The Low Road to Victory  —  The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.

In Oklahoma: Henry backs Obama  —  Gov. Brad Henry, who said earlier he would not endorse a Democratic presidential candidate until this summer's national convention, announced this morning he is supporting Barack Obama.  —  The endorsement means Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois …

McCain, GOP Unhappy With N.C. GOP AD  —  Sen. John McCain sent this letter to the chairman of the North Carolina GOP this a.m.: … Danny Diaz, the RNC's communications director, in a statement: … There's a sense among some GOP activists that the McCain campaign depresses the base …

Petraeus Picked to Lead U.S. Central Command  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Wednesday will recommend the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, to lead Central Command, the military command responsible for Middle East operations.

Breaking News (Updated): Ron Paul surges in Pa.  —  While some people pay attention to the alleged contest between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (and she won big), almost unnoticed is the Republican primary.  —  Many people think Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain has won the GOP nomination.

Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations'  —  The United States has less than 5 percent of the world's population.  But it has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners.  —  Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent …

‘Basic Instinct’ Director Paul Verhoeven: Jesus Was Son of Mary and a Roman Rapist  —  In his upcoming biography of Jesus, “Basic Instinct” director Paul Verhoeven will make the shocking claim that Christ probably was the son of Mary and a Roman soldier who raped her during the Jewish uprising in Galilee …

The Accidental Rebel  —  IT was the year of years, the year of craziness, the year of fire, blood and death.  I had just turned 21, and I was as crazy as everyone else.  —  There were half a million American soldiers in Vietnam, Martin Luther King had just been assassinated …

Bill: Stop selling Playboy, Penthouse on base  —  Concerned that the military is selling pornography in exchange stores in spite of a ban, one lawmaker has introduced a bill to clean up the matter.  —  “Our troops should not see their honor sullied so that the moguls behind magazines …

The Big Superdelegate Suck-Up  —  Matthew Yglesias, the leftist blogger, cries to the heavens: “I have to say that I'm getting really tired of this.  All the superdelegates should just say who they're voting for and bring this to the end.”  The New York Times is, I hear, going to call on them to do the same immediately.

The Baghdad Embassy, a W Hotel  —  There's been constant grousing that the gigantic, $750 million U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is way too big and expensive, even though it came in at scarcely more than 20 percent over budget (and nearly a year late).  —  But critics, who acknowledge it's …