Steele on judges with ‘empathy’: 'I'll give you empathy.  Empathize right on your behind!'  —  Last week, when Supreme Court Justice David Souter said that he intended to retire, President Obama said that in naming a replacement, he would not only “seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind …

Obama to Address Muslim World From Egypt  —  President Obama will make his promised speech to the Muslim world from Egypt, a White House official said on Friday.  —  Obama pledged during the campaign to address the Muslim world from a Muslim capital within the first few months of taking office.

Hoekstra considers hearings on Pelosi, interrogations  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is under renewed fire after the Obama administration released documents that critics say contradict her claim that she was never told that U.S. detainees were being waterboarded.

White House aide Louis Caldera loses job over Manhattan flyover fiasco involving Air Force One  —  WASHINGTON - The White House aide who authorized the controversial Air Force One photo-op flight last week around the Statue of Liberty is out of a job.  —  President Obama has accepted …

Obama sends handwritten letter to gay soldier ousted from the military promising to repeal DADT.  —  In January, Sandy Tsao, an army officer based out of St. Louis, MO, told her superiors that she is gay — a violation of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law.  Tsao then wrote to President Obama …

Go See Star Trek  —  It's logical. … J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (Paramount Pictures) is a gift to those of us who loved the original series, that brainy, wonky, idealistic body of work that aired to almost no commercial success between 1966-69 and has since become a science fiction archetype and object of cult adoration.

Someone at Best Western gets it  —  If this ad doesn't present a story worth telling, nothing does:  —  With props to Bob McCarty.

Family Research Council: We Could Support Gay SCOTUS, But Not One With “Pro-Gay Ideology”  —  Yesterday I reported that the religious right group Focus on the Family said that they wouldn't oppose an openly-gay nominee to the Supreme Court on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Geithner Bets U.S. Can Avoid Japan Trap on Banks  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is betting that U.S. banks can do something their Japanese counterparts were unable to accomplish in that country's “lost decade” of the 1990s: earn their way out of trouble.

Palin pulls out of White House Correspondents' Dinner  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will miss a chance to chat up President Obama this weekend because she's cancelling plans to attend the White House Correspondents' dinner, but she's got a good excuse.

Stressing the Positive  —  Hooray!  The banking crisis is over!  Let's party!  O.K., maybe not.  —  In the end, the actual release of the much-hyped bank stress tests on Thursday came as an anticlimax.  Everyone knew more or less what the results would say: some big players need to raise more capital …

Obama drama  —  Nets take a stand against primetime pre-emptions  —  By and large, they personally forked out for his campaign, they voted for him, and they know he is capable of boosting TV ratings just by making an appearance.  —  But executives at the Big Four broadcast networks …

Democrats Do Best Among Generation Y and Baby Boomers  —  Republicans do better among Generation X  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Although Democrats currently enjoy a party identification advantage over Republicans among Americans at every age between 18 to 85, the Democrats' greatest advantages come among …

U.S. threatens to rescind stimulus money over wage cuts  —  The Obama administration threatens to rescind billions in stimulus money if Gov. Schwarzenegger and lawmakers do not restore wage cuts to unionized home healthcare workers.  —  Reporting from Sacramento — The Obama administration …

Palin “Supports” Prejean, Dad Claims  —  Carrie Prejean and Sarah Palin go together like lipstick and pigs.  —  So says Prejean's father, at least, who tells E! News in an exclusive interview that the Alaska governor has already been in touch with his lightning-rod spawn.

Ready or Not, Katrina Victims Lose Temporary Housing  —  NEW ORLEANS — Earnest Hammond, a retired truck driver, did not get any of the money that went to aid property owners after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  —  He failed to qualify for one federal program and was told he missed the deadline on another.

Tran launches Congressional campaign... in wrong district  —  After years of will-he or won't-he speculation, Assemblyman Van Tran officially launched his quest to unseat Rep. Loretta Sanchez at a press conference this afternoon at a Little Saigon office building in Westminster.

Dissident Chrysler Group to Disband  —  The decision to dissolve the unofficial group was made in connection with the withdrawal of OppenheimerFunds and Stairway Capital Management, said Glenn M. Kurtz, a White & Case partner representing the bloc.  With those two firms pulling out …

Alan Keyes among 22 arrested at Notre Dame  —  Former Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes and 21 other protesters were arrested this morning when they refused to leave the Notre Dame campus during a protest of President Obama's upcoming commencement address there, authorities said.

U.S. Jobless Rate Hits 8.9%, but Pace of Losses Eases  —  The United States economy lost 539,000 jobs in April, the government reported on Friday, a sign that the relentless pace of job losses was starting to level off slightly.  —  A year ago, the loss of more than half a million jobs …

The Line: The Republican Influencers  —  Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge's no-go Senate decision on Thursday robbed Republicans of a potentially appealing face to lead their party back to relevancy in 2010.  —  Ridge, a decorated Vietnam veteran and the first head of the Homeland Security department …