85 Percent 'Very' Proud to Be American

At Gallup, "Most in U.S. Still Proud to Be an American: But 71% say the signers of the declaration would be disappointed":

PRINCETON, NJ -- As the United States celebrates Independence Day, most of its adult residents continue to say they are proud to be an American, including 57% who are extremely proud and 28% who are very proud. This high level of pride in being an American has varied only moderately over the past 12 years since the question was first asked, but has been lower since 2005 than it was in the years prior.

The latest results are from a June 1-4 Gallup survey. An additional 10% say they are moderately proud to be an American, leaving 3% who say they are "only a little proud" and 1% who say they are "not at all proud."

Read the whole thing.

I think the signers would be pleased with America today, but would be horrified with this president. Barack Hussein's a stain on an otherwise bountiful gift we are enjoying today, and the Obama interregnum will be seen as a low point in the expansion of American freedom. The results are already coming in, and patriots are gearing up to overthrow the socialist usurpers. 2014 can't come soon enough.

More on this as we go along.

Independence Day Rule 5

Here's the Other McCain, "Rule 5 Sunday: Taylor Swift, We Hardly Knew Ye."

I'm not sure there's a lot of fresh Rule 5 blogging on the 4th of July, although Bob Belvedere's Chloe Vevrier roundup deserves another look. See, "Rule 5 Saturday."

Also at 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Happy Independence Day! (Freedom From Tyranny Day)."

And at Wirecutter's, "Still Cebrating."

At Randy's Roundtable, "Happy 4th of July: Enjoy it while it is still possible."

Also, from Ron Russell, "Cutie Babes from Guns and Bikinis."

More from Doug Ross, "Satan, the Great Deceiver and Prince of Lies, reaffirms that he is in no way associated with the Democrat Party."

And at Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……are the wonderful colors of the United States Flag, you might just be an American Patriot."

Still more at Reaganite, "Stunning Athina Pikraki Chosen to Represent Greece at 'Miss World 2013'."

And at Gator Doug's, "DaleyGator DaleyBabe Talita Correa."

At Drunken Stepfather, "THE BEST FOURTH OF JULY PICS FOR AMERICA OF THE DAY."

Dana Pico has more, "Rule 5 Blogging: Glamour Girls."

And from Proof Positive, "Sex in Advertising."

Plus, at EBL, "Egyptian Freedom Rule 5."

And Soylent has "Soylent Fourth of July."

Finally, at Egotastic!, "Happy Birthday, America! We Celebrate with Red, White, and Blue Bikinis."

I know I'm missing some folks, so if you're not included, drop your links and I'll update ASAP.

Happy 4th of July!

BATHING SUIT BABE CREDIT: Theo Spark.

Our Government in Action: State Department Denies John Kerry Yachting During Egyptian Coup

Look, it's 4th of July. Why not just say Secretary Kerry is staying in contact with all the relevant personnel and be done with it? It's not like he's going fly to Cairo and calm the waters, or anything. But in line with this administration's MO, it's lying liars all the way.

At Twitchy, "Twitter user: ‘Kerry sailed right by me yesterday on the Nantucket sound’ [photo]; Update: Boston Herald confirms Kerry is on Nantucket."

Also, "Cavalcade of conflicting info: Where in the world was John Kerry as Egypt lurched into chaos?" And at the Blaze, "CBS PRODUCER REFUSES TO RETRACT JOHN KERRY YACHT STORY — AND THERE’S A VIDEO THAT COULD HELP HIS CASE."

UPDATE: The dude Sam Hodges pulled his tweet, most likely due to Democrat harassment on Twitter. But the Boston Herald has this, "Kerry vacationing on Nantucket amid Egypt turmoil."

Statue of Liberty Reopens for Independence Day

It was closed for repairs after Hurricane Sandy.

At LAT, "Statue of Liberty reopens for a New York kind of Independence Day."

American Tony Miano Arrested in Britain for Reading Bible Aloud and Calling Homosexuality Sinful

Hey, coming to America!

At Telegraph UK, "Christian arrested for calling homosexuality a 'sin' warns of 'real-life thought police'."

Also at Cranmer, "Tony Miano arrested for 'hate' speech - full video and police transcript."

Here's 'Proud Savage' Mona Eltahawy on Twitter Because — FREEDOM!

