President Obama Jokes About Being a Bad Bowler: 'It's Like the Special Olympics'*  —  The first appearance by a sitting president on “The Tonight Show” may well end up being the last.  —  President Obama, in his taping with Jay Leno Thursday afternoon, attempted to yuk it up with the funnyman, and ended up insulting the disabled.

Scorn Trails A.I.G. Executives, Even in Their Driveways  —  The A.I.G. executive who was nicknamed “Jackpot Jimmy” by a New York tabloid walked up the driveway toward his bay-windowed house in Fairfield, Conn., on Thursday afternoon.  “How do I feel?” said the executive, James Haas, repeating the question he had just been asked.

Obama White House bars press from press award ceremony  —  We are not making this up:  —  Barack Obama was elected commander-in-chief promising to run the most transparent presidential administration in American history.  —  This achievement and the overall promise of his historic administration caused …

Geithner: Treasury pushed for bonus loophole  —  (CNN) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told CNN Thursday his department asked Sen. Chris Dodd to include a loophole in the stimulus bill that allowed bailed-out insurance giant American International Group to keep its bonuses.

In an Unusual Video, Obama Offers Iran a ‘New Day’  —  Invoking art, history and “the common humanity that binds us,” President Obama offered a “new day” in America's relationship with Iran, using an unusual videotaped message to appeal directly to Iranians for a shift away from decades of confrontation.

90% Tax?  Now We Really ARE Screwed  —  The frantic passage of the Populist Rage Tax was a new low in the US government's response to this crisis.  It shows just how likely we are to doom ourselves to a decade or more of misery—by choking our markets, closing our borders …

FYI  —  I am getting lots of inquires about my husband John Coale — no, he is not a paid adviser to Governor Palin and never has been.  And no, he does not want a job with her or with the other women he has helped.  —  Yes, he has given Governor Palin advice and helped her.

Dodd's political stock tumbles in Connecticut  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Democrats may want to start thinking about a bailout for Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, whose political stock has slipped amid the financial meltdown.

Off With the Bankers  —  A.I.G. can hardly claim that its generous bonuses attract the best and the brightest.  So instead, it defends the payments by arguing they're needed to retain employees who are crucial for winding down transactions that are “difficult to understand and manage.”

Bonfire of the Trivialities  —  A $14 trillion economy hangs by a thread composed of (a) a comically cynical, pitchfork-wielding Congress, (b) a hopelessly understaffed, stumbling Obama administration, and (c) $165 million.  —  That's $165 million in bonus money handed out to AIG debt manipulators …

Obama's First Round NCAA Bracket A Bust  —  CHICAGO (CBS) ― After the first day of the NCAA basketball tournament, President Obama's bracket appears to be a bust.  —  The president, a self-described basketball junkie, managed to only pick 11 of 16 games correctly—or 69 percent.

Perverse Cosmic Myopia  —  You'd think if some tiger were lunging at your neck, your attention would be riveted on the tiger.  But that's apparently not how it works in the age of global A.D.D. As a tiger sinks its teeth into the world's neck, we focus on the dust bunnies under the bed …

Do not let the ‘cure’ destroy capitalism  —  Capitalism has been wounded by the global recession, which unfortunately will get worse before it gets better.  As governments continue to determine how many restrictions to place on markets, especially financial markets, the destruction of wealth …

Boehner, Cantor ties taxed by AIG vote  —  House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor held their caucus together for two unanimous no votes on the Democrats' economic stimulus plan, but they couldn't even agree themselves on a bill Thursday that would recoup bonuses paid …

Obamas to Plant White House Vegetable Garden  —  WASHINGTON — On Friday, Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of White House lawn to plant a vegetable garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt's victory garden in World War II.  There will be no beets (the president doesn't like them) but arugula will make the cut.