recent nominees and what he said was her tendency to mix politics and policy with the law.

“No individual — nominated by a president of either party — should be confirmed as a judge if he or she does not understand that the judge’s …

Supreme Court Rules For Gun Rights; Nixes Chicago Handgun Ban

In a victory for gun owners, the Supreme Court has declared Chicago’s 28-year ban on gun ownership unconstitutional.

A conservative majority of justices on Monday reiterated its two-year-old conclusion the Constitution gives individuals equal or greater power than states to possess certain firearms for self-protection.

The court however said local jurisdictions still retain the flexibility to preserve some “reasonable” gun control measures currently in place nationwide.

The vote was 5-4, and was along party lines.…

RIP Robert Byrd 1917-2010

America’s longest-serving Senator, Robert Byrd, died early this morning at age 92. Byrd served in the Senate for 51 years.

A family spokesman said Mr. Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. At first Mr. Byrd was believed to be suffering from heat exhaustion and severe dehydration, but other medical conditions developed. He had been in failing health for several years.

Byrd was a master of Senate rules, and knew them better than anyone. He was a master of the filibuster, having set the record for the longest one, 21 hours, 8 minutes, in …

Republicans Struggling To Find Ways To Attack Elena Kagan As Hearings Set To Begin

Republicans haven’t had much luck trying to put a crimp into the smooth sailing of the Elena Kagan nomination to the Supreme Court. But that hasn’t stopped them from trying.

Republicans have tried to make an issue of her years as law dean at Harvard and her lack of judicial experience. And in recent days, conservatives have seized on a new, albeit arcane, objection: Kagan’s praise for a former president of the Israeli Supreme Court known for his activist approach to the law.

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Republicans, privately frustrated, acknowledge that they have searched without luck for a controversy to pin …

After Saying Oil Companies Must Be Held “Accountable” Palin Blasts Obama For Holding BP Accountable

Sarah Palin posted on her Facebook page that oil companies must be held accountable and bragged about how she “played hardball” with them.

I was about run out of town in Alaska for what critics decried at the time as my “playing hardball with Big Oil,” and those same adversaries (both shortsighted Repubs and Dems) continue to this day to try to discredit my administration’s efforts in holding Big Oil accountable to operate ethically and responsibly.

But at the Oil Palace in Texas, Palin brags about how she came down hard on the oil companies when she was temporarily governor …

Mike Huckabee Defends Use of “Ick Factor” For Views On Gays (Updated With Video)

Former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is defending his use of the phrase “ick factor” to describe is opposition to gay marriage. He claims on Fox News Sunday he got the phrase from University of Chicago Professor Martha Nussbaum, but Nussbaum says she never used the phrase.

“That term comes from a gay magazine called The Edge in which the author, Joseph Erbentraut, interviewed professor Martha Nussbaum from — one of Barack Obama’s colleagues [from] The University of Chicago. She uses a term ‘projected disgust.’ He, in the interview, coined this phrase. It’s in the article that he …

John Edwards’s Daughter Cate: “Our Lives Were Slaughtered”

Elizabeth Edwards is hitting the talk show circuit to promote the paperback version of her book, Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities. (h/t Taegan Goddard). Additionally devastating for the former Senator and vice presidential candidate is a People magazine article featuring daughter Cate Edwards saying, “Our Lives Were Slaughtered.”

In PEOPLE’s edition next week, Cate, 28, who lives in Washington and clerks for a federal judge, and her mother talk candidly about their relationships with John now, Elizabeth’s cancer and other issues.

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The paperback includes a new chapter reflecting on the worst …

Louisiana Governor Jindal Blasted Feds For No Support, But Failed To Activate His Own Troops

While Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has made a big show of complaining that the Obama administration hasn’t given him what he says he needed to deal with the oil spill crisis, he has not deployed thousands of National Guard troops he could be using.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s message has been loud and clear, using language such as “We will only be winning this war when we’re actually deploying every resource,” “They (the federal government) can provide more resources” and “It’s clear the resources needed to protect our coast are still not here.”

Jindal isn’t the only governor who hasn’t …

Calfornia Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina Would Have Voted Against Jobs Bill

The bill to extend unemployment benefits that was voted down by Senate Republicans is devastating to California.

Hundreds of thousands of jobless residents will see their unemployment checks cut off. The deficit-plagued state budget stands to lose billions of desperately needed dollars. And a tax credit for research and development, long prized by the tech industry, appears to be on life support.

Even so, Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina says she would have voted with the GOP against the measure.

Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, who is running to unseat Boxer in November, said through a spokeswoman that she …

Palin Attacks Obama, Jerry Brown, And “Dumpster Divers” In Cal State Speech

Friday night Sarah Palin made her long-talked-about controversial appearance at California State University Stanislaus. Her demands and the school’s reluctance to reveal them became a political football.  When California State Senator Leland Yee said the public had a right to know how much the public school was spending, he received racist,  homophobic, and scatological messages from Palin fans. A trash bin with information about Palin’s appearance had been found by students, leading Palin to take a swipe at them.

“Students who spent their valuable, precious time diving through dumpsters before this event in order to silence someone … what …

Arizona Governor Brewer: Most Illegal Immigrants Are Drug Smugglers

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is making comments that critics are calling racist and uninformed.

Brewer said the motivation of “a lot” of the illegal immigrants is to enter the United States to look for work, but that drug rings press them into duty as drug “mules.”

“I believe today, under the circumstances that we’re facing, that the majority of the illegal trespassers that are coming into the state of Arizona are under the direction and control of organized drug cartels and they are bringing drugs in,” Brewer said.

“There’s strong information to us that they come as illegal people wanting …