She was whining to a cab driver about how her huge --- huge! --- number of media appearances were wearing her down, at Twitchy, "Sacrificing for Egypt: Courageous Mona Eltahawy moans of her pundit plight in Egyptian coup."

But it wasn't a coup, it wasn't!

And don't tell poor Mona otherwise, or she'll f-bomb you a new one, "Mona Eltahawy unleashes F-bomb laced tirade on … fellow lefties?"

She's going after Max Blumenthal, the vile POS.

Leftists going off on leftists. That's one hella 4th of July treat, because — FREEDOM!

Added: At the Other McCain, "Well, @MonaEltahawy Is Indisputably Correct: Max Blumenthal Is a Douchebag."

Red State Stays Classy on Sarah Palin Photoshop

Following up on my earlier report, "Erick Erickson's Red State Posts Sexist Photoshop of Sarah Palin."

Now here's this at Twitchy, "RedState editors defend phony Sarah Palin photo, lash out at critics; Update: Still lashing out."

Conservative women get enough disrespect from Left. Think before you frag.
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 3, 2013

Ben Howe hardest hit:

Surprised to see a site I have long supported and promoted, cast aspersions onto my character. We get enough of that from MSM.
— Ben Howe (@BenHowe) July 4, 2013

And from Stacy Drake, "RedState Posts Demeaning Photoshop of Governor Palin, Denies When Confronted — Updated."

Obama Decides Not to Enforce the Heart of His Health-Care Law

Schadenfreude-licious, at the Wall Street Journal, "Employer Mandate? Never Mind":

These columns fought the Affordable Care Act from start to passage, and we'd now like to apologize to our readers. It turns out we weren't nearly critical enough. The law's implementation is turning into a fiasco for the ages, and this week's version is the lawless White House decision to delay the law's insurance mandate for businesses, though not for individuals.

The employer mandate is central to ObamaCare's claim of providing universal coverage. Companies with 50 or more "employee equivalents" must pay a $2,000 penalty per full-time employee if they don't provide government-approved health insurance. The provision was supposed to start in January, and delaying it is like Ford saying its electric car is ready to go, except the electric battery doesn't work.

But all of a sudden on Tuesday evening Mark Mazur—you know him as the deputy assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy—published a blog post canceling the insurance reporting rules and tax enforcement until 2015 as Washington began to evacuate for the long Independence Day weekend. Enjoy the holiday, mate.

White House fixer Valerie Jarrett tried to contain the fallout with a separate blog post promising that ObamaCare is otherwise "staying the course." That's true only if she's referring to the carelessness and improvisation that have defined the law so far.

Mr. Mazur cited the "complexity of the requirements" as the reason for the delay. He isn't talking about business confusion and uncertainty, as damaging as those are. This is probably an admission that Treasury's information technology isn't ready to process and cross-check paperwork across the 5.7 million businesses in America, especially the pass-through S-corps and partnerships that file under the individual tax code.

This is more than a typical government snafu. It relates directly to the design of the law, which was thoughtlessly written and rammed through Congress with instructions for the bureaucracy to figure it all out.

And, lo, over eight interim final rules, three final rules, 20 requests for comment, 21 proposed rules, one information collection request, two amendments to the interim final rules, six requests for information and one frequently-asked-questions document, the Administration has created an employer-mandate system that, for example, requires business to track and report every full-time employee's hours of service on a monthly basis.

Meanwhile, the law stipulates that a full-time workweek for the purposes of the mandate is 30 hours, when general business practice is at least 35. The result is that businesses have been scrambling to insulate themselves from higher labor costs by hiring part-time workers, or splitting shifts, or in some industries like fast food even sharing workers. Small firms trying to expand while avoiding the 50-worker trigger have come to be known as 49ers.

The delay will help these and other employers avoid immediately higher costs, which is why the main business lobbies endorsed it. But the decision will continue to dampen overall job creation because businesses know they'll still be whacked in a year. Businesses don't hire workers with the intention of sacking them later.

The Administration's media cheerleaders are nonetheless portraying this as a stroke of political genius to push all the pain past the 2014 elections. But if that's the goal, it is too clever by half. If Republicans have any sense, they will move immediately to delay the rest of the bill for at least a year too. They should start with the individual mandate to buy insurance or pay a tax.

Continue reading.

