TRANSCRIPT: OBAMA ON ‘FNS’  —  Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate from Illinois, sat for an interview Saturday in Indiana with Chris Wallace.  The interview aired on “FOX News Sunday.”  They touched on a wide range of topics including the marathon race to the Democratic nomination …

How the South Won (This) Civil War  —  Southernism is taking over our national dialogue.  Maybe it's time for the North to secede from the Union.  —  NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE  —  In the summer of 1863, Robert E. Lee led an ill-advised incursion into Pennsylvania.

Bowling 1, Health Care 0  —  Chapel Hill, N.C.  —  FOR the last month, news media attention was focused on Pennsylvania and its Democratic primary.  Given the gargantuan effort, what did we learn?  —  Well, the rancor of the campaign was covered.  The amount of money spent was covered.

Babies seized by Robert Mugabe's forces as Zimbabwe hounds voters  —  Thousands flee crackdown  —  Christina Lamb and John Makura in Harare  —  Scores of children and babies have been locked up in filthy prison cells in Harare as Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, sinks to new depths …

Karzai Escapes an Assassination Attempt in Kabul  —  KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai survived an assassination attempt at a military parade in central Kabul on Sunday, when suspected Taliban insurgents fired mortars and bullets at the dignitaries assembled in the spectator stands.

Obama donor received a state grant  —  His letter on behalf of a table tennis company preceded the funding.  —  WASHINGTON — After an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2000, Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama faced serious financial pressure: numerous debts, limited cash and a law practice he had neglected for a year.

North Korea's New Target Opportunity  —  Get this (via the Times OnLine, as in London Times, aka “The Times"): … Now, read the whole thing (RTWT in old blog lingo).  —  Note that the reporter, or editor, or perhaps the NoKo defector, or perhaps all three think that the Israeli strike …

AL SHARPTON CONVENES ANOTHER LYNCH MOB  —  Al Sharpton is back in the news today with his vow to close New York down to protest the acquittals of three police detectives in the death of Sean Bell.  Sharpton's long career as the race hustling leader of lynch mobs is one of the continuing disgraces of our public life.

Grasping at Straws: The NY Times on McCain  —  This is getting embarrassing.  Remember the front-page story The New York Times ran about John McCain's non-affair with a lobbyist?  That was the long-held piece of non-news that the Times subtly dropped like a barbell at midnight shortly …

The nomination battle  —  Arnold Kling summarizes quite succinctly just how much the stars aligned to put Obama in the lead: … Arnold thinks that as soon as the dust has settled, the party will unite behind the nominee.  —  I would guess that this will be less true of a Hillary Clinton nomination than of a Barack Obama nomination.

THE BUBBA GAP....Apparently this week's issue of Newsweek was guest edited by Mark Penn.  The cover story is blurbed like this: “Barack Obama is a Niebuhr-reading ESPN watcher.  The origins of his troubles with the ‘other’ tag.”  And the cover photo dramatizes this as arugula vs. beer.  Cute!

Obama on Those Who Say He Doesn't Respect the Flag: 'It's a Lie'  —  At a town hall in Kokomo, Ind., Friday a woman told Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., that her mother wasn't going to vote for him because he didn't “address the flag.”  —  “This is a phony issue,” Obama said.  “So let me address it right now.”