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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

CAN LOCAL BLOGGERS REPLACE LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE?  —  “Not only is it going to be intrinsically difficult to ever find a viable revenue model for paying a reporter to cover the zoning board if people don't want to read about the zoning board,” writes Matt Yglesias, “[but] I'm not actually sure …

A Pacific Warning  —  Australia prepares for U.S. decline.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Since World War II, U.S. military dominance has underpinned the Asia-Pacific region's prosperity and relative peace.  So it's cause for concern when one of America's closest allies sees …

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.

Governor Clintonism?  —  The Virginia Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner, held at Richmond's sprawl of a convention center on a mild Saturday night in February, was particularly festive this year.  The Democratic Party is enjoying a resurgence in Virginia …

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 …

The NYT Finally Prints “Torture”  —  Here we have it in broad daylight: the New York Times' cowardice in the face of its own government.  In an obit today, the editors manage to use the word “torture”.  It's in an obit.  The obit runs:  —  Col. Harold E. Fischer Jr. …