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 …

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” …

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.

In Terms of Geography, Obama Appeals to Academics and Clinton Appeals to Jacksonians  —  In reviewing the maps of the Democratic primary results, in Dave Leip's electoral atlas, I was struck by the narrow geographic base of Barack Obama's candidacy.  In state after state …

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.

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 …

Conyers, Judiciary Members Demand Answers from Attorney General on 9/11 Surveillance  —  Today Members of the Judiciary Committee wrote a letter (pdf) to Attorney General Mukasey regarding recent comments on 9/11 surveillance.  —  From the Judiciary Committee:

Murtha: Clinton Cannot Win Nomination Without Popular Vote  —  Hillary Clinton simply cannot be the Democratic nominee if she doesn't win the popular vote, Pennsylvania congressman and Clinton-backer John Murtha said Wednesday.  —  “Clinton has to win Pennsylvania,” he argued in an interview.

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 …

Gregory: Bush 'didn't jump to invade Iraq' after 9/11.  —  Yesterday, on MSNBC's Hardball, David Gregory exonerated President Bush for his misguided invasion of Iraq, saying there's “not a lot of argument” that Bush “had the right response to 9/11.”  Gregory commended Bush for not immediately …

The Patriotism Problem  —  When he was really rolling in February, Barack Obama would close every speech with a peroration about the importance of hope.  The setup always seemed a bit defensive to me — an attack on the pundits and party elders who thought he was too idealistic, a “hopemonger” …

British Muslims ‘planned to kill thousands by bombing SEVEN transatlantic airliners in one go’  —  A British terror gang plotted to use liquid explosives to blow up transatlantic passenger jets in mid-flight, a court heard today.  —  Eight men planned to smuggle bombs disguised as soft drinks …

Heritage  —  It seems that April is Confederate Heritage month.  Why one would want to celebrate a heritage of violent rebellion against a democratically elected government in order to perpetuate a system of chattel slavery is a bit hard for me to say.  —  When I was growing up in New York City …

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 …