Pat Dollard

Politico: President Obama is trying to do what he can to close any enthusiasm gap with the GOP. For the second time in a week, Obama told thousands of young people attending a rally to come out and vote in this fall’s mid-term elections to preserve Democratic majorities in Congress that could help the president [...]

Politico: With the departure of his chief of staff, President Barack Obama has been handed a rare chance to reshape the character of the West Wing at a pivotal time in his presidency, when his polls are down and he could lose a Democratic-controlled Congress in the November elections. But despite the praise from some [...]

BAGHDAD (AP) – Powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr backed Iraq’s prime minister to retain power Friday in a move that could speed an end to the country’s seven-month political impasse but could also hand al-Sadr’s anti-American bloc considerable influence in the next government. The decision marks a significant boost for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led [...]

The boy’s arms are restrained behind his back, his hands taped to the wall. His face is obscured in this image but police say he was terrified The Daily Mail: These are the first heartbreaking photos of a boy being subjected to unbelievable cruelty by his mother and her boyfriend. Further restraint: Mother Jayla Hamm [...]