Michelle Obama serves food to D.C. poor and homeless, but...  First Lady Michelle Obama showed up Thursday as a surprise and welcome volunteer at Miriam's Kitchen, a soup kitchen for homeless poor people not far from the White House.  —  She brought with her some food donated by White House staff.

Steele pushes back; rivals gripe  —  With Republican criticism of Michael Steele intensifying following his dust up earlier this week with Rush Limbaugh, the new Republican National Committee chairman's high command is moving to rebut claims that he's not up to leading the party.

When Obamatons Respond  —  On Tuesday, I wrote that the Obama budget is a liberal, big government document that should make moderates nervous.  The column generated a large positive response from moderate Obama supporters who are anxious about where the administration is headed.

651,000 Jobs Reported Lost in February  —  Another 651,000 jobs were lost in February, adding to the millions of people who have been thrown out of work as the economic downturn deepens.  —  In a stark measure of the recession's toll, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday …

President Barack Obama dislikes Britain, but he's keen to meet the Queen  —  President Obama has been rudeness personified towards Britain this week.  His handling of the visit of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling.  First Brown wasn't granted a press conference with flags …

Birther smackdown  —  As the many lawsuits challenging Obama's eligibility make their way through the courts, judges appear to be getting a little fed up, and D.C. District Judge James Robertson penned a particularly harsh memo yesterday dismissing a case called Hollister v. Soetero.

A fight I didn't intend to get into: Chas Freeman  —  I have never met Chas Freeman, the man whose reported selection as head of the National Intelligence Council has drawn such criticism, including from my colleague Jeffrey Goldberg.  Not having had a chance to assess him first hand …

The Big Dither  —  Last month, in his big speech to Congress, President Obama argued for bold steps to fix America's dysfunctional banks.  “While the cost of action will be great,” he declared, “I can assure you that the cost of inaction will be far greater, for it could result in an economy …

Is Obama responsible for Wall Street's meltdown?  —  “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer.  —  Is Obama responsible for the meltdown of the Dow?  The consistently wrongheaded Wall Street Journal's editorial page says so, as does Republican Fox News, CNN's reliably demagogic Lou Dobbs, and now CNBC …

A Heated Exchange: Al Gore Confronts His Critic(s)  —  The Goreacle has spoken-again.  —  Former Vice President Al Gore repeated his message that climate change is a planetary emergency at the WSJ's Eco:nomics conference in California.  The Nobel-prize winner declined to take any questions from reporters …

Obama's Radicalism Is Killing the Dow  —  A financial crisis is the worst time to change the foundations of American capitalism.  —  It's hard not to see the continued sell-off on Wall Street and the growing fear on Main Street as a product, at least in part, of the realization …

Fox News' Glenn Beck strikes ratings gold by challenging Barack Obama  —  His success comes as Fox News embraces the role of voice of opposition to the new administration.  —  Reporting from New York — Before Glenn Beck started his new show on Fox News in January, he sat down with Roger Ailes …

The Great Non Sequitur  —  The Sleight of Hand Behind Obama's Agenda  —  Forget the pork.  Forget the waste.  Forget the 8,570 earmarks in a bill supported by a president who poses as the scourge of earmarks.  Forget the “2 trillion dollars in savings” that “we have already identified …

Nominee for Solicitor General Revises Her Opinion on Opinions  —  Perhaps every nominee committed a dark, regrettable act in the past that he or she hopes will never see the light, but unfortunately for Elena Kagan, hers was discovered pretty quickly after she was nominated to be solicitor general:

WEINER'S ‘NAUGHTY’ HOTTIE$  —  FOREIGN BABES GAVE ILLEGALLY  —  Talk about the wrong kind of foreign aid!  —  After he proposed to expand the visas available to foreign models so they can work in New York, Rep. Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign took contributions from some cat walkers from abroad.

Undisclosed Losses at Merrill Lynch Lead to a Trading Inquiry  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One Merrill Lynch trader apparently gambled away more than $120 million in the currency markets.  Others seemingly lost hundreds of millions on tricky credit derivatives.  —  But somehow all this red ink …

My Fellow Conservatives, Let's Be Bad Guys!  —  No matter what we do, we're painted as the villains.  So let's twirl our mustaches and get to work.  —  By the numbers: since President Barack Obama was sworn in, the financial markets have dropped to ten-year lows, housing prices are off …

Anti-Obama retains radio power  —  (CNN) — It seems like the whole world knows all about Barack Obama, so let me introduce you to the anti-Obama, the second most interesting man in American politics.  —  Rush Limbaugh isn't black, slim, stylish or well schooled.

CNBC stays mum after takedown by Jon Stewart  —  NEW YORK (AP) — If you make a date to be on a late-night talk show, it's best not to back out.  —  John McCain learned that lesson the hard way with David Letterman last fall, and CNBC reporter Rick Santelli just took it on the chin from Jon Stewart.

Obama meeting with paper  —  The New York Times is finally getting its sit-down with President Obama, a White House aide confirmed Friday.  —  Reporters on the road with Obama began speculating about a Times interview with the President after the Times's White House team - Peter Baker …

FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE ECONOMIC CRISIS  —  Looking over the consolidation of the financial services industry you see a distressing pattern.  Find one company that brings together a lot of decently run and profitable companies under one roof.  Then set up one subsidiary which sells …

A Tragedy of Errors, and an Accounting  —  After a crash, the Marines set an example.  —  It is late in the morning one day last December.  —  A plane is in distress, it's lost one engine and now two and it's going down, and people on the ground hear the sound, look up, say, “That's going awful low,” and whip out their cellphones.

Moderate Dems present challenge for renewable energy plan  —  Senate backers of a renewable electricity standard are closer than ever to the 60 votes needed to pass the long-stymied plan, but reaching the magic filibuster-proof number is proving to be no easy task.

Al-Marri detention case ended  —  The Supreme Court on Friday wiped out a lower court ruling that gave the President the authority to detain indefinitely as terrorism suspects individuals who are living legally in the United States.  The order also approved transfer of Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri …

Battling Obama by ‘Going Galt’  —  A protester at the Chicago Tea Party on February 27 references Ayn Rand's novel.  (Flickr: swyngarden)  —  “Do you ever wonder,” wrote Dr. Helen Smith, “after dealing with all that is going on with the economy and the upcoming election, if it's getting to be time to ‘go John Galt?’”

On Demagoguery  —  I went and listened to the on-air debate between David Frum and Mark Levin at the urging of Massie and Sullivan, and I came away with the surprising conclusion that Levin definitely got the best of Frum (all use of the mute button aside).  I think that's because Frum …