Q & A: ‘Joe the Plumber’  —  Samuel Wurzelbacher was launched into the public arena after Senator John McCain used him as an example of an average American during a presidential debate last fall.  “Joe the Plumber” quickly became a celebrity because he questioned then-candidate Barack Obama …

Obama official Kareem Dale confirms White House's love for MSNBC  —  (UPDATED: A second video has been added below.)  —  For some inexplicable reason having to do with who knows what, a widespread impression has grown among many politics fans that MSNBC and its crowd of talkers …

Obama Rebuffed on Funds to Close Guantanamo  —  WASHINGTON — Top House Democrats raised tensions with the White House on a key foreign policy goal, rebuffing a request for funding to begin closing the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  —  President Barack Obama has sought $80 million …

Murtha's Nephew Got Defense Contracts  —  Millions in Work Came Without Competition  —  The headquarters of Murtech, in a low-slung, bland building in a Glen Burnie business park, has its blinds drawn tight and few signs of life.  On several days of visits, a handful of cars sit in the parking lot …

We Can't Subsidize the Banks Forever  —  Government has to show it can handle major insolvencies.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The results of the government's stress tests on banks, to be released in a few days, will not mark the beginning of the end of the financial crisis.

Hatch: W.H. may reveal name this week  —  After talking to President Barack Obama on the phone today, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch says he believes the White House will move swiftly on its Supreme Court nominee, perhaps making an announcement by the end of this week.

Our Genius President: ‘Happy Cuatro de Cinco!’  —  I like to note these little incidents when they happen, not because I think it makes Obama an idiot because he occasionally stumbles over his words, but because his somewhat overblown reputation as the most cerebral, eloquent …

Emanuel: Thwarting Iran hinges on Israeli-Palestinian talks  —  Article's topics: Rahm Emanuel, Iran, AIPAC  —  Thwarting Iran's nuclear program is conditional on progress in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Named and shamed: the 16 barred from UK  —  Sixteen people banned from entering the UK were “named and shamed” by the Home Office today.  —  Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she decided to make public the names of 16 people banned since October so others could better understand what sort …

Establishment Clause Violation for Public High School Teacher To Call Creationism “Superstitious Nonsense”: So holds C.F. v. Capistrano Unified School Dist., decided Friday.  I understand the logic of the case — the Court has repeatedly said that the government's disapproving of religion …

Libertarian Democraphobia  —  If you're a new-school classical liberal (neoclassical liberal?) like me, you like democracy just fine.  This puts you somewhere between (a) modern liberals in the post-Rawlsian vein who tend toward not-actually-very-liberal Rousseuvian romanticism about democracy and …

How I Survived John's Affair  —  On May 3, former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards acknowledged that a federal investigation had been opened into whether his campaign improperly gave money to a woman with whom Edwards had an extramarital affair.  Edwards has denied any wrongdoing by his campaign.

Records show appointees gave Perry $5 million  —  But governor's office says donations are not considered in job assignments  —  AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry has accepted nearly $5 million in political campaign donations from people he appointed to state boards and commissions …

Congress Poised To Launch 9/11-Styled Commission On Financial Crisis  —  The House of Representatives came to agreement on Monday afternoon on the establishment of a 9/11-styled commission that would be independent of Congress and granted the power of subpoena to investigate the origins of the financial crisis.

FAREED ZAKARIA GPS  —  Interview With Robert Gates  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST: This is GPS, the GLOBAL PUBLIC SQUARE.  Welcome to all of you in the United States and around the world.  I'm Fareed Zakaria.

Van Gogh's ear ‘was cut off by friend Gauguin with a sword’  —  He is known as the tortured genius who cut off his own ear as he struggled with mental illness after the breakdown of his friendship with a fellow artist.  —  But a new study claims Vincent Van Gogh may have made up the story …

G.O.P. Résumé, Cabinet Post, Knack for Odd Jobs  —  WASHINGTON — Ray LaHood, the secretary of transportation, is not one to toot his own horn over how much he knows about planes, trains and automobile bailouts.  On the contrary.  —  “I don't think they picked me because they thought …

The Taliban Tightens Hold In Pakistan's Swat Region  —  Taliban forces tightened their grip on Pakistan's Swat region Monday and continued resisting the military's efforts to dislodge them from neighboring Buner, bringing a fragile peace accord closer to collapse and the volatile northwest region nearer to full-fledged conflict.