Should Michelle Cover Up?  —  Journalists are never supposed to start a piece with a scene in a taxi because it signals either laziness about gathering facts or a tendency to embroider facts.  —  Nonetheless, I'm going to.  David Brooks and I were sharing a cab to the British Embassy the other day to meet with Gordon Brown.

Why Rush is Wrong  —  The party of Buckley and Reagan is now bereft and dominated by the politics of Limbaugh.  A conservative's lament.  —  Ron Edmonds / AP  —  Good As Is: Conservatism, Limbaugh told CPAC, ‘is what it is, and it is forever’  —  From the magazine issue dated Mar 16, 2009

Mixed Opinions of a Judge Accused of Misconduct  —  DALLAS — If Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of Texas' highest criminal court, has ever doubted her judgment, she has not shown it.  —  In 1998, Judge Keller wrote the opinion rejecting a new trial for Roy Criner, a mentally retarded man convicted …

Dreaming of Splitting the Taliban  —  FRIENDS?  FOES?  —  WASHINGTON  —  HERE is a proposition that is bound to cut deep into the national psyche: Should the United States seek to negotiate with some of the same people who gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden prior to the Sept. 11 attacks?

New Chairman Boos G.O.P. When He's Not Cheerleading  —  None of the guests seemed to be complaining, yet Michael Steele stood at a Fifth Avenue fund-raiser in New York on Wednesday evening and defended his month-old tenure as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Russian media teases Clinton over ‘reset’ button … Russian media has been poking fun at US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she gave her Russian counterpart a “reset” button with an ironic misspelling.  —  Clinton's gift to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at their meeting …

Recession on track to be longest in postwar period  —  WASHINGTON - Factory jobs disappeared.  Inflation soared.  Unemployment climbed to alarming levels.  The hungry lined up at soup kitchens.  —  It wasn't the Great Depression.  It was the 1981-82 recession, widely considered America's worst since the depression.

A Pardon For A Friend, A Good Deal For Dodd  —  It takes considerable political skill for a U.S. senator to win a presidential pardon for a friend without the traditional review by the Justice Department.  Sen. Christopher Dodd moved the furtive levers of power in 2001 for Edward R. Downe …

Obama to bring Cuba in from the cold  —  US companies are queuing up as the president moves to ease restrictions on travel and trade, raising hopes of warmer relations and an end to the embargo  —  President Barack Obama is poised to offer an olive branch to Cuba in an effort to repair the US's tattered reputation in Latin America.

British Muslim leader urged to quit over Gaza  —  Abdullah advocates attack on foreign navies if they halt arms smuggling  —  One of the UK's most influential Islamic leaders, who has helped counter extremism in the country's mosques, is accused of advocating attacks on the Royal Navy …

Analysis: Fayad's control over PA's finances put him on a collision course with Fatah  —  If Hamas and Fatah had ever agreed on anything, it was the need to get rid of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.  That's why Fayad's resignation on Saturday was received with a sigh of relief by many Hamas and Fatah officials.

Wallace Defends Limbaugh: 'He Wasn't Saying I Want The President To Fail'  —  This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace aired a clip of President Obama saying last month, “The only way to solve the great challenges of our time is put aside stale ideology and petty partisanship and embrace what works.”

The Next Hit: Quick Defaults  —  More FHA-Backed Mortgages Go Bad Without a Single Payment  —  The last time the housing market was this bad, Congress set up the Federal Housing Administration to insure Depression-era mortgages that lenders wouldn't otherwise make.

Tea Party on: Taxpayer revolts in Green Bay, Lafayette, Olathe, and Harrisburg; Plus: Live from Fullerton CA... “Recall the Taxinator!  ;” Arnie videotapes/DVDs smashes/shredded  —  Scroll for updates...  The tax-paying rebels are not going away.  —  In Green Bay, Wisconsin …

Pentagon's Unwanted Projects in Earmarks  —  When President Obama promised Wednesday to attack defense spending that he considers wasteful and inefficient, he opened a fight with key lawmakers from his own party.  —  It was Democrats who stuffed an estimated $524 million in defense earmarks …