Officials Say U.S. Wiretaps Exceeded Law  —  WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.

DFH blogger speaks at Pensacola Tea Party ... and lives to tell the tale  —  If you were following my livetweeting today from the Pensacola Tea Party, then you already know: I gave a little speech.  Hey, I'm a sucker for Open Mic Night ... what can I say?  —  Seriously — I didn't realize …

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

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.

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.

“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 …

Gov. Rick Perry: Texas Could Secede, Leave Union  —  HuffPost has comprehensive coverage of the Tax Day Tea Party protests.  Click here for the latest photos and video.  —  AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up an anti-tax “tea party” Wednesday with his stance against the federal government …

Republicans and the Tea Parties  —  The U.S. went 15 years without a federal tax increase.  —  Yesterday was Tax Day, and it was marked by large numbers of Americans turning out for an estimated 2,000 tea parties across the country.  This movement is significant.

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 …

CNN beclowns itself  —  Call the wah-mbulance.  —  So, the Tea Party protests are “not fit for family viewing” according to one very unhappy CNN reporter, Susan Roesgen, who also fumes over what she calls an “offensive” anti-Obama sign that compares Obama to a fascist.  (And yes, I told you this was going to happen.)

Dimon Says He's Eager to Repay ‘Scarlet Letter’ TARP  —  JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who today reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts' expectations, said his firm could repay U.S. government rescue funds “tomorrow.”  —  Dimon, calling money received through …

For Gov. Palin, a Rough Return to the Day Job  —  JUNEAU, Alaska — Before Tina Fey and “Drill, baby, drill,” there was mud season here in the Alaskan capital.  This soggy, socked-in spring has been no exception, but it sure has been different in other ways.

Obama's High-Speed Rail Plan  —  I'm watching Barack Obama's remarks on high-speed rail, which I think are excellent, but I'm more interested in the fact sheet I've gotten in the old inbox from the White House since it sheds some light on something that I and others have been wondering about—how is this money supposed to be spent?

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.