Harry, Louise and Barack  —  Is this the end for Harry and Louise?  —  Harry and Louise were the fictional couple who appeared in advertisements run by the insurance industry in 1993, fretting about what would happen if “government bureaucrats” started making health care decisions.

White House To Declassify “Holy Grail” Torture Report That Could Undercut Cheney  —  There's a big piece of news about Dick Cheney and torture buried toward the end of this big Washington Post piece about the torture wars.  —  Specifically: The White House has decided to declassify and release …

U.S. Soldier Kills 5 Comrades in Iraq, Military Says  —  BAGHDAD — The United States military said Monday that five American soldiers had been shot to death by a fellow soldier who opened fire on them at one of the biggest American bases in Baghdad, and that the suspected shooter was in custody.

Greta Handling Todd  —  The increasingly surreal nexus between Greta van Susteren, her Hillarybot super-lawyer husband, the Super Adventure Club, the Palins and, er, journalism, just got weirder:  —  POLITICO started to chat with Alaska's “first dude” when Van Susteren intervened.

Syria-Iraq Al Qaeda Pipeline Open Again  —  The Washington Post reports: … This development comes as President Obama conducts his much-hyped diplomatic outreach to Syria.  Of course, something else also happened last October: four U.S. helicopters staged an attack inside Syria.

Poll: Obama, headed to Middle East, is winning Arab hearts  —  WASHINGTON — As President Barack Obama prepares to journey to Egypt on June 4 to address the Muslim world, his overtures to the Middle East are paying off in positive feelings towards him from Arab peoples that far outpace …

Journalist Roxana Saberi freed by Iranian appeal court verdict  —  Roxana Saberi, an American journalist convicted in Iran on spying charges, is to be freed after an appeals court downgraded her sentence.  —  Roxana Saberi is due to be released  —  Lawyers for the 32-year old said the court …

Biden insults President Obama's dog at Syracuse  —  It was as though Vice President Biden time-warped back to last fall.  Because on Sunday he was in full campaign attack mode.  —  Oh, it was an idyllic setting.  Nobody saw it coming.  The vice president had just finished delivering …

Obama Approval Picks Up in May  —  Still, only 25% say they would definitely vote to re-elect him in 2012  —  PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama appears to be slightly more popular with Americans at the start of his second 100 days in office than he was, on average, during his first 100.

Closing Arguments: Obama needs a neutral justice  —  Justice David H. Souter's retirement from the Supreme Court will open a window into whether President Obama is truly a coolheaded, moderate technocrat, as claimed by Democrats, or a standard-bearer for some of the left's most extreme ideas, as claimed by Republicans.

al-Libi Dies in a Libyan Prison  —  We have been talking heavily about torture, renditions and the legal and motivational justifications therefore nonstop for the last couple of weeks.  But one of the earliest entries in this sordid tale (witness the December 18, 2001 entry on Marcy's Torture Timeline) …

Last but Not Least - The Final Installment of the FY 2010 Budget  —  Today, we released the final volumes of the President's FY 2010 Budget.  These volumes include the Summary Tables, which show aggregate budget projections for the next 10 years; Historical Tables, which offer a wealth …

Casey weighs in on Dem leaders' support for Specter  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Pennsylvania's junior Sen. Bob Casey appeared to open the door Sunday for a possible challenger to Arlen Specter, the state's senior senator and a newly-minted Democrat.  —  Casey seemed to part ways with his party's leadership …

Steele: “I'm the Gift That Keeps on Giving”  —  Chatting with the GOP chair—and other tales from the White House Correspondents' Dinner.  —  Post Comment  —  This past weekend at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner and the pre- and post- parties and events …

Administration Plans to Strengthen Antitrust Rules  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's top antitrust official this week plans to restore an aggressive enforcement policy against corporations that use their market dominance to elbow out competitors or to keep them from gaining market share.

SEIU may be linked to ultimatum on withholding stimulus funds  —  California officials say the union may have influenced a federal requirement that a pay cut be reversed for home healthcare workers.  —  Reporting from Sacramento — Officials in the governor's office say a politically powerful union …