NEW PA. POLL HAS CLINTON HOLDING LEAD  —  From NBC's Chuck Todd  —  A new MSNBC/McClatchy/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette poll of Pennsylvania indicates things are staying fairly competitive in the Pennsylvania Dem primary.  —  The poll of 625 likely Dem primary voters was conducted Thursday …

The Wage That Meant Middle Class  —  Whatever Senator Barack Obama meant by his less than artful remarks about small-town Pennsylvanians “bitter” over lost jobs, he certainly turned a lot of attention last week to the decline of the American worker, bitter or not.

Fear and Loathing at the Los Angeles Times  —  With the Iraqi Army defeating Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army in Basra, the L.A. Times has moved on to tell its readers how terrible things might get in Najaf.  Buried in the middle of the piece, however, is a bit about the battle for Basra:

RIDING THE RAILS WITH SEN. OBAMA IN PENNSYLVANIA.  —  DOWNINGTON, Pa.— At the next train stop, I'm going to stand behind Senator Obama when he speaks.  When he's decrying the trivial distractions in politics, I think he may be crossing his fingers behind his back.

McCain: A Question of Temperament  —  John McCain cupped a fist and began pumping it, up and down, along the side of his body.  It was a gesture familiar to a participant in the closed-door meeting of the Senate committee who hoped that it merely signaled, as it sometimes had in the past …

The Wealth Trajectory: Rewards for the Few  —  IF there is one thing about the United States economy in recent years that is beyond dispute, it is this: It's a great time to be rich.  —  Yes, I know, being rich has never exactly been a downer.  But today it is all the more sweet.

Major revelation: U.S. media deceitfully disseminates government propaganda  —  This morning's “blockbuster” New York Times article by David Barstow, documenting the Pentagon and U.S. media's joint use of pre-programmed “military analysts” who posed as objective experts while touting …

Obama On Gun Control  —  Obama's views on gun control are in the news, so let me add a tidbit you have not read elsewhere.  —  First, the news:  —  Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft points out that Barack Obama is bobbing and weaving on the constitutionality of the Washington DC gun ban …

EXPERT WITNESS  —  A BLOGGER ON THE FRONTLINES BRINGS REAL STORY OF IRAQ  —  How a New ‘Greatest Generation’ of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope  —  Those already familiar with Michael Yon's work might have one question regarding his book …

Electability  —  One place I decided to try to avoid going was to the land of the “electability” argument.  I find these discussions, though admittedly I occasionally get sucked in, to be quite tiresome.  First I reject the idea that one should pick a candidate based on some imagined preferences of other voters.

An interesting endorsement for Obama  —  I noticed yesterday that David Boren, former Democratic Senator from Oklahoma and current President of OU, had joined Sam Nunn in endorsing Obama.  I thought that was odd, because Boren was known as a fairly conservative Democrat …

HBO, after the revolution  —  CURRENT HISTORY: Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney in HBO's “ John Adams.”  The classy miniseries, which has done well, in the ratings, ends its run Sunday.  —  It used to always be the premium of the premiums.  Now the cable pack's catching up.