The Mask Slips  —  I haven't read much Karl Marx since the early 1980s, when I taught political philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.  Still, it didn't take me long this weekend to find my copy of “The Marx-Engels Reader,” edited by Robert C. Tucker — a book that was assigned …

Obama Goes on Offense After Fumble  —  GRANTHAM, Pa. — Sen. Barack Obama sharply mocked his Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sunday night as he found himself defending his candidacy to white working-class voters for the second time in a month.  —  Sen. Obama accused Sen. Clinton …

Iraqis aren't stupid — and they're watching us  —  Last month, Vets for Freedom visited the Twin Cities to talk about their experience in Iraq — and got rewarded by being booted from a local high school.  Michael Honeycutt and I, along with hundreds of people from our community …

Housing Woes in U.S. Spread Around Globe  —  DUBLIN — The collapse of the housing bubble in the United States is mutating into a global phenomenon, with real estate prices swooning from the Irish countryside and the Spanish coast to Baltic seaports and even parts of northern India.

Historical Quote of the Day  —  “If [Republicans] could cut funding for Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment, middle-class Americans would see fewer benefits from their tax dollars, feel more resentful paying taxes, and become even more receptive to their appeals for tax cuts …

HARD-CORE MARILYN  —  FBI'S MONROE SEX FLICK SOLD FOR $1.5M  —  Some really like it hot.  —  In the sordid tradition of peddling raunchy video footage of celebrities à la Paris Hilton, a long-buried sex movie of Marilyn Monroe recently hit the market, a top collector told The Post.

Is John McCain Bob Dole?  —  Or is he Dwight Eisenhower?  (Actually, that may depend on whether Barack Obama is Mike Dukakis or John Kennedy.)  A handicapping.  —  By the time John McCain trundles into the ballroom of the Fairmont hotel in Dallas, he has already had what for most men his age would have been a very full day.

MR. AND MS. SPOKEN … When the footage surfaced showing that Hillary Clinton, contrary to what she had been claiming in campaign speeches, had not been obliged to duck and run from sniper fire during her visit to Bosnia in 1996 but, rather, had listened smilingly as a little girl recited a poem about peace …

The Indiana primary's fretful five  —  In the May 6 Indiana primary, the next critical contest after Pennsylvania votes on April 22, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama can point to impressive rosters of endorsements by prominent state and local politicians.

Israel snubs Carter and declines security help  —  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's secret service has declined to assist U.S. agents guarding former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a visit in which Israeli leaders have shunned him, U.S. sources close to the matter said on Monday.

The Matter With What?  —  The politics of condescension.  —  ON THE AFTERNOON OF May 25, 1984, the rising It Candidate of the current electoral season committed an unwitting faux pas at a fundraising event for le tout California that set his high-flying campaign on its heels.

Sat.  Night With Clinton: A Beer, a Slice, and a Charge Against Obama  —  Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) toasted Hammond, Ind., Mayor Tom McDermott, left, during a stop at Bronko's restaurant in Crown Point, Ind., April 12, 2008.  Ed and Patty Hall are seated at right.

Despite Tough Times, Ultrarich Keep Spending  —  Who said anything about a recession?  Sometime between the government bailout of Bear Stearns and the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that America lost 80,000 jobs in March, Lee Tachman spent roughly $50,000 last month on a four-day jaunt to Miami for himself and three close friends.

Co-Payments Go Way Up for Drugs With High Prices  —  Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.

A Lapsed Principle  —  BARACK OBAMA held out the hope of salvaging part of the public financing system for presidential elections.  Now he seems poised to drive a nail into it by rejecting the $85 million available to nominees who agree to take full federal funding for the general election.

A Libertarian Surge?  —  Bob Barr will be dry-eyed if his candidacy is to John McCain what Ralph Nader's was to Al Gore in 2000.  —  Compact and Feisty Bob Barr, 59, probably will seek and get the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, which convenes in Denver on Memorial Day weekend.