Obama is Smokin'  —  Last August, I ran into Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, outside the Senate chamber in the Capitol.  —  This was before the Obama surge, before he had omnipresent Secret Service agents, back when you might see him strolling solo.  —  We chatted for a second …

STATEMENT OF AIR AMERICA RADIO, FROM CHAIR CHARLIE KIREKER  —  New York - Air America has suspended on-air host Randi Rhodes for making inappropriate statements about prominent figures, including Senator Hillary Clinton, at a recent public appearance on behalf of Air America in San Francisco …

FIRST THOUGHTS: TWO DIFFERENT MAPS  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro  —  *** Two different maps: On TODAY and Morning Joe, NBC's Tim Russert took at a stab at November's electoral map.  And this morning, we do the same, to show how different Clinton's and Obama's paths to 270 are.

GOP under fire from everywhere after 9/11 comments  —  WASHINGTON - The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks “simply” a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims' families.

Al Qaeda #2: We'll Attack Iran  —  Recently, Senator John McCain has repeatedly indicated that Iran and al-Qaeda are in cahoots.  The terror group's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, would beg to differ.  In a long-promised online Q&A session, Zawahiri says it would be “in the interest” …

Shocker — Republican Pundits Now Prefer Clinton!  —  Noam links to an interview with Karl Rove, and notes that “Rove is pretty down on Obama, and actually somewhat sympathetic to Hillary.  Though he doesn't explicitly say why.”  Gee, could it be that Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee, and Clinton isn't?

Ted Turner: Global warming could lead to cannibalism  —  Billionaire environmentalist says world has too many people  —  Failure to address global warming will have us all dead or eating each other by mid-century.  —  So says Ted Turner, the restaurateur, environmentalist …

John Edwards says would not accept VP nomination  —  LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said on Thursday he would not accept the nomination for U.S. vice president as he did four years ago.  —  Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina …

McCain rejects Secret Service protection  —  Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) may be the presumptive GOP nominee for president, but, by his own wishes, he is not being protected by the Secret Service.  —  “He has not requested protection,” Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told a congressional subcommittee this morning.

Muslims Leaving Islam in Droves  —  Pope Benedict's choice to publicly baptize the most prominent Muslim in Italy, Egyptian-born Magdi Allam, highlights a quiet worldwide exodus from Islam.  In recent years, millions have moved on.  With this high-profile action, Pope Benedict demonstratively blesses …

Student Sues ‘Anti-Christian’ Teacher Over Remarks in Class  —  A student and his family have filed a federal lawsuit demanding that a popular European history teacher at California's Capistrano Valley High School be fired for what they say were anti-Christian remarks he made in the classroom.

Carter hints at Obama backing  —  The Nigerian paper This Day reports that the former president all but came out for Obama, speaking to reporters in that country: … He was in Abuja, the paper reports, for the Carter Center awards for guinea worm eradication.