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.

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 …

TX-28 Postmortem, Part II: Qualitative and Strategy  —  Well, it looks like our first primary challenge against an incumbent Democrat didn't work out.  To my knowledge, there haven't been any official concession yet, but no matter what happens, I would like to point out that Republicans still …

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 …

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 …

House Agrees To Vote On Ports  —  Efforts by the White House to hold off legislation challenging a Dubai-owned company's acquisition of operations at six major U.S. ports collapsed yesterday when House Republican leaders agreed to allow a vote next week that could kill the deal.

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.

Take the Fifth  —  South Dakota's invitation to snuff your embryo.  —  Monday morning, Gov. Mike Rounds signed into law a ban on nearly all abortions in South Dakota.  He called it a "direct challenge" to Roe v. Wade.  But the ban also poses a direct challenge to the pro-life movement …

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.

'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.

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 …

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.

Delivering the Conservative Line on 'Monologues'  —  Monique Stuart was a teenager when Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" first appeared off-off-Broadway a decade ago.  —  But by the time the 24-year-old saw the play in her senior year of college, she'd already made up her mind that it wasn't worth much.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Dana Reeve, Devoted Caretaker and Advocate, Is Dead at 44  —  Dana Reeve, who devoted herself to the care of her paralyzed husband, the actor Christopher Reeve, and became a forceful advocate for research into spinal cord injuries, died on Monday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.

Rumsfeld Says Media Exaggerating Iraqi Civilian Deaths  —  Defense Secretary Suggests Misreporting Swaying Public Opinion  —  Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today presented an upbeat report of the conflict in Iraq and said he agrees with the commander of the U.S.-led coalition …

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.