The law's going down. Soon enough. It's going down, and the record of failure will be wrapped entirely around this cluster-k amateur community organizer from communist Chicago:

ObamaCare has become a rolling "train wreck," in Senator Max Baucus's memorable phrase, and it gets worse the more of it the public sees. The employer mandate is terrible policy, as the law's critics said before it passed. Now the Administration is all but admitting it can't implement it properly, and the task for opponents is to press the concession and begin to delay the rest of the law and dismantle it piece by piece.

Word.

Toll of Unchecked Immigration in Britain

At London's Daily Mail, "True toll of mass migration on UK life: Half of Britons suffer under strain placed on schools, police, NHS and housing":

Yesterday, seven men including illegal immigrants were arrested in West London as part of a series of immigration raids on properties where migrants were living in out-houses.

On crime, the study found that some groups, such as failed asylum seekers who could not be sent home and jobless eastern Europeans, were ‘disproportionately involved in crimes like shoplifting and disorderly behaviour’.

However, it added that destitute Britons were also likely to be ‘disproportionately’ involved in these offences.

Police said it was clear that some migrants who entered the UK on a student visa were not actually studying and were instead working illegally.

RTWT.

Terror Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki Spent Kinky Nights in D.C. With at Least 7 Hookers

Damned porno-addicted Islamist hypocrites. No wonder Obama backs these guys in Syria.

At the New York Post, "Qaeda Ho-ly roller: Terror cleric shot his load with DC prostitutes":

WASHINGTON — When he wasn’t preaching against America, terror-linked imam Anwar al-Awlaki was frequently hiring $400-an-hour hookers at posh DC hotels, newly released FBI documents reveal.

Awlaki, who delivered radical sermons at a mosque near Washington and ultimately met his end in a 2011 US drone strike in Yemen, paid thousands of dollars for at least seven hooker romps, according to interviews the prostitutes gave FBI agents soon after doing their dirty work.

The seedy details — not exactly in keeping with Awlaki’s constant invocations of “God the Almighty” in his sermons — are outlined in hundreds of pages of FBI documents released yesterday through an information request filed by Judicial Watch.

Keep reading.

Egypt's Second Revolution?

Look, Morsi sucks goats balls, but Egypt's in a dangerous place right now. We could see a lot of violence in the weeks and months ahead, especially if Muslim Brotherhood operatives resort to terrorism.

At the Guardian UK, "Mohamed Morsi ousted in Egypt's second revolution in two years."

Despite Claims, Obama Administration Has Done Little to Press Mohamed Morsi on Human Rights

From Eli Lake and Josh Rogan, at the Daily Beast, "Obama Offers a Revisionist History of His Administration’s Approach to Egypt" (via Israel Matzav and Memeorandum):

In nearly every confrontation with Congress since the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the White House has fought restrictions proposed by legislators on the nearly $1.6 billion in annual U.S. aid to Egypt. Twice in two years, the White House and the State Department fought hard against the very sorts of conditions for aid that Obama claimed credit for this week. When President Mohamed Morsi used the power of his presidency to target his political opponents, senior administration officials declined to criticize him in public. Many close Egypt observers argue that the Obama administration’s treatment of Morsi has been in line with the longstanding U.S. policy of turning a blind eye to the human-rights abuses of his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.

But don’t tell that to Obama. On Monday he said, “The way we make decisions about assistance to Egypt is based on are they in fact following rule of law and democratic procedures.” The president made these remarks in Tanzania, as millions of Egyptian street protesters demanded Morsi’s ouster.

Hillary Clinton, the secretary of State in his first term, described the Egypt aid process during a September 2011 visit to Cairo that took place after Mubarak’s resignation, but before the powerful Egyptian military acceded to the drafting of a new constitution and the free elections held in June 2012, when Morsi won office.

"We believe in aid to your military without any conditions, no conditionality,” Clinton said. "I’ve made that very clear. I was with the foreign minister, Mr. Amr, yesterday, and was very clear in saying that the Obama administration, and I personally am against that. I think it’s not appropriate."

(Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Mohamed Kamel Amr on Tuesday, a day after the foreign minister announced his own resignation in response to the massive street protests and the military announcing a 48-hour ultimatum for the president to respond to those protests.)

In March 2012, Clinton waived restrictions passed by Congress on aid to Egypt “on the basis of America’s national-security interests.” That decision came in the midst of the Egyptian government’s crackdown on foreign NGOs, which included the raiding of the offices of several American organizations, including the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, and Freedom House....

