RNC CALLS WRIGHT AD ‘NOT APPROPRIATE’  —  From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann  —  Update to NC Gop anti-Obama ad that references the Rev. Jeremiah Wright...  Per the RNC, the national leadership of the Republican Party has been in contact this morning with the North Carolina GOP, urging them to refrain from running the “Extreme” ad.

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 …

Petraeus picked to lead Mideast command  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Gen. David Petraeus, the four-star general who led troops in Iraq for the past year, will be nominated by President Bush to be the next commander of U.S. Central Command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

The Next McGovern?  —  Obama may still get the nomination, but his loss tonight deals a harsh blow to his electibility arguments.  —  Hillary Clinton won a decisive ten-round decision over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary, but she didn't score a knockout.  The struggle continues.

Reductio ad Obamum  —  Stanley's analysis below is correct - and dear old Nora Ephron's sneer over at The Huffington Post about whether Pennsylvania's embittered white men are more racist than they're sexist or vice-versa gets things completely upside down.  The embittered white men …

Gallup Daily: Obama 50%, Clinton 42% Nationally  —  Clinton and Obama both run within one point of McCain in fall ballot  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton in national Democratic preferences for the nomination, 50% to 42%, in Gallup Poll Daily tracking from April 20-22.

‘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 …

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 …

Hagee Says Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans Because It Was ‘Planning A Sinful’ ‘Homosexual Rally’  —  On September 18, 2006, Pastor John Hagee — whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said this past Sunday he was “glad to have” — told NPR's Terry Gross that “Hurricane Katrina was …

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 …

Terrorist Fundraisers for Obama  —  Two years ago, Hatem El-Hady was the chairman of the Toledo, Ohio-based Islamic charity, Kindhearts, which was closed by the US government in February 2006 for terrorist fundraising and all its assets frozen.  Today, El-Hady has redirected his fundraising efforts …