Daniel Stone

As he tries to prove he's serious, Alvin Greene ends up looking more and more like a clown.

After a year of debate and months of trying to win Republican votes, top Democrats pull the plug on an effort to reduce climate emissions.

In a flashy signing ceremony, Obama signed the Wall Street reform bill that took his party more than a year to get done. Unfortunately for him, explaining what it actually does will be even harder.

New York Times scribe Tom Friedman is at it again, banging his drum for a sweeping climate bill. Except now, as the hour is nigh to harness the moment—a "perfect storm," as he calls it, of an environmental disaster, rising oil dependence, and growing tech competition overseas—the drumbeat is getting louder.

It's the day of reckoning for Republicans and the Tea Party. Since the grassroots movement started, the GOP has gone to lengths to harness the frustration and mobilization of angry right-wing voters without getting too close to the movement. But Michele Bachmann didn't get that memo.

It's true. The freshly elected British prime minister flew to Washington "slumming it in business class," as one stunned member of his press corps reported. It was a noticeable break of tradition for a British P.M. who—like most government heads—usually travels on his own plane. David Cameron and top aides were "spread out with nothing separating them from hoi polloi," wrote BBC correspondent James Landale. "At least those polloi who can afford business class."

Two prominent Republicans over the weekend cited the principles of the 43rd president as a picture of what a GOP return to power would look like. Democrats couldn't have been more excited.

With financial reform, Republicans are expanding their list of things to repeal. That might bring in donations, but it simply won't happen.

Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states, has never been a particularly comfortable place for Republicans. The Bay State hasn't thrown its electors behind a GOP presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan won the White House, and it hasn't had a Republican member of the House in more than a decade.

First he was on a horse, then on a bike, and now he's everywhere, making personalized videos for fans on YouTube. The latest flight of Old Spice commercials is nothing short of genius.

Newt Gingrich says he may run for president in 2012. But could he win? At this point, probably not.

Citing nothing except "substantial evidence," a team of Australian researchers is claiming that President Obama may be exaggerating how many Twitter followers he has. Who says investigative journalism is dead?

With the approaching deadline to stop the oil gusher in the gulf, tensions between government officials and BP executives are increasing.

Lisa Murkowski may be the Obama administration's only hope of getting a climate-and-energy deal this year.

The White House was eager to proclaim this morning that Elena Kagan had passed her test. Late last week and over the weekend, at least 17 editorial boards around the country wrote glowingly of her credentials—excerpts of which administration officials sent around to reporters to drive the narrative in their favor.

Somehow, the RNC head still has his job. How does he do it?

Because at this point, talking about it is all he can do. A look at the contentious debate and the chances for reform.

Two Republican senators present at a recent presidential Cabinet Room meeting on energy say that Obama appeared to be willing to postpone the deadline when the EPA will begin regulating greenhouse-gas emissions.

An otherwise newsless visit between Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev is punctuated by a deal on U.S. poultry exports to Russia. After the breakthrough deal on chicken was made, the two had burgers in Virginia.

The tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico has left a divide among activists: how hard should they press Obama on climate change and other issues? The fear is that a golden opportunity is passing.

After Rep. Joe Barton oddly apologized to BP, GOP leaders decided to let him keep his job—a strategy from which both parties could benefit.

After meeting with President Obama for less than 30 minutes this morning, Gen. Stanley McChrystal was relieved of his command of troops in Afghanistan. Obama said it was "a change in personnel," but "not a change in policy."

After a federal judge lifted Obama's six-month ban on deepwater drilling on Tuesday, the White House vowed an instant appeal. Both sides, strangely, agree on doing nothing until more information is known.

The past—and potentially future—chairman of the House energy committee has a love-hate relationship with the planet.

Almost seven weeks after the Deepwater Horizon incident that has ravaged the Gulf and imperiled BP, other oil companies are beginning to feel the pinch of President Obama's six-month moratorium on drilling. No drilling means no revenues, but also no jobs for the thousands of rig employees drilling deepwater wells.

Regardless of what he actually meant, GOP Rep. Joe Barton's apology to BP CEO Tony Hayward this morning has sent his party into crisis mode.

The core message of President Obama's Oval Office speech was about more than BP or the activity off the Gulf Coast. Looking straight into the camera, Obama diagnosed the nation's energy problem and our ongoing dependence on fossil fuels.

The first Oval Office address of Obama's presidency carries high stakes. He'll use the moment to push for an energy bill, while reminding the nation the path to sustainable energy won't be easy.

Capitol Hill is still oozing optimism that an energy bill is possible, even inevitable, within the next few months. Why? The gulf spill certainly helps sway opinion toward alternative fuels. As does the deepening oil dependence on unfriendly countries. But politically speaking, energy is the rare political issue with room for both parties to claim victory.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proved that maybe he was cut out for politics. Now, his lame-duck status has everyone—including himself—wondering what he'll do next.