Palin Hits Obama on ‘Special Olympics’ Joke  —  Gov. Sarah Palin responded to remarks made last night by President Obama related to the Special Olympics on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”: … Well, after the way his allies went after her, he really couldn't count on a full-throated defense of a boneheaded comment.

GOP Pressed on Health Care  —  House Democrats Set September Deadline for Compromise  —  House Democrats, in consultation with the White House, will give Republican lawmakers until September to reach a compromise on President Obama's signature health-care initiative — otherwise …

THIS FEED IS CLOSED TO THE PRESS.  —  Huh, I wonder why Jake Tapper, press access warrior, has blocked me from following his Twitter feed.  —  Time for a blogger ethics panel?  —  UPDATE: Tapper has also blocked Talking Points Memo.  —  Bonus Tapper: His exchange with White House Press …

Joe the Plumber Wants to Make Love to Washington  —  The Republican's Working Man hero Joe the Plumber could barely contain himself last night before a crowd of adoring, media-bashing conservatives.  —  “God, all this love and everything in the room - I'm horny,” declared Joe, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher.

Mass Hysteria Over AIG Obscures Simple Truths: Michael Lewis  —  Last September the U.S. government began to dole out the first of $173 billion to American International Group.  A big chunk of it passed right through to banks that had bought insurance from AIG against mortgage and corporate defaults …

How I botched the bonus story  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  The Washington ritual of the boiling scandal, with howls of outrage and frantic demands for a high-ranking scalp, is now in full swing over $165 million in bonuses for employees at failed insurance giant AIG.

MSNBC In Discussions with Ed Schultz  —  The Observer has learned that MSNBC president Phil Griffin is in discussions with syndicated talk radio host Ed Schultz about possibly joining the network on a full-time basis.  It is unclear what exactly the job would entail should Mr. Schultz and MSNBC come to an agreement.

Tedisco: I'm focused on local interests  —  ONEONTA _ Political commentators may see the 20th Congressional District race as a contest of national consequence, but Republican James Tedisco, 58, is focused closer to home.  —  “Rush Limbaugh is meaningless to me,” Tedisco told the editorial board of The Daily Star on Thursday.

CNN's March Ratings So Far: More Lamb than Lion  —  More evidence that CNN is going to have to find a new strategy fast or risk becoming a cable news also-ran: In the month of March so far, the Time Warner-owned network has come in fourth place in prime time among adults 25 to 54 …

Snowe To Dems: Grow A Pair  —  Congressional Democrats need to stand up for themselves when they disagree with President Obama, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said on Thursday evening.  She was reflecting on the demise of her executive compensation provision, a move that allowed AIG to pay its top executives $165 million in bonuses.

The Big Takeover  —  The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power.  How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution  —  It's over — we're officially, royally f**ked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock …

AIG  —  Preliminary thoughts on the tax bill:  —  1. It's not the way you should make policy — it's clumsy, and it will punish some innocent parties while letting the most guilty off scot-free  —  2. But — there wasn't much alternative at this point.  And for that I blame the Obama people.

After Years Of Lies, WSJ Concedes That Employee Free Choice Act 'Doesn't Remove The Secret-Ballot Option'  —  In a stunning reversal, the anti-labor Wall Street Journal editorial page admitted today that one of the key messages in Big Business's fight against the Employee Free Choice Act is false.

McCain speaks up for Geithner  —  Tim Geithner, the embattled US Treasury secretary, should be given a chance to succeed, says John McCain, the former presidential candidate, who is the first prominent Republican to speak up in Mr Geithner's defence amid growing calls for his resignation.

Conyers suggests probe of ACORN  —  Calls fraud charges ‘serious’  —  In an startling partisan shift, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. on Thursday proposed holding hearings on claims the liberal activist group ACORN engaged in a pattern of crimes ranging from voter fraud to a mob-style “protection” racket.