Obama, the ICRC Report and ongoing suppression  —  Following up on the latest extremist Cheney/Addington/Yoo arguments advanced by the Obama DOJ in order to shield Bush lawbreaking from disclosure and judicial review — an episode I wrote about in detail yesterday, here …

Pilot of Stolen Cessna Wanted U.S. Fighter Jets to Shoot Him Down  —  Trooper Said Yavuz Berke, Now in Custody, Wanted U.S. Military to Kill Him  —  The Canadian man wholed fighter jets on a chase across six states yesterday flew his stolen plane into the U.S. in hopes the military would shoot …

Poll: Obama Approval Hits New High - 66%  —  CBS/NY Times Survey Finds Most Believe World Leaders Respect President, Though They Maintain U.S. Is Not Respected Overall  —  (CBS) As President Obama concludes his well-publicized trip to Europe, Americans are more positive about the respect accorded …

Lieberman-Obama honeymoon stops at missile defense  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) has tried to mend his relationship with President Obama in recent months but their reconciliation hit a snag Monday over ballistic missile defense.  —  Lieberman, the self-described independent Democrat …

Official: Man freed amid Obama murder ‘hoax’  —  Anonymous e-mail sparked arrest of ‘mentally disturbed’ suspect in Turkey  —  ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish police detained a man after receiving a hoax tip that he was plotting to kill President Barack Obama but quickly released him without charge, a government official said Tuesday.

Reality hits Obama Express  —  President Barack Obama, after a lightning-quick start for his agenda on Capitol Hill, is bracing for a much slower pace and big changes in his proposals as early urgency and excitement give way to the more languid rhythms that are the norm for Congress.

Giannoulias raises $1.1 million for Senate bid  —  He's still just at the “exploratory committee” stage, but Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has already raised $1.1 million in the 28 days since he announced he was “exploring” a run for U.S. Senate.  —  He is eyeing the seat formerly held …

BEAT SWEETENERS.  —  Matt Yglesias pulls the curtain back a bit on the “beat sweeteners:” … I'm not sure this is quite as calculated as Matt implies.  New administrations tend to spark a lot of positive profiles because new administrations usher in new players whose power merits attention …

Administration defends Bush wire-taps  —  (04-06) 15:26 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — The Obama administration is again invoking government secrecy in defending the Bush administration's wiretapping program, this time against a lawsuit by AT&T customers who claim federal agents illegally intercepted …

Frank 'I'm A Member Of Dick Cheney's Fan Club' Gaffney: Obama's ‘Respect’ For Muslims Is Code For Submission  —  The right wing has been apoplectic over President Obama's words and actions while in Europe.  A large amount of their outrage has been over the fact that Obama briefly bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

When it comes to healthcare, the U.S., Britain and Canada are hurting  —  Healthcare in all three countries has the same problem.  They just feel it in different places.  —  When asked by the New England Journal of Medicine to detail his healthcare vision during the campaign …

Focus on the Family narrator arrested for luring teenage girl for sex on Net  —  A Colorado Springs man who narrates the Bible in Spanish on CDs and works in the Spanish broadcasting department of Focus on the Family appeared in court Monday in Golden on two felony counts of using the Internet …

Gates Seeks Sharp Turn In Spending  —  Defense Budget Focuses On Lower-Tech Weapons  —  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates outlined sweeping changes to the defense budget Monday that would shift billions of dollars in Pentagon spending away from elaborate weapons toward programs more likely to benefit troops in today's wars.

Inhofe says Obama Defense Cuts will  —  Responds in a YouTube Video from Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a You Tube video today from Afghanistan, U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, blasted an announcement by the Obama administration …

Fun With Phosphates  —  The blogosphere had a few laughs last week at the expense of RedState head honcho Eric Erickson, who warned that revolution was coming and told residents of Washington state, “I'd be cleaning my gun right about now waiting to protect my property from the coming riots …

Poll Finds New Optimism on Economy Since Inauguration  —  Americans have grown more optimistic about the economy and the direction of the country in the 11 weeks since President Obama was inaugurated, suggesting that he is enjoying some success in his critical task of rebuilding the nation's confidence …

Web campaign to save bankrupt Minneapolis paper  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) — Employees of the Minneapolis Star Tribune launched an online campaign on Monday in a bid to save the Minnesota newspaper, which declared bankruptcy nearly three months ago.  —  “With the Star Tribune in bankruptcy …