President Obama and the media: a game of flattery and deceit Ana Marie Cox The greatest threat to US freedom of the press isn't incarceration or even a White House investigation, it's indifferencePresident Obama and his team may overstep its bounds in attempts to squash individual stories, but it's the cozy culture of Washington favor-trading that makes the protections of the First Amendment irrelevant.

Revenge of the 1 percent Dana Milbank Penny Pritzker and the power of wealth in Washington.Turns out the wealthy didn’t lose the 2012 election; rather, the Republican rich lost to the Democratic rich. 

Maverick Flies Again By Jonathan Chait John McCain is furious at Republicans for not working with Obama to save the Pentagon.

Wife With Clinton Ties Is Force in Return By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM, MICHAEL BARBARO and AMY CHOZICK Huma Abedin, left, has helped shape Anthony Weiner’s comeback as he vies to become New York’s next mayor, drawing on her close connection with the Clinton family. As Mr. Weiner, a Democrat, seeks an improbable return to politics, announcing this week that he is running for mayor of New York City, some have wondered how a politician who exchanged sexually explicit messages with strangers could persuade his wife to undergo another excruciating period in the spotlight. But the reality, it turns out, is just the opposite: Those close to the couple say that Ms. Abedin, a seasoned operative well versed in the politics of redemption, has been a main architect of her husband’s rehabilitative journey, shaping his calculated comeback and drawing on her close ties with one of the country’s most powerful families to lay the groundwork for his return.

Michael Savage: 'What stands between us and what happened in London? Guns' Guns and Gear | Jeff Poor Talk show host speaks in praise of police “Now what stands between us and what happened in London?” Savage asked. “Guns, guns, guns — only guns, only guns. And this very same gang that wants to flood this country with 50 million, 30 million, 20 million, 11 million — you pick the number, pick it out of a hat — illegal aliens, it’s all amnesty for every one of them — also wants to take your guns away — Durbin and the rest of them want to seize your guns.”

Inspire magazine: the self-help manual for al-Qaida terrorists Al-Qaida's slick and sinister magazine for jihadis, Inspire, suggests using a vehicle to mow down a target – which is apparently what happened in Woolwich  In the murky world of terrorism-watchers, the first port of call is often an unusual magazine called Inspire, a "self-help manual" for jihadis that is crammed full of dangerous advice, attractively presented. JIHADOLOGY A clearinghouse for jihādī primary source material and translation service

What is the economic responsibility of corporate America? Heidi Moore Even Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is calling out the private sector for not doing its part to help the frail economy The corporate and financial side of America - the private sector - is not doing its part to help the economy. Congress, as utterly useless as it has been in producing decent legislation, can only do that - legislation. Companies and banks actually hold the purse strings and hiring power, and they are not loosening them to help the economy. 

Who Outed the CIA Annex in Benghazi? by Eli Lake In a classified hearing, a House panel is trying to figure out how the attack transpired. Did the attackers know that secret location, or did they learn it that night? How the attackers knew about what was supposed to be a secret CIA facility is important. If the attackers had known for weeks about the facility and had staked out a position to fire the mortar rounds, it suggests the Benghazi attack was planned in advance and not the “flash mob with guns” that Obama administration officials described to reporters in the weeks following the attack.

Boehner: House won’t pass Senate immigration bill By Stephen Dinan - The Washington TimesHouse Speaker John A. Boehner on Thursday flatly ruled out chances of the House passing the Senate’s immigration bill, saying his chamber will debate its own bill instead. “The House remains committed to fixing our broken immigration system, but we will not simply take up and accept the bill that is emerging in the Senate if it passes. Rather, through regular order, the House will work its will and produce its own legislation.”

President has regrets but wants anti-terror powers Scott Wilson Obama shows an unusual ambivalence over his policies’ morality."After four years of alarming intelligence reports and attacks that were prevented and those that were not, Obama sounded like a former constitutional law lecturer who sees the nation and its security challenges in more shades of gray than he once did. The speech was a mix of defensiveness and contrition over the choices he has made — all of which, he argued, have been preferable to the alternatives."