Obama, McCain Respond to Guantanamo Bay Ruling  —  The presidential candidates reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today to grant terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay access to the federal courts.  —  Republican John McCain told reporters in Boston that he had not yet read the opinion …

Media and Critics Split Over Sexism in Clinton Coverage  —  Angered by what they consider sexist news coverage of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, many women and erstwhile Clinton supporters are proposing boycotts of the cable networks …

Global Economic Gloom - China and India Notable Exceptions  —  Some Positive Signs for U.S. Image  —  Overview  —  Five years after the start of the war in Iraq, the image of the United States abroad remains far less positive than it was before the war and at the beginning of the century.

Countdown Special Comment: The Unimportance of Being John McCain  —  John McCain has said many a stupid thing during this general election campaign.  But when he told Matt Lauer on The Today Show that bringing our troops home was just not that important, he crossed a line from stupidity to being unforgivable:

Fox News Would Like To Take a Moment To Remind You That the Obamas Are As Black As Satan's Festering, Baby-Eating Soul  —  Back in the day - you know, when presidential candidates were respectably white - news organizations called potential First Ladies “wives.”

Why won't Congress consider impeaching Pres. Bush?  —  FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:  —  The House of Representatives has voted to send an impeachment resolution against President Bush to committee - where it's likely to die.  —  Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced the 35 articles of impeachment this week.

Kanjorski caught in another ‘gotcha’ moment  —  U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski is getting a first-hand lesson in the hazards of the digital age.  —  For the second time in a month, a clip on the wildly popular video-posting Web site, YouTube, is earning him election-year attention he'd probably rather avoid.

That's Mavericky  —  McCain lies to Fox about who is going to attend his town hall.  Funny.

Gun Control Group Braces for Court Loss  —  'We've Lost the Battle on What the 2nd Amendment Means,' Brady Campaign Head Says  —  The nation's leading gun control group filed a “friend of the court” brief back in January defending the gun ban in Washington, D.C. But with the Supreme Court poised …

Town Hall: McCain's Comfort Zone  —  Campaign Banks On Meetings to Give Best Forum for Republican  —  Microphone in hand and surrounded on all sides by friendly inquisitors, Republican Sen. John McCain called on a man in the back row of New York's Federal Hall on Thursday night and waited …

Obama, Liberalism and the Challenge of Reform  —  Is Barack Obama really a force for change, or is he just a traditional Democrat with a patina of postpartisan rhetoric?  —  That question is surprisingly hard to answer.  When you listen to his best speeches, you see a person who really could herald a new political era.

Senator McCain Could Save His Campaign with Energy Policy Flip-Flop  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: You have to feel for Senator McCain a little bit.  He goes on the Today Show yesterday, and Matt Lauer asks him when the troops are going to come outta there in Iraq, and McCain says …

Bad Cow Disease  —  “Mary had a little lamb / And when she saw it sicken / She shipped it off to Packingtown / And now it's labeled chicken.”  —  That little ditty famously summarized the message of “The Jungle,” Upton Sinclair's 1906 exposé of conditions in America's meat-packing industry.

LOAN SLEAZE SPREADS  —  2 SENATORS GOT ‘EXEC PAL’ DEALS  —  Two influential US senators got “VIP” loans from a leading subprime mortgage lender that saved them tens of thousands of dollars, it was reported last night.  —  The Democratic pols, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota …

Obama aides grilled in Dearborn  —  In talk with Chaldeans, Arab-Americans assertion made that candidate has ignored Islamophobia.  —  DEARBORN — As he continues to fend off false assertions that he is Muslim, aides to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president …