Lawrence F. Kaplan is a contributing editor for The New Republic.

The Obama administration has managed to upend the laws of ornithology. The simple fact of a Democratic commander-in-chief has transformed yesterday's Republican hawks into today's doves. No less miraculously, and certainly for no more high-minded reasons, Democratic doves have metamorphosed into something like hawks.

Stephen F. Hates is a senior writer at The Weekly Standard. Before joining The Weekly Standard, Hayes was a senior writer for National Journal's Hotline. He also served for six years as Director of the Institute on Political Journalism at Georgetown University.

When the energy giant Enron collapsed 10 years ago, top executives of the company faced criminal prosecution and many served lengthy prison terms. In the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, hundreds of bankers went to jail.

But the financial meltdown of 2008 hasn't generated a single prosecution of high-level Wall Street players — even though the Securities and Exchange Commission has brought civil cases against some companies and reached financial settlements.

Citing the verdict in the Casey Anthony case to justify trying terror suspects in military tribunalssounds like a stretch, but that was what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested Sunday and it’s put the commonwealth’s senior Senator under increased criticism. “We found with the Caylee Anthony case how difficult it is to get a conviction in a U.S. court,” McConnell said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Lexington might not have experienced the 100-degrees-plus temperatures that swept the Midwest and Southern United States on Monday, but it felt like it. Lexington's heat index exceeded expectations and hit 112 degrees Monday, prompting the National Weather Service in Louisville to issue a heat advisory until 8 p.m. in Central Kentucky. Hot and humid weather was expected to continue into Tuesday, although scattered showers and thunderstorms could help cool things down late Tuesday afternoon, meteorologist Mike Crow said.

A University of Kentucky cheerleader was seriously injured in Rhode Island on Thursday when he fell 44 feet while teaching a gymnastics class. His father credits his training in tumbling with saving his life. Dylan Smith, 19, had been tumbling when "he kinda lost his balance" at the end of a series of moves and landed against a door that had been nailed shut, his father, Hugh Smith, said in a telephone interview. The door, on the fourth or fifth floor of the building, led only to open air. It gave way, and Dylan Smith fell out backward, Hugh Smith said.

The Kentucky Speedway offered tickets to future NASCAR races to thousands of fans who missed Saturday’s Sprint Cup Series race because of massive traffic jams that ensnared them for hours outside the racetrack. The ticket offer came Monday as a top Kentucky state lawmaker called for legislative hearings and Gov. Steve Beshear said he’ll assemble a team to explore the cause of hours-long gridlock that tarnished what should have been a triumphant day for both the track and the state.

The memo from the state board of elections about the process for homeless voter registration will factor in the race to become the next Kentucky secretary of state. Republican Secretary of State candidate Bill Johnson said he plans on filing legal action to challenge the state instructing county clerks to accept voter registration with an incomplete or non-existent address and place them in the precinct of the county clerk's office. A memo written by Kentucky Board of Elections Executive Director Sarah Ball Johnson to all county clerks on the procedure for the registration of homeless voters drew the objection of Boone County Clark Kenny Brown, who felt registering someone without a distinct location and precinct was illegal and could lead to voter fraud.

More than 20 cities and counties in Kentucky have passed bans on smoking in public places and one more may soon be added to that list.  Mayor Marty Voiers and city council are considering a municipal order prohibiting the use of any form of tobacco products "throughout the entire workplace on all city properties with no exceptions, including city owned vehicles." A notice on the city's website reads, "this policy applies to all employees, consultants, contractors, customers and visitors," and lets citizens know that there will be signs posted at entrances of buildings as well as within the premises.

FRANKFORT – Kentucky mining investigators worked overnight to determine the cause of Kentucky’s latest mining fatality. Ryan K. Thatcher, 26, of Salyersville died Monday when he suffered head injuries while working at the Voyager No. 7 mine near Inez in Martin County. The mine is owned by Martin County Coal Corp.