Executive Order: Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security with Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate …

Post-mortem on the Intelligence Committee vote  —  (updated below)  —  The Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday rejected Sen. Rockefeller's motion to hold hearings to investigate the President's warrantless eavesdropping program by an 8-7, strict party line vote.

Democrats' Data Mining Stirs an Intraparty Battle  —  With Private Effort on Voter Information, Ickes and Soros Challenge Dean and DNC  —  A group of well-connected Democrats led by a former top aide to Bill Clinton is raising millions of dollars to start a private firm that plans …

Late Nite FDL: Thank You  —  It looks like Henry Cuellar is going to take the Democratic nomination in Texas 28, but I just want to say how brave, how inspirational the participation of everyone on this site and across the blogosphere has been in the Ciro Rodriguez race.

Iran Threatens U.S. With 'Harm and Pain'  —  VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Iran threatened the United States with "harm and pain" Wednesday for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program.  America's ambassador to the United Nations said Iran's comments reflected the menace it poses.

The Daily Muck  —  You wouldn't know it from his folksy manner, but Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) is in deep with the telecom lobby, where a whole stable of his ex-aides have gone on to thrive, with good return: … DeLay Staggers from the Ashes  —  Tom DeLay won a solid 62% of the vote yesterday …

Three arrested in Alabama church fires  —  (CNN) — Three people have been arrested in connection with 10 church fires in Alabama last month, officials said Wednesday.  —  Two of the suspects are Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk, both 19 and students at Birmingham Southern College, said Richard Montgomery, Alabama's state fire marshal.

Hardball for the left, softball for the right: Conservatives dominate on Hardball … Since its CNBC debut as Politics with Chris Matthews in 1996*, MSNBC's long-running Hardball with Chris Matthews has consistently attracted criticism from the right wing.  For example, in January 2006 …

At Conservative Forum on Bush, Everybody's a Critic  —  If the ancient political wisdom is correct that a charge unanswered is a charge agreed to, the Bush White House pleaded guilty yesterday at the Cato Institute to some extraordinary allegations.  —  "We did ask a few members …

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for April 16  —  Read the complete transcript to Friday's show  —  Guests: William Cohen, Jon Meacham, Pat Toomey, Andrew Greeley  —  CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Al Jazeera TV plays video of a U.S. soldier held hostage in Iraq.

Thinking Things Through  —  Speaking of abortion, Digby has linked to this amazing video from At Center Network of anti-abortion protesters being asked whether women who have abortions should go to jail.  Since it's only available in Real format and it'll eat into their bandwidth, I've taken the liberty of uploading the vid to YouTube.

Giving Yale the finger  —  Since the New York Times and Wall Street Journal broke the news about the admission of Taliban official Sayeed Rahmatullah Hashemi to a special student program at Yale, we've received numerous emails from outraged Yale Alumni.  One email stood out from the rest …

Fight Looms on Lawmakers' Use of Corporate Jets  —  WASHINGTON, March 7 — Senator Barack Obama flew at least nine times on corporate jets last year, traveling to fund-raisers in New York and San Francisco, home to Chicago and to Rosa Parks's funeral in Detroit.

Retirement Fund Tapped to Avoid National Debt Limit  —  The Treasury Department has started drawing from the civil service pension fund to avoid hitting the $8.2 trillion national debt limit.  The move to tap the pension fund follows last month's decision to suspend investments in a retirement savings plan held by government employees.

NRSC Fundraising Scheme Has Potential to Intimidate Elderly  —  Earlier today I went out to my mailbox to get our mail.  I saw a very official looking envelope that had printed "Return Enclosed" at the bottom as if it were a tax return.  While it was addressed to my husband …

NJ's dumb bill on anonymity  —  New Jersey Assemblyman Peter Biondi has proposed a numbskulled, unconstitutional, offensive, and downright stupid bill that would force operators of internet services — presumably, forums, chats, blog hosts, web hosts, perhaps even email services and ISPs …