In Obama's Inner Circle, Debate Over Memos' Release Was Intense  —  Some Feared That a Partisan Outcry Could Obstruct Larger Agenda  —  As President Obama met with top advisers on the evening of April 15, he faced one of the sharpest policy divides of his young administration.

Gonzales Said to Have Intervened on Wiretap  —  WASHINGTON — The director of the Central Intelligence Agency concluded in late 2005 that a conversation picked up on a government wiretap was serious enough to require notifying Congressional leaders that Representative Jane Harman …

A Limited Love of Liberty  —  A former ACLU board member says that the organization has lost its way.  —  When the American Civil Liberties Union comes under attack, the salvos are often launched from the right.  The ACLU, after all, is as enthusiastic about protecting the interests of feminists …

Reclaiming America's Soul  —  “Nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.”  So declared President Obama, after his commendable decision to release the legal memos that his predecessor used to justify torture.  Some people in the political and media establishments have echoed his position.

Voters Unimpressed By Dems' “Torture” Theme  —  A new Rasmussen survey suggests that the Democrats are barking up the wrong tree with their obsessive interest in the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.  At this point, at least, common sense reigns:  —  * 58 percent of voters …

Bill Daley decides against Senate bid, being ambassador to China  —  Seeking seat would've pitted mayor's brother against Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias  —  Scoopsville . . .  Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley is opting off a political fast track.  —  •

Pakistani Taliban Pull Back to Swat Stronghold  —  Taliban extremist forces, facing threats of an army assault and a flurry of criticism from Pakistani officials, began withdrawing Friday from a district in northwest Pakistan they had occupied for the past week.

Chris Matthews changes book title Jon Stewart mocked  —  Could the interview Chris Matthews called “the worst he's ever had” have something to do with his decision to change the title of his most recent book before its paperback edition is released?  —  In 2007, the “Hardball” host went on …

Nuremberg and American Exceptionalism  —  The egregious Chris Matthews is a real “tough guy” in interviewing “guests” until they begin to compare American actions to those of various unclean regimes in recent history.  His childlike belief in the uniqueness of the United States and its status as the …

Obama May Sweep Aside TV Schedule  —  President Obama might take an additional $9 million to $10 million out of the purse of the broadcast TV industry when he stages another of his news conferences next week to talk about his efforts to bail out the banking and automotive industries.

Republicans Threaten To Become Bigger A**holes  —  If Democrats provide cheaper and more accessible health care to Americans, Republicans have promised to publicly turn themselves into the biggest partisan a**holes of the last forty years.  —  Seriously.  That is the actual political …

News Bulletin  —  A Corner exclusive: How many times have you read and heard in the mainstream media that terrorists were waterboarded more than 180 times?  It turns out that's not true.  What is?  According to two sources, both of them very well-informed and reliable (but preferring to remain anonymous) …

To get votes, Waxman offers cap-and-trade breaks  —  In exchange for votes to pass a controversial global warming package, Democratic leaders are offering some lawmakers generous emission “allowances” to protect their districts from the economic pain of pollution restrictions.

Jobs, housing data undermine recovery hopes  —  Jobless claims rise while homes sales drop; recession may be slowing but recovery far off  — Apple Inc. - , eBay Inc. - , PNC Financial Services Group Inc.  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Worse-than-expected news on unemployment …

Palin sets up defense fund  —  Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) announced the creation of a legal defense fund Friday to help pay down legal debts stemming from a series of ethics complaints.  —  The Alaska Fund Trust will be run by longtime Palin friend and Wasilla native Kristan Cole.

U.S. Forced Bank Board To Carry Out Merrill Deal  —  In Inquiry Into Merger, Cuomo Details Pressure On Bank of America  —  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and former Treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. threatened to remove the management and board of Bank of America if it backed …

Defense Department to Release Photos Showing Detainee Treatment in Iraq, Afghanistan  —  The Department of Defense announced late Thursday that at least 44 photos depicting treatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan will be released.  —  FOXNews.com  —  The Department of Defense …

Lawmakers: Congress Will Investigate Torture, Bipartisan Support In Place  —  The central debate dominating discussions of a possible investigation into torture by the Bush administration seems to have shifted sharply in the past few days: from whether such an investigation should take place, to now what form it will have when it comes.

Obama DOJ Seeks to Restrict Defendant's Right to Lawyer During Questioning  —  More true colors?  —  The Justice Department is asking the Supreme Court to overrule Michigan v. Jackson, the 1986 Supreme Court decision that held that if police may not interrogate a defendant after the right …

Obama, McCain Campaign Chiefs Come Clean  —  NEWARK, Del. Steve Schmidt, the McCain campaign's top operative, came back to his alma mater here Thursday night to relive last year with his Democratic counterpart, fellow University of Delaware alum David Plouffe.

Past, President and Future  —  Obama was right to resist reopening the torture debate.  —  What makes it hard at the moment to write sympathetically of Barack Obama is the loud chorus of approbation arising from his supporters in journalism as they mark the hundred days.

Rattner: Master Investor or Master Spinner?  —  From the New York Times' non-probing April 5 story on Steven Rattner's ascension to auto czarito: … Not so fast says author William D.Cohan, who claims to be an investor in Quadrangle's first fund.  Writing in Fortune, Cohan notes …

Poll: Public thinks highly of Obama  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's opening months in the Oval Office have fortified his standing with the American public, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, giving him political capital for battles ahead.  —  As his 100th day as president approaches next Wednesday …