Solyndra

Department of Energy loan program director resigns.

Obama still unpopular, still leading in North Carolina.

Romney campaign embraces subtlety in criticizing Rick Perry's economic plan.

In happier times, the firm had been celebrated as a harbinger of the future. The political connections it enjoyed were the fruit not only of well-placed contributions but of a self-imposed ideological mission: It was going to deliver cheap energy in amazing ways. Top executives had dismissed accounting irregularities. The normal rules, it was said, did not apply.

iWatchNews: Solyndra and "Bundlers on the inside"

Kevin Williamson: Herman Cain and "Nein! Nein! Nein!"

Jonathan Last: "So the RomneyBot is going to address the flip-flopping charge. By flip-flopping."

Talking Points Memo: "FBI Arrests Man For Plotting To Attack Capitol, Pentagon With C-4 Loaded Remote Controlled Planes"

Washington Examiner: " Solyndra exec on board with $737m loan gaurantee"

The Wall Street Journal reports today that the Department of Energy has approved loan guarantees for two solar energy projects:

One deal, a $737 million loan guarantee for Solar Reserve LLC, paves the way for construction of the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy facility, which will use an array of mirrors to focus the sun's heat and power a steam generator.

The Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon kicked off today in Washington on the National Mall, under inauspiciously dark rainy skies.

Phil Klein: "House investigators rip Solyndra execs"

National Journal: "The Fed Does The Twist"

Tim Carney: "What rich businessmen want from government"

Sometimes in politics appearing guilty can have more consequences that actually being guilty (though the two frequently are related). And this latest development in the Solyndra scandal certainly looks bad:

Phil Klein: "Obama reaches out to liberals with budget plan"

New York Times: Mitch Daniels isn't happy with the GOP field

Over at Reason, Tim Cavanaugh observes that the few defenses being mounted for loaning failed solar company Solyndra $535 million in stimulus funds are really, really wanting.

The Los Angeles Times opened up a new front in the Solyndra scandal on Friday (and there are too many fronts to count at this point), reporting that Steve Spinner, another prominent Obama donor, served as a top official in the Energy Department program that made the half-billion dollar loan to the now bankrupt solar panel maker. In Spinner's defense, he did recuse himself from the decision to grant the loan—because his wife works at a law firm that represented Solyndra.