Top House Democrat denounces Clinton campaign tactics  —  WASHINGTON - “Scurrilous” and “disingenuous” were among the words a top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives used on Thursday to describe Hillary Clinton's campaign tactics in her bid to defeat Barack Obama for their party's presidential nomination.

Obama's ‘Distractions’?  —  Real change has never been easy. . . . The status quo in Washington will fight.  They will fight harder than ever to divide us and distract us with ads and attacks from now until November.  —  Pennsylvania primary night speech  —  With that, Obama identified …

The men in black vanish and Basra comes to life  —  The first Western journalist to enter the city since Operation Charge of the Knights was launched a month ago  —  Young women are daring to wear jeans, soldiers listen to pop music on their mobile phones and bands are performing at wedding parties again.

Jeremiah Wright  —  More than 3,000 news stories have been penned since early April about Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama.  But behind the five second loop is a man who has preached three different sermons nearly every Sunday since 1972.  In his interview on BILL MOYERS JOURNAL …

Self-Inflicted Confusion  —  After Barack Obama's defeat in Pennsylvania, David Axelrod, his campaign manager, brushed it off: “Nothing has changed tonight in the basic physics of this race.”  —  He may well be right — but what a comedown.  A few months ago the Obama campaign was talking about transcendence.

Study says near extinction threatened people 70,00 years ago  —  WASHINGTON - Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests.  The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought …

Syria Reactor Story a Diversion; But From What?  —  The US and Israel accused Syria on Thursday of building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korean help.  There was a lot of innuendo in the press that the reactor was intended for nuclear weapons production.  But AFP notes:

Snipes Gets Maximum Sentence: 36 Months  —  OCALA, Fla. — Wesley Snipes was sentenced to 36 months in prison Thursday, the maximum sentence allowed.  —  Watch The Story  —  Snipes was convicted of three misdemeanor charges for not filing his taxes.  —  During the sentencing, Snipes did apologize.

Friday Line: McCain's Best Strategic Moves  —  With Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) locked in a seemingly endless fight for the Democratic nomination, The Fix is taking a pass on the vice presidential Line this month.  There's too much uncertainty — even for us.

Scalia On Bush v. Gore: Get Over It!  —  Supreme Court Justice Tells 60 Minutes It's Nonsense To Say The Decision Was Politically Motivated  —  (CBS) People who believe the U.S. Supreme Court's decision giving the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush was politically motivated …

The Democrats Have a Nominee  —  So what?  —  Other than ensuring the Greatest Show on Earth will continue, does it matter that Hillary Clinton defeated Barack Obama Tuesday in Pennsylvania by nine-plus points?  Barack Obama is the nominee.  —  No matter how many kicks the rest of us find …