Daily Beast

The right is coming back. Inevitably, it's a messy and even ugly process, one that involves fear-mongering and utter falsehoods as well as legitimate concerns and old-fashioned righteous indignation. The Obama White House and left-leaning media outlets are focusing on the "nonsense feedback loop," the fears of "death panels," the outrage of Birthers--all of the outré untruths you'll hear raised at congressional town brawls.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver is likely to be most remembered for her blood relations, especially her politician brothers John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Teddy Kennedy.

In California, she has a lesser-known but crucial role: as the state's most important mother-in-law.

Eunice's son-in-law, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has described her as his mentor and strongest political supporter. He's not exaggerating. Without her, there never would have been an Arnold governorship.

Under Hillary Clinton's watch, the State Department has called Nigeria "probably the most important country in Africa." Why? Three words: light, sweet, crude. Nigeria is one of America's largest oil producers, and poised to become even a bigger one. It is also Africa's most populous country—one in six Africans comes from Nigeria—and one of the continent's richest and most corrupt democracies.

There's a cynical kind of math that comes along with reporting on Africa. Forget positive, or complex coverage; the bottom line is death tolls have to be high for anyone to care at all, or for any news outfit to foot the bill on a given story.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 11-day trip to Africa is a promising indication that may be changing. First, it's the longest venture she's taken out of the country thus far. Second, it comes on the heels of her boss'… more

After almost a decade spent skulking around with billionaires, celebrities, and other less-than-savory characters, Bill Clinton has returned to the world of high-stakes diplomacy. Once again, his animal magnetism has been placed in service to America's national interests. During a surprise visit to North Korea, the former president successfully negotiated the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two American journalists who've been held captive since March. And though the White House insists that Clinton is acting on his

Is Arnold Schwarzenegger's career in electoral politics coming to an end?

California, broke and dysfunctional, desperately needs a white-hot public debate over how to fix its budget, its economy, and its state constitution.

What the state may get instead is a white-hot public debate over marijuana.

Who are the Blue Dog Democrats? In theory, they are a caucus of moderate to conservative Democrats in the House, most of them hailing from rural and suburban swing districts. As Republican members melted away in 2006 and 2008, many were replaced by Blue Dogs, who essentially promised to be like Republicans, only anti-war and protectionist and economically populist. They've now emerged as the most serious threat to the Obama agenda.

There's something very poignant about the photographs of a beaming Hillary Clinton in India. Having fractured her elbow last month, the secretary of State has been undergoing a grueling regime of physical therapy, and until recently she was wearing a stylish sling. One has to assume that Clinton is still in pain, yet she's managed to put on a valiant show for the Indian throngs who've greeted her. When Clinton first visited India in 1995, she was festooned with garlands at every stop. As a country… more