Biden says avoid planes, subways; puts out clarifying statement  —  Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not recommend taking any commercial flight or riding in a subway car “at this point” because swine flu virus can spread “in confined places.”

G.O.P. Debate: A Broader Party or a Purer One?  —  WASHINGTON — A fundamental debate broke out among Republicans on Wednesday over how to rebuild the party in the wake of Senator Arlen Specter's departure: Should it purge moderate voices like Mr. Specter and embrace its conservative roots …

Chrysler Chapter 11 Is Imminent  —  Creditor Talks Collapse as Hedge Funds Balk at Deal; Fiat Waiting in the Wings  —  WASHINGTON — Talks between the Treasury Department and lenders aimed at keeping Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy broke down Wednesday, making it all but certain the car maker …

Elizabeth Edwards write about husband's affair in book … Campaign cad John Edwards' cheating ways made his wife, Elizabeth, sick to her stomach - literally.  —  After the former presidential hopeful confessed his betrayal, Elizabeth Edwards writes in her new book, “I cried and screamed, I went to the bathroom and threw up.”

GOP's Big Names Try to Forge New Agenda  —  Looking to rebrand a struggling Republican Party, a group of party heavyweights including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) are launching a new group that will hold town halls around the country and look to produce GOP ideas on issues like education and health care.

Condi Rice Pulls A Nixon: When the President Does It, That Means It is Not Illegal  —  Condoleezza Rice was recently speaking at Stanford when students asked her an excellent question on waterboarding and torture.  They have her answer on tape and it isn't pretty.  Condi Rice absolutely pulls a Nixon.

Dead Certain  —  Tonight President Obama said he was “absolutely convinced” that he had made the right decision in putting an end to the use of the harsh interrogation techniques employed by the Bush administration.  After eight years of President Bush, it certainly is refreshing to have a leader …

Obama Deftly Handles Another Prime-Time News Conference  —  The questions put to Barack Obama at his news conference last night covered nearly every topic but the Craigslist Killer, and if that had come up, Obama probably would have answered it in stride.  You ask, he'll answer — earnestly …

Obama and Churchill  —  Obama followed Bush last night in using Winston Churchill as his example of a war president:  —  “I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens …

Steele: GOP ‘disingenuous’ criticizing bailouts  —  RNC chairman Michael Steele says the GOP is being “disingenuous” in blaming Democrats for poor economic performance, since Republicans started the bailout process in the first place.  —  “Look, we can't go back out and start pointing fingers …

Sarah Palin to Appear on American Chopper  —  Turns out the hockey mom is also a motorcycle maven.  —  Alaska Governor Sarah Palin recently welcomed the crew from Orange County Choppers - whose custom motorcycle business is featured on TLC's American Chopper - to Anchorage …

Justice Scalia Responds to Fordham Privacy Invasion!  —  Last week, we wrote about the Fordham law professor who assigned his information privacy law class to compile a dossier on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  —  The professor had chosen Scalia as the target for privacy invasion …

Swine influenza  —  The situation continues to evolve rapidly.  As of 18:00 GMT, 29 April 2009, nine countries have officially reported 148 cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection.  The United States Government has reported 91 laboratory confirmed human cases, with one death.