Michele Dunne, the executive director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, says that since 2011, U.S. policy has reverted to a traditional pattern of cooperation with the host government, and now the administration is embarrassed and is trying to pretend it used its influence to pressure Morsi.

“Obama’s statement constitutes a revisionist history of what they have been doing over the past two years,” she says. “We have not exercised the kind of support for democratic progress that we should have. That’s why people still think to this day that the Obama administration is just fully in support of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Of course, we're long past the point of embracing radical Islamists in American politics, we now literally have top level Muslim Brotherhood infiltration in the Obama White House.

And Obama's proven himself a liar over and over again, so none of this is a surprise. These people are treasonous bitches. People need to wake up to these mf traitors.

More at Memeorandum.

#ObamaCare Delay Won't Solve Anything

At IBD, "Delaying ObamaCare's Employer Mandate Solves Nothing":

The reason the administration delayed the Obama-Care employer mandate was because it was turning into a monumental catastrophe. Among the problems:

• Businesses that were supposed to benefit the most from it were instead cutting workers, trimming employees' hours and doing whatever else they could to minimize the mandate's costs. The administration made this problem worse by decreeing that 30 hours constituted full-time work.

• Insurance companies started to announce their ObamaCare premiums for small businesses, and many were coming in with big double-digit increases.

• In June, Obama announced the delay of a key feature of the small business insurance exchanges — called SHOP — that promised choice and competition. Instead of letting workers pick their own plans, as originally promised, owners would have to choose a single plan for their entire workforce.

• Some of the biggest insurers were avoiding the SHOP exchanges altogether. In several states, only one planned to offer a policy, and in Mississippi, none signed up.

• Democrats were starting to rebel against the mandate. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the administration's inability to get the SHOP exchanges fully operational would end up "crippling 29 million small businesses." Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., was pushing a bill to define "full time" as 40 hours a week, saying that without it ObamaCare would "be a negative for our families."

But while the delay might look like a political bonus to Democrats running in 2014, it will likely cause as many political problems as it solves.

Most of the concerns facing businesses will still be there next summer — right before the mid-term elections — when owners will again confront the costly mandate. In fact, the problems will likely be worse, since ObamaCare will have had a full year to wreak havoc on the health care system.

Plus, since the employer mandate was meant to keep businesses from dumping workers into the Obama-Care exchanges, delaying it could encourage them to do just that, which won't endear workers to the law.

And by delaying a key piece of his signature law, Obama has given Republicans ammunition to argue ObamaCare is a fatally flawed, economically ruinous "reform" even Democrats are finding hard to support.

What's more, the individual mandate — which is still set to go into effect as scheduled — is just as disastrous as the employer mandate.

IBD argues that the law should be fully repealed and replaced with market-based reforms. And it will be. After that, the Obama legacy will be one of complete failure on the single most important policy that it passed during the entire two-terms of Hussein's presidency. He's been a terrible president and the bills --- economic and political --- will be coming due for a long time to come.

RTWT at that top link.

Obama's Statement on Egypt

At the Washington Wire:

President Barack Obama’s statement on Wednesday’s events in Egypt:

As I have said since the Egyptian Revolution, the United States supports a set of core principles, including opposition to violence, protection of universal human rights, and reform that meets the legitimate aspirations of the people. The United States does not support particular individuals or political parties, but we are committed to the democratic process and respect for the rule of law. Since the current unrest in Egypt began, we have called on all parties to work together to address the legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people, in accordance with the democratic process, and without recourse to violence or the use of force.

The United States is monitoring the very fluid situation in Egypt, and we believe that ultimately the future of Egypt can only be determined by the Egyptian people. Nevertheless, we are deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove President Morsy and suspend the Egyptian constitution. I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsy and his supporters. Given today’s developments, I have also directed the relevant departments and agencies to review the implications under U.S. law for our assistance to the Government of Egypt.

Continue reading.

And at Twitchy, "Always evolving: White House releases this week’s position on who should control Egypt’s destiny":

Obama on the wrong side of history twice in Egypt. Calls for Mubarak to step down but not Morsi. Nice work.

