Smart power: White House freaks out New York with low altitude fly-by; Video: Panicked NYers run in the streets; Update: Obama “furious”  —  I didn't hear it this morning but I used to work in lower Manhattan and can assure you that workers these days are highly attuned to unusual air traffic in the area.

Obama Acts to Ease Flu Fears; U.S. Says It Is Prepared  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration dispatched high-level officials from several agencies Monday to allay concerns about swine flu and to demonstrate that it was fully prepared to confront the outbreak even as the president said there was “not a cause for alarm.”

Fox rejects Obama's request for airtime  —  Is the honeymoon over?  —  For the first time since Barack Obama took office, a major broadcast network is refusing to grant the president's request for primetime coverage.  —  Fox has issued a statement saying it will air regular programming …

Cheney for President  —  Watching Dick Cheney defend the Bush administration's interrogation policies, it's been hard to escape the impression that both the Republican Party and the country would be better off today if Cheney, rather than John McCain, had been a candidate for president in 2008.

Declining Notre Dame: A Letter from Mary Ann Glendon  —  The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.  —  President  —  University of Notre Dame  —  Dear Father Jenkins,  —  When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame's Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved.

Flu Or No Flu, Health Sec's Nomination Will Still Require 60 Votes, GOP Says  —  So Kathleen Sebelius will get her confirmation vote as Health and Human Services secretary tomorrow in the Senate — but even with the flu outbreak, her confirmation will still have to clear a big hurdle, requiring 60 votes.

Speeches & Testimony  —  Remarks by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair to The Economic Club of New York; New York, New York  —  Good afternoon everybody.  I'm honored to be here this afternoon.  I'm told it's the first time in your distinguished, 102-year history that you've invited an FDIC chairman to speak.

Poll: 100 Days In, High Marks For Obama  —  On The Cusp Of His 100th Day, President Enjoys High Approval Ratings On A Host Of Issues - But Few Republicans Are On Board  —  Page 1 of 2  —  (CBS) As his 100th day approaches, more than two in three Americans approve of the job Barack Obama …

The Republican Shrinkage Problem  —  The new Washington Post/ABC news poll has all sorts of intriguing numbers in it but when you are looking for clues as to where the two parties stand politically there is only one number to remember: 21.  —  That's the percent of people in the Post/ABC survey …

Why Is Torture Wrong?  —  Or more precisely, why is the belief that the torture of captured combatants is wrong compatible with anything other than some form of pacifism?  I mean this an actual question, not as a passive-aggressive assertion.  —  It can't just be that it involves inflicting horrible pain and suffering.

Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson OC Register: 'There's no evidence CO2 is harmful.'  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) recently downplayed the threat of global warming by arguing that the harmful pollutant carbon dioxide is simply a “natural byproduct of nature.”

How '07 ABC Interview Tilted a Torture Debate  —  In late 2007, there was the first crack of daylight into the government's use of waterboarding during interrogations of Al Qaeda detainees.  On Dec. 10, John Kiriakou, a former C.I.A. officer who had participated in the capture …

Reid says Obama told him, ‘I have a gift’  —  WASHINGTON - Everyone knows President Barack Obama can deliver a great speech, including the president himself, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  —  The paperback version of Reid's book, “The Good Fight,” is coming out May 5 with an epilogue called “The Obama Era.”