It wasn’t too long ago when getting a decent job and a home were the top two priorities of the American Dream.

For millions, though, that picture has faded. Now many are happy just covering their monthly nut and renting. Retirement? What’s that?

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BOSTON (MarketWatch) — You’ve already heard about “the greatest trade ever” – hedge fund manager John Paulson’s giant score betting against subprime mortgage bonds.

But no one’s told you about the dumbest trade ever.

Sure, there are plenty of contenders.

But this one is a doozy.

If Harvard really found “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as offensive as Kagan said, it could have rejected all federal funds, or at least any defense-related funds, in protest. It was Congress, after all, that passed the law. Instead, Harvard was happy to disassociate itself from the military that pays the ultimate price to defend us, so long as it had to pay no price for its self-regarding moral pose.

WASHINGTON — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a stimulus package for the Supreme Court, which would rather not have one. The 9th Circuit, often in error but never in doubt, provides the Supreme Court with steady work: Over the last half-century, the 9th has been reversed almost 11 times per Supreme Court term, more than any other circuit court. This week, the Supreme Court should spank it again and ask: Is it too much to ask that you pay some attention to our precedents?

No, the gulf oil spill is not Obama’s Katrina. It’s his 9/11 – and it is disappointing to see him making the same mistake George W. Bush made with his 9/11. Sept. 11, 2001, was one of those rare seismic events that create the possibility to energize the country to do something really important and lasting that is too hard to do in normal times.

Sestak will face Republican Pat Toomey, a former congressman from Allentown with strong backing from both the GOP establishment and conservative tea party activists. Toomey handily defeated conservative activist Peg Luksik.

In his remarks, Specter pledged to support Sestak. “It is vital that we keep this seat in the Democratic Party hands,” he said.

Sestak’s victory was sweeping. He carried every county but Philadelphia, Dauphin and Lackawanna. And although Specter won Philadelphia handily, turnout on a dismal rainy day was not high enough to save him.

All that remains is anticipation, both of the artwork that will be displayed and the possible threats of violence that will likely follow. Or should that be “the likely threats of possible violence”?

Before the calendar page turns to Thursday, it’s worth meditating on the whys and wherefores of the contest, which was inspired by a jihadist death threat against the creators of South Park and was originally suggested by Seattle artist Molly Norris. Soon after asking everyone to draw the Prophet in solidarity with the arguably millions of people repressed by threats of theologically justified violence, Norris herself went into ideological hiding, suggesting instead that everyone draw another target of South Park satire: former Vice President Al Gore.

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WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) – Senator Blanche Lincoln, a key voice for financial reform, was forced on Tuesday into a Democratic runoff election in Arkansas and lost leverage for her plan to force big banks to spin off swaps desks.

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Gov. Mitch Daniels will pick the date. State law sets no deadline, but it’s impossible for an election to occur within 60 days because of rules on absentee ballots and other issues, according to the secretary of state’s office. Democrats and Republicans have to select candidates for the special election within 30 days.

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