“Tea Party” Protests Appear to Draw At Least 250,000  —  This is an update and probably the last one.  Those of you who are interested in extending the analysis (there are undoubtedly many events missing, although most of the major ones should now be covered) are encouraged to do so at Wikipedia or elsewhere.

Obama's huge test today: do we believe in secret law?  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  Today is the most significant test yet determining the sincerity of Barack Obama's commitment to restore the Constitution, transparency and the rule of law.  After seeking and obtaining multiple extensions …

The Tea Parties  —  They resemble nothing so much as the anti-war protests during Bush's first term.  The claim that they don't have an organizing premise strikes me as obviously wrong: They're anti-bailout, anti-stimulus, anti-deficit, and anti- the tax increases that will eventually …

Obama Unveils High-Speed Rail Plan  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday highlighted his ambition for the development of high-speed passenger rail lines in at least 10 regions, expressing confidence in the future of train travel even as he acknowledged that the American rail network …

America's Bad Jeans  —  On any American street, or in any airport or mall, you see the same sad tableau: A 10-year-old boy is walking with his father, whose development was evidently arrested when he was that age, judging by his clothes.  Father and son are dressed identically — running shoes, T-shirts.

Head of Senate Panel Calls for Hearing on Wiretaps  —  WASHINGTON — The head of the Senate intelligence committee said Thursday that she would hold a hearing to examine the National Security Agency's interception of domestic communications after new reports that recent wiretapping went beyond what Congress has authorized.

Napolitano Apologizes for Offending Veterans After DHS Eyes Them for ‘Rightwing Extremism’  —  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized to veterans in a FOX News interview after a DHS report labeled returning troops at risk for embracing right-wing extremism.  —  FOXNews.com

Georgetown Says It Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request  —  (CNSNews.com) - Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”—symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university …

Spanish AG says no torture probe of US officials  —  MADRID - Spanish prosecutors will recommend against opening an investigation into whether six Bush administration officials sanctioned torture against terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, the country's attorney-general said Thursday.

CNBC SWEATS ‘OBAMA-BASHING’  —  THE top suits and some of the on-air talent at CNBC were recently ordered to a top-secret meeting with General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker to discuss whether they've turned into the President Obama-bashing network, Page Six has learned.

“On 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building”  —  A woman participates in a Tax Day rally in Lafayette Park in Washington Wednesday.  —  WASHINGTON — The gathering in Lafayette Square, in honor both of tax day and of a generalized fury at Barack Obama, his budget, the Federal Reserve …

ED GOES UNDERCOVER TEABAGGIN'  —  So my good friend Scott pointed out that for all of my talk about Teabaggin', I was strangely ambivalent about the opportunity to see one in the flesh.  Well, my inner anthropologist and innate love of freaks won out in the end.

Gotcha TV: Crews Stalk Bill O'Reilly's Targets  —  When Bill O'Reilly's camera crew ambushed Mike Hoyt at a bus stop in Teaneck, N.J., a few months ago, the on-camera confrontation and the microphone in his face reminded him, oddly enough, of the “60 Minutes” interviewer Mike Wallace.

1,500 farmers commit mass suicide in India  —  Over 1,500 farmers in an Indian state committed suicide after being driven to debt by crop failure, it was reported today.  —  The agricultural state of Chattisgarh was hit by falling water levels.  —  “The water level has gone down below 250 feet here.