“Major” on The Daily Caller

1.) Deficit commission gets no respect during SOTU address — “Wait for the deficit commission.” That’s what the White House told Reuters’ James Pethokoukis whenever he asked about Pres. Obama’s strategy for dealing with America’s debt problem. “Obama’s panel has come and gone,” Pethokoukis wrote after the SOTU address. “And in his speech last night, he failed to explicitly endorse any of its budget-cutting recommendations.” After 10 months of deliberation and town halls across the country to the tune of $500,000, and a contentious fight over which commission faction’s proposal was the best proposal, Obama has essentially scrapped the whole thing. “I don’t agree with all their proposals, but they made important progress,” Obama said last night. “To put us on solid ground, we should also find a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security for future generations.” Never mind that Obama has endorsed exactly zero of the commission’s ideas, but as Pethokoukis points out: “Did Obama not check his in-box? His bipartisan commission gave him a Social Security fix.” (more)

LOS ANGELES (AP) – David Beckham plans to play out the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2011 while continuing to hope he’ll play for England again. (more)

The playing field of competitive House races has expanded substantially over the past two months, increasing the chances that Republicans will control the lower chamber next year. (more)

There was no doubt in Kenny Doyle’s mind about what should happen to Roger Clemens. (more)

Once a year mascots, rather than the teams they represent, get to be the main attraction. On Saturday, over 15,000 fans gathered to cheer on 30 mascots from across the country in the 18th annual Celebrity Mascot Games. Mascots from Major League Baseball, NFL, NBA, NHL and NCAA participated in a series of thrilling events in  hopes of winning the title of mascot champion. These participants proved that some mascots are as talented as their athlete counterparts, while others…fell short.  Proceeds from the event went to New Hopes for Kids, a nonprofit that supports children with life-threatening diseases. (more)

Every Fourth of July, Nathan’s Famous, the frankfurter chain, hosts a hot-dog eating contest in Coney Island, N.Y. Tragically, this year’s contest was marred. Six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi was hauled away by police after storming the stage. He had been barred from the contest for refusing to sign a contract with Major League Eating. (more)

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NADAHAN VILLAGE, Afghanistan (AP) — Body parts in trees. Mud walls flattened. Corpses riddled with ball bearings. (more)

In the past year, there have been stark reminders of why our Armed Forces are engaged in foreign battles and why many have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. The Christmas Day bomber nearly killed hundreds in the sky over Detroit. Just a few weeks ago, a terrorist trained in Pakistan tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square. (more)

It’s not easy being dumb. It never has been. We’re made fun of in school. We’re the butt of jokes. Prejudice has barred us from many vocations. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Wednesday delayed final action on a sweeping financial regulation bill, raising a last-minute obstacle to the legislation as it approached the home stretch. (more)

In America, there’s supposed to be a stark separation between sports and real life. Sporting events are designed to be forms of escapist entertainment, much-needed opportunities for Americans to forget about things like budget deficits and political candidates and focus instead on their hometown team. (more)

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Canadian doctor who has treated Tiger Woods, Alex Rodriguez and other high-profile athletes was charged Tuesday with smuggling, unlawful distribution of human growth hormone and conspiring to lie to federal agents. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is ignoring calls to move next year’s All-Star game from Phoenix because of Arizona’s new immigration law. (more)

This past week, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) provided remarks to the Heritage Foundation as Protect America Month kicked off. Outlining the ongoing threats facing the United States, Rep. Cantor emphasized two issues of pressing importance: global nuclear proliferation and domestic and foreign terrorism. (more)

Late Monday evening, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pulled Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen off of a plane at John F. Kennedy International airport in New York. Faisal, wanted in connection with the attempted bombing of Times Square on Saturday night, is now sitting in jail and charged with five counts, including attempting to detonate a weapon of mass destruction. Questions about how close Faisal came to escape aside, we must applaud the impressive performance by federal, state and local law enforcement that the lead to this rapid arrest. (more)

Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning called Harry Reid an “idiot” during a lunch meeting with other Republican senators this week — the latest sign that the Senate majority leader is getting under the skin of his GOP counterparts. (more)

Let me say right here and now that even though I’m anonymous: Anchorman is not going to be drawing any pictures of the prophet Mohammed any time soon. None. Not in a bear costume, not with a turban shaped like a bomb, not in any way shape or form. (more)

The mysterious case of the missing heir to an Alabama potato chip fortune took another bizarre turn after investigators determined that the man found floating in a golf course pond, bound, gagged and shot in the head had committed suicide and tried to make it look like a murder. (more)

TAMPA — Alex Rodriguez will end up speaking to Major League Baseball regarding Toronto-based doctor Anthony Galea at some point after he has his meeting with the FBI about the doctor, reportedly on Friday. (more)