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.

Joe The Plumber Slurs Gay People: I Would Never Let “Queers” Near My Children  —  Joe the Plumber, aka Samuel Wurzelbacher, sat down for an lengthy interview with Christianity Today to discuss his views on the future of the Republican party.  Wurzelbacher took the opportunity to speak out against gay marriage, which he says is wrong.

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 …

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 …

Ridge May Run for Specter's Senate Seat  —  Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge (R) is seriously considering a 2010 bid for the Senate seat held by Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter and will make his decision in the next two weeks, according to several sources familiar with his thinking.

Jeffrey Rosen, TNR and the anonymous smears against Sonia Sotomayor  —  (updated below- Update II)  —  Jeffrey Rosen's New Republic smear of Sonia Sotomayor's intellect and character — based almost exclusively on anonymous, gossiping “sources” — is such a model of shoddy, irresponsible …

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 …

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.

Obama gets tougher with Israel on Palestinians, Iran  —  As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington May 17 approaches, the United States is sending strong messages on the establishment of a Palestinian state and Israeli settlement activity.  —  Gen. James Jones …

Porous Border With Pakistan Could Hinder U.S. Troops  —  PESHAWAR, Pakistan — President Obama is pouring more than 20,000 new troops into Afghanistan this year for a fighting season that the United States military has called a make-or-break test of the allied campaign in Afghanistan.

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 …

A Litmus Test That Counts  —  As the time approaches for President Obama to choose a successor to Justice David Souter, the term “litmus test” will be heard throughout the land.  The White House will deny applying any such thing, but the nominee will undoubtedly be chosen according …

Schumer Offers Middle Ground on Health Care  —  WASHINGTON — In an effort to defuse the most explosive issue in the debate over comprehensive health care legislation, a top Senate Democrat has proposed that any new government-run insurance program comply with all the rules and standards that apply to private insurance.

Sessions Takes Specter's Judiciary Post  —  Senator Will Lead GOP's Scrutiny Of Next Justice  —  Senate Republicans yesterday took the first steps in preparing to challenge President Obama's eventual nominee for the Supreme Court, selecting as their point man for confirmation hearings …

Man stoned to death in Iran for adultery: judiciary  —  TEHRAN (Reuters) - A man was stoned to death in Iran for adultery but the woman involved in the case repented, the judiciary said on Tuesday, suggesting her life was spared.  —  The Islamic Republic has been heavily criticized by the European Union …

PHANTOM AIR FARCE PICTURES  —  The $328,835 snapshots of an Air Force One backup plane buzzing lower Manhattan last week will not be shown to the public, the White House said yesterday.  —  “We have no plans to release them,” an aide to President Obama told The Post, refusing to comment further.

THE FIRST STEP IS ADMITTING BANKERS HAVE A PROBLEM.  —  Superjudge Richard Posner has a new book out on the financial crisis, and here's an article in the WSJ that serves as something of a précis of the whole project.  Posner tries to finesse the questions of who to “blame” for the crisis and who's “responsible.”

Book by President Barack Obama's Mother to be Published by Duke University Press  —  Duke University Press will publish a book by S. Ann Dunham, the mother of President Barack Obama, in December 2009.  Dunham, who died in 1995, completed the dissertation in anthropology for the University of Hawaii in 1992.

Obama to Nominate New Head of Consumer Safety  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama will nominate Inez Moore Tenenbaum, South Carolina's former school superintendent, to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the White House announced on Tuesday.  —  Mr. Obama also is asking that the troubled agency …

The Lion and the Legacy  —  Senator Edward Kennedy's diagnosis of brain cancer, in May 2008, touched off an extraordinary medical battle—and a veiled rivalry over who might succeed him as symbolic head of America's fabled dynasty.  Would it be R.F.K.'s oldest son, Joe?  J.F.K.'s daughter, Caroline?

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 …