— Kirsten Powers (@kirstenpowers10) July 3, 2013

Yeah, well. As I tweeted earlier:

He's got no clue, really. RT @emilydparker "Obama orders US to review aid to Egypt" http://t.co/eoKetOf9NF …

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 3, 2013

New Calls to Repeal #ObamaCare

From Bridget Johnson, at PJ Media, "ObamaCare Opponents Energized by Delay, Urge Full Repeal":

Lawmakers critical of ObamaCare were claiming victory at the announcement that the administration would postpone for one year the requirement that businesses cover their employees.

But they also used the Treasury Department’s news as a springboard to issue fresh calls for full repeal of the healthcare law.

“This is a remarkable acknowledgment by the Obama Administration that ObamaCare is a disaster in progress that will hurt job creators and those looking for work,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “The solution to ObamaCare is not to delay the day when the Internal Revenue Service comes after struggling American businesses who cannot afford to provide Washington mandated health coverage. The solution is to repeal it entirely.”

“This monstrous and unaffordable law is bad for business, bad for our economy, and bad for jobs. If the Administration is incapable of fully implementing ObamaCare after three years, then it is clearly too complex to force upon families and small businesses,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas).

Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise (R-La.) noted that President Obama publicly criticizes House Republicans for fighting to repeal Obamacare but “has been privately trying to waive portions of the law for select groups.”

“We have been pointing out for years that Obamacare will be a disaster for hard-working families, and today President Obama finally agreed that this law is not ready for prime time by delaying the employer mandate. The president’s decision is further proof that we need to fully repeal this failed law,” Scalise said. “We stand ready to work on a bipartisan solution to lower health care costs and fix the real problems without the unworkable mandates and taxes in the President’s health care law.”

The law requires businesses of 50 employees or more to provide a prescribed level of health insurance or pay a penalty between $2,000 and $3,000 for each employee working 30 hours or more a week. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) pointed to a Hudson Institute study that found this mandate is expected to lead to an estimated 3.2 million lost jobs

“While the Administration finally admitted that the employer mandate is unworkable in 2014, it now must recognize that the real problem continues to be the entire Affordable Care Act,” Moran said. “Implementation of the ACA has not lowered costs or increased access as promised. Individuals, families and employers still face increasing health insurance costs, new taxes overseen by what we have recently learned is a politically-biased IRS, burdensome mandates, and massive uncertainty because of this flawed law. The best course of action is to dismantle the ACA and replace it with practical reforms that are workable and will actually reduce health care costs.”

Even a few Democrats were happy with the delay...

And see the Heritage Foundation, "It’s Official: Administration Admits Obamacare Is a Job-Killer," and "Morning Bell: So Which Part of Obamacare Works, Then?"

Plus, "The Massive Costs of the Latest Obamacare Waiver."

Military Ousts Mohamed Morsi in Egypt

Al Jazeera's live feed is here.

And at the Lede blog, "The Lede: Latest Updates on Egypt’s Political Crisis."

Also at Legal Insurrection, "Morsi removed from power by military in Egypt."

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Egyptian Military Removes President: Morsi Rejects Move; Court Official Installed as Constitution Is Suspended":

CAIRO—The leader of Egypt's military ousted President Mohammed Morsi from office and replaced him with the head of the country's constitutional court—a move the presidential palace quickly branded a "complete military coup."

The announcements capped days of political crisis that brought millions of Egyptians out to the country's streets, spurring bellicose rhetoric from Mr. Morsi's backers and Egypt's military, and sparking deadly violence. Egyptians remained on the squares on Wednesday evening, the stark divides between their celebration and anger suggesting a new period of political uncertainty ahead.

In a terse televised statement Wednesday evening, Defense Secretary Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi—joined by important Muslim, Coptic and oppositionchiefs—announced Mr. Morsi's ouster. The head of Egypt's highest court—Adly Mansour, a judge who was named to the position only two days earlier—would take over from Mr. Morsi effective immediately, he said.

Mr. Mansour is tasked with leading a technocratic government that will be "inclusive of all political factions" including youth, who Gen. Sisi said would be "empowered" under the terms of the new government.

Gen. Sisi also suspended the constitution that Mr. Morsi and his Islamist allies pushed through late last year in a controversial referendum, and charged the Supreme Constitutional Court with addressing the draft law for parliamentary elections.

The military leader—until recently a close ally of Mr. Morsi—said that a committee would be formed to amend the constitution.

