Karl Rove accosted by ex-GOP chief of staff  —  Former Bush adviser Karl Rove was verbally accosted Thursday evening by an ex-chief of staff to former Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.).  —  Rove was quietly having dinner at the tony restaurant Charlie Palmer Steak on Capitol Hill when he was aggressively approached …

It's Your Country Too, Mr. President  —  In his major foreign policy address in Prague committing the United States to a world without nuclear weapons, President Obama took note of North Korea's missile launch just hours earlier and then grandiloquently proclaimed:  —  “Rules must be binding.

GOP govs get dose of stimulus reality  —  The list of governors threatening to decline federal stimulus money last month read like a list of Republicans considering running for president in 2012: Governors Mark Sanford, Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin led the anti-stimulus charge.

Breeder regrets dog sale to Biden  —  EAST COVENTRY — It was a proud moment for Linda Brown when then-Vice President-elect Joe Biden selected her kennel to purchase his new German shepherd puppy.  —  That was in mid-December.  —  For Brown, that proud moment was short-lived.

A Busy Day Outside  —  On a perfect spring day, both President Obama and his wife, Michelle, were conducting business on Thursday on the South Lawn of the White House.  —  At a picnic table next to the swings installed for the Obama children, the president was meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Fed Said to Order Banks to Stay Mum on ‘Stress Test’ Results  —  The U.S. Federal Reserve has told Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other banks to keep mum on the results of “stress tests” that will gauge their ability to weather the recession, people familiar with the matter said.

Both U.S. and Pirates Sending More Ships to Standoff  —  MOGADISHU, Somalia — American naval reinforcements moved toward the scene of a pirate hostage standoff in the Indian Ocean on Friday, and there were reports that the Somali pirates, desperate to get back to shore with their American captive …

Obama Stakes His Fortunes on Failed Banksters: Jonathan Weil  —  Now that we have a rough idea how President Barack Obama and his lieutenants plan to prop up insolvent financial institutions using taxpayers' money, we're left with a more difficult question: Why?

PETA asks Pet Shop Boys to change name  —  LONDON, England (CNN) — Just because they named their new CD “Yes,” does not mean that British electro-pop duo, the Pet Shop Boys, will agree to just about anything.  —  The band has turned down a request from an animal rights group to rename itself the Rescue Shelter Boys.

Barack Obama: President Pantywaist - new surrender monkey on the block  —  President Barack Obama has recently completed the most successful foreign policy tour since Napoleon's retreat from Moscow.  You name it, he blew it.  What was his big deal economic programme that he was determined to drive through the G20 summit?

Making Banking Boring  —  Thirty-plus years ago, when I was a graduate student in economics, only the least ambitious of my classmates sought careers in the financial world.  Even then, investment banks paid more than teaching or public service — but not that much more, and anyway, everyone knew that banking was, well, boring.

Scramble to find the Easter bomb factory  —  A desperate search was under way last night for the terrorist bomb factory from which a suspected al-Qaeda cell planned to launch a devastating attack in Manchester.  —  Hours after Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officer resigned in disgrace …

Tea Party movement aims to inspire revolution  —  April 15th.  —  Write that date down; people- it could very well mark the beginning of the end.  With the notoriously conservative Tea Party movement gaining steam, is it time to take the ‘United’ out of ‘United States’?

More Squatters Are Calling Foreclosures Home  —  MIAMI — When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection.

TPM: “Obama Mimics Bush on State Secrets”  —  [Updated below - Update II - Update III (Sen. Feingold's statement) - Update IV]  —  I wasn't able to post today, but TalkingPointsMemo has done an excellent job in advancing the story of the Obama DOJ's inexcusable embrace of some of the most radical Bush/Cheney secrecy doctrines.

General Ray Odierno: we may miss Iraq deadline to halt al-Qaeda terror  —  The activities of al-Qaeda in two of Iraq's most troubled cities could keep US combat troops engaged beyond the June 30 deadline for their withdrawal, the top US commander in the country has warned.

Socialism has failed.  Now capitalism is bankrupt.  So what comes next?  —  Whatever ideological logo we adopt, the shift from free market to public action needs to be bigger than politicians grasp  —  The 20th century is well behind us, but we have not yet learned to live in the 21st, or at least to think in a way that fits it.

Dissenter on Warming Expands His Campaign  —  WASHINGTON — Marc Morano does not think global warming is anything to worry about, and he brags about his confrontations with those who do.  —  For example, Mr. Morano said he once spotted former Vice President Al Gore on an airplane returning from a climate conference in Bali.

Suicide Attack Kills 5 G.I.'s and 2 Iraqis in Northern City  —  BAGHDAD — Five American soldiers and two members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in a massive suicide truck bombing Friday near the headquarters of the Iraqi national police in the northern city of Mosul, a United States military spokesman said.

Gay Republicans split  —  A dissident faction of gay conservatives is launching a rival group to the traditional voice of gay Republicans, the Log Cabin Republicans.  —  GOPROUD, the new 527 group, will launch next week, according to a media advisory.  The contact given for the group …

Scandal Proves Need for Greater Oversight of Financial Industry and Government Ineptitude  —  A new survey by Democracy Corps and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, completed shortly after reports about insurance giant AIG paying out millions in bonuses to its top executives, shows voters overwhelmingly blaming AIG management for the mess.