Partied-Out CNN Reporter Takes a Break  —  Two days after Susan Roesgen's much talked-about Chicago Tea Party live shots, we are learning more about what happened off-camera.  —  Sources close to the situation tell TVNewser as Roesgen was reporting her 2pmET live shot for CNN …

Attorney: Justice Memos Prove U.S. Did Not Torture  —  Attorney David Rivkin's argument disputes claims that the Department of Justice memos prove the Bush administration violated anti-torture laws.  —  FOXNews.com  —  At least one high-profile attorney says the declassified Department …

The Bigger Picture  —  It will take some time to absorb the full implications of the ICRC report and the OLC memos.  Right now, many are understandably focused on the legal details, the grotesque specifics of the techniques ("insects", “walling”?), the inconsistencies of the memos …

Happening NOW  —  For those of who you who can't get enough Palin and/or miss Campaign '08, C-SPAN's Howard Mortman sends over this note:  —  At about 1:30 p.m. ET today (Friday, April 17), C-SPAN2 will show A.B. Culvahouse discussing the vetting process for Sarah Palin's selection as John McCain's running mate, plus other issues.

Liberal actress says tea parties were racist  —  Liberal actress and political activist Janeane Garofalo, in all seriousness, said activists who attended tea parties are racists with dysfunctional brains in a recent prime-time television appearance.  —  “Let's be very honest about what this is about.

Tea Party Fallout: Independents Turned Off, Some GOPers Worried  —  It's been two days now since angry conservatives hosted a series of tea parties across the country, and the fallout has some Republicans nervous.  —  While the anti-tax sentiment of the protests may have been sincere …

Taxes & Tyranny  —  Amidst all of the hooplah, I've heard a lot of complaints from liberals.  Here are the most frequent complaints and my responses.  1. All of this tyranny talk is overheated and idiotic.  Well, some of it surely is.  But look: According to that Reason video I posted below …

E.P.A. Clears the Way for Regulation of Warming Gases  —  WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday formally declared carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping gases to be pollutants that threaten public health and welfare, setting in motion a process that for the first …

McCain Guru Urges GOP to Back Gay Marriage  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis reports:  —  Former top McCain adviser Steve Schmidt is planning to use a Friday speech to the Log Cabin Republicans to urge the GOP to drop its opposition to same-sex marriage.  —  “I'm confident American public opinion …

Palin Says She Considered Abortion  —  In her first out-of-state political appearance since last fall's presidential election, former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin confided to 3,000 at a right-to-life event here that she had “just for a fleeting moment” contemplated seeking …

Culture Shock  —  What happened when one conservative Web site ventured outside the movement bubble.  —  Last May, Conor Friedersdorf, a twenty-eight-year-old recent graduate of NYU's Journalism School, decided he was going to save conservative journalism.

How Barack Obama resurrected The Dead  —  LOS ANGELES - He's still got a little work to do on the economy, but already President Barack Obama has accomplished at least one task that had appeared all but impossible just a year ago: He's put The Dead back on the road.

Goodbye Bland Affluence  —  Get ready for authenticity chic.  —  A small sign of the times: USA Today this week ran an article about a Michigan family that, under financial pressure, decided to give up credit cards, satellite television, high-tech toys and restaurant dining, to live on a 40-acre farm and become more self-sufficient.

Obama Embraces Opening for Talks With Cuba  —  At the Summit of the Americas, President Obama repeated the kind of remarks toward the Castro regime that marked his campaign for the presidency.  —  FOXNews.com  —  PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — President Obama on Friday embraced …

The water cooler is spreading a virus  —  UPDATE: Thanks for stopping by from Instapundit.  Look around.  And please stop by my page on Facebook.  —  Unless you've been living under a rock, two events have leapt into America's consciousness this week.  The first was the Tea Party protests …

Rescued Banks Balk at Chrysler Deal  —  Creditors Pushed To Surrender Claims Of Billions  —  At a meeting with executives from four of the nation's largest banks earlier this month, the chief of the government's auto task force, Steven Rattner, delivered a message that shocked some in the room.

Morning Thread: Epilogue  —  Since the right-wing blogs likely will not revisit and the press certainly will not.  —  The coda of the Beauchamp Affair: … If you cannot place the name, Master Sgt. Hatley was the direct superior of Pvt. Scott Beauchamp and the person most used to discredit …

Turning Tables, U.S. Troops Ambush Taliban With Swift and Lethal Results  —  KORANGAL OUTPOST, Afghanistan — Only the lead insurgents were disciplined as they walked along the ridge.  They moved carefully, with weapons ready and at least five yards between each man, the soldiers who surprised them said.

Schakowsky On Torture: “Just Following Orders” A Historically Bogus Argument  —  Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a top Democrat on the intelligence committee, dismissed President Obama's defense of CIA officials who tortured detainees under orders from the White House.

In Texas, 31% Say State Has Right to Secede From U.S., But 75% Opt To Stay  —  Thirty-one percent (31%) of Texas voters say that their state has the right to secede from the United States and form an independent country.  —  However, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll in the state finds …

Direct Your Tweet Outrage To Katie Couric  —  Two days ago, journalist John Ziegler was arrested for trying to ask questions at an event where Katie Couric of CBS News received an award for her interview with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin last fall.

Tax Tea Party Time, Part Two  —  A look at today's taxes compared to those in the past.  —  Last week, I presented data comparing taxation in the United States to other major countries and concluded that Americans are not especially overtaxed.  The almost universal reaction to this analysis was, “So what?”

Income Gaps Hit Record Levels In 2006, New Data Show  —  Rich-Poor Gap Tripled Between 1979 and 2006  —  New data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that in 2006, the top 1 percent of households had a larger share of the nation's after-tax income, and the middle and bottom fifths …

Washington Diarist: Dead Of Exposure  —  The evidence that transparency is returning to Washington may be found not in its politics but in its architecture.  Everywhere buildings are going up in glass.  Many of these gleaming stacks of work spaces with nothing to hide …