Mr. Morsi's office rejected the move, but called on Egyptians to peacefully resist what it called a military coup. Mr. Morsi's statement came hours after he mounted what appeared to be a last-ditch effort to remain in power—offering a plan to form a coalition government to run parliamentary elections, and forming an independent committee to address constitutional amendments and present them to the coming parliament.

Continue reading.

Also at Foreign Affairs, "Foreign Affairs Report: A Year of Morsi."

Foreign Policy has a lot of excellent coverage, for example, "Celebrating a Disaster in Egypt," and "Can a Coup Ever Be Democratic?"

Still more at Memeorandum.

Expect updates ...

Homosexuals Love Weiner!

Anthony Weiner came out for some gay pride love at the foreskin festival over the weekend.

At New York Magazine, "Anthony Weiner’s ‘Gay’ Pants Are the Talk of the Town." And the New York Post, "Anthony Weiner in bid for gay vote as Christine Quinn wins major endorsement."

A cock-waving adulterer? He should have the homosexual vote locked down!

More at Twitchy, "Outside Stonewall, Anthony Weiner photographed wearing pants."

Employer Mandate Delay is the Locomotive Crashing in the #ObamaCare Train Wreck

The locomotive has derailed and the rest of the train will be tumbling off the tracks shortly.

Yuval Levin, who I referenced this morning already, has an outstanding analysis, "Delaying Obamacare":

I think the administration has just made its Obamacare problems worse rather than alleviating them. But it may have opened a path to alleviating the country’s Obamacare problem, by elevating the idea of delay. Opponents of Obamacare should not imagine that the law will just collapse by itself or that as problems arise Democrats will come to them asking for repeal. That’s just ridiculous. They should look for ways to make the most of opportunities to avert the implementation of this odious law and advance the cause of ultimately repealing and replacing it. And yesterday’s announcement offers such an opportunity. The employer mandate is very bad policy, and its delay (which likely means its elimination) is a good thing. But the rest of Obamacare is very bad policy too. The delay of the employer mandate by a year highlights the irrationality of the larger law and exacerbates its instability. It does not seem to be sustainable as a discrete measure. It calls at the very least for a broader delay.

More at the link.

And at AIM, "CBS: Obamacare Delay a “Major Setback” for White House—Gives Impression It’s “Barely Operational” [Video]."

Flashback: Repeal #ObamaCare

Here, "The Overthrow of ObamaCare":

From Yuval Levin, at the Weekly Standard, "REPEAL: Why and How Obamacare Must Be Undone."

Megyn Kelly to Get Prime-Time Slot on Fox News

At the New York Times:

Back in my May 7 story (http://t.co/fRRaUPBe2c) Greta Van Susteren's husband hinted about a new time slot for her. Maybe weekend prime time?

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 2, 2013

The second quarter of 2013 cemented the recent ratings trends in cable news, with CNN rising and MSNBC falling, while Fox News continued its overall dominance.

But within those quarterly reports was the news that in June Fox News scored its lowest ratings since August 2001 among the viewers news advertisers most want to reach, the 25-to-54 age group. The network may be trying to address this issue with its decision to elevate one of its rising stars, Megyn Kelly, to a prime-time slot as soon as she returns from a planned maternity leave in the next few months. Fox made that expected promotion official on Tuesday.

Fox did not announce a specific show for Ms. Kelly or whose place she would be taking in the network’s prime-time lineup. However, speculation has centered on Greta Van Susteren, the 10 p.m. anchor. Ms. Van Susteren recently signed an extension of her Fox contract but her future role is not certain at this point.

Her husband, John Coale, said in an interview with The Times in May that she would be willing to move to an earlier hour. Several Web sites, including Mediaite, reported this week that Ms. Van Susteren had held talks with CNN, seeking a job at that network. A CNN executive confirmed Tuesday that those talks had taken place.

Fox News also announced on Tuesday that it had extended the contracts of all its evening and prime-time anchors: Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Bret Baier and Shepard Smith.

All those men continued to pile up huge advantages over their competitors in terms of total viewers in the second quarter, as did Fox News, which was up 12 percent in total day ratings and 3 percent in the Monday through Friday prime-time ratings.

But Fox News did show declines among viewers between 25 and 54, the group that accounts for the bulk of ad revenue for news networks. For the quarter, Fox was down 6 percent in total day ratings in that category and 12 percent in the prime-time hours.

Absolutely worst hit: Lying dirtbag Rachel Maddow at the communist MSNBC.