The Two Jokes  —  What makes Wanda Sykes's witless vulgarity amusing to the president?  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The White House Correspondents Dinner took place this weekend.  As usual, the president was in attendance and a comedian provided the evening's entertainment.

What if Cheney's Right?  —  Blogger Alert: I have written a column in defense of Dick Cheney.  I know how upsetting this will be to some Cheney critics, and I count myself as one, who think — in respectful paraphrase of what Mary McCarthy said about Lillian Hellman — that everything he says is a lie, including the ands and the thes.

NRSC to endorse Crist  —  Even as Gov. Charlie Crist comes under fire from Florida conservatives, he will be getting some important political backing today as he announces that he's running for the Senate in Florida.  —  The National Republican Senatorial Committee will be endorsing Crist …

Was It a Sucker's Rally?  —  You can have a jobless recovery but you can't have a profitless one.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The Dow Jones Industrial Average has bounced an astounding 30% from its March 9 low of 6547.  Is this the dawn of a new era?  Are we off to the races again?

Obama's Magical Mystery Tour of Health Care Savings  —  This weekend, I was on a panel where the other economics journalist and I spent a great deal of time belaboring the obvious: Obama's health care plans are very, very expensive, and they mean higher taxes for everyone …

W.H. lobbies for Olympics in Chicago  —  The Obama White House is playing an unprecedented role in the bid to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago, with top adviser Valerie Jarrett spearheading an effort that draws on the international symbolism of his presidency.

Pelosi defense: couldn't object in '03  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi learned in early 2003 that the Bush administration was waterboarding terror detainees but didn't protest directly out of respect for “appropriate” legislative channels, a person familiar with the situation said Monday.

Social Conservative Leaders Feel Scapegoated  —  There is a brooding sense within top social conservative circles that they have become the revolving scapegoat of the Republican Party.  Many of the longtime leaders of the Christian right, from Richard Land to Tony Perkins to Gary Bauer …

Detainee Who Gave False Iraq Data Dies In Prison in Libya  —  A former CIA high-value detainee, who provided bogus information that was cited by the Bush administration in the run-up to the Iraq war, has died in a Libyan prison, an apparent suicide, according to a Libyan newspaper.

Actor Gary Sinise floated as possible GOP savior  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Nicolle Wallace, a top adviser to George W. Bush and John McCain's presidential campaign, is adding a few names to the list of Republicans who might lead the GOP out of the wilderness.  —  Top among them?  Actor Gary Sinise.

Saberi: Who Paid What to Whom?  —  Years ago, after I had negotiated with the Iranians about many things — including the release of American hostages — the first hostage, the Reverend Weir, returned to Washington.  A friend at the New York Times called and said, “I know I'm missing something here; can you help me?”

Lieberman breaks with Cheney: 'We're not less safe' under Obama.  —  Yesterday on CBS's Face the Nation, former Vice President Cheney repeated his claim that President Obama is making the country less secure.  Notably, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who has largely agreed with Cheney on national security policy, disagrees.

Potential Justice Offers a Counterpoint in Chicago  —  WASHINGTON — When President Bill Clinton had a rare opportunity in 1995 for a Democratic president to fill a vacancy on the federal appeals court based in Chicago, a bastion of conservative thinking, he received an unusually strong recommendation from Senator Paul Simon.

Hoekstra calls for CIA documents to be declassified  —  Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) has called on the intelligence community to declassify documents showing what certain members of Congress were told about harsh interrogation techniques employed in the war on terrorism.

Taleban using white phosphorus, some of it made in Britain  —  Taleban fighters have been using deadly white phosphorus munitions, some of them manufactured in Britain, to attack Western forces in Afghanistan, according to previously classified United States documents released yesterday.

The GOP's misguided and confused campaign against judicial empathy.  —  One is surely entitled to say that President Obama's repeated claim that he seeks “empathy” in a replacement for Justice David Souter is something less than a crisp constitutional standard.

726  —  59, 47, 168, 273, 365....It won't be technically official until tomorrow, but according to the state Board of Elections, Scott Murphy won his seat in Congress over Jim Tedisco by 726 votes.  The final tally, which the commissioners will meet to certify at a noon meeting in Albany, is 80,833 to 80,107.

Wash U law professor has been approached to run for U.S. Senate  —  Posted 10:30 a.m. Mon., May 11: Washington University visiting law school professor and “ambassador-in-residence” Thomas Schweich confirmed this morning that he has gotten some encouragement to consider running for the U.S. Senate …

De-basing Torture  —  The argument against torture is slipping away from us.  In fact, I'm getting the sinking feeling that it's over.  What was once taboo is now publicly acknowledged as completely acceptable by many people.  Indeed, disapproval of torture is now being characterized …