Positive Initial Reaction to Sotomayor Nomination  —  Americans believe intellect, experience most important in Obama's choice  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' first reactions to the news of President Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court are decidedly …

THERE IS NO CAR-DEALER CONSPIRACY.... A whole lot of right-wing blogs are worked up today over a report about the political affiliations of Chrysler dealers who've been shut down. … Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), who has a dealership that will close, called this “an outrage.”

Abu Ghraib abuse photos ‘show rape’  —  Photographs of alleged prisoner abuse which Barack Obama is attempting to censor include images of apparent rape and sexual abuse, it has emerged.  —  At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another …

The Peter Principle  —  We hang together or hang separately. … All of us, every single person regardless of political persuasion who reads this, have a tendency to deny our friends and fellow travelers at times.  All of us.  —  Peter, under pressure and fear, denied Christ not just once, but three times.

Obama Rings Up Cash Among the Stars  —  BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The state budget may be severely overdrawn, but the California political A.T.M. seems to be working just fine.  —  President Obama arrived at a back-to-back fund-raising dinner and concert on Wednesday night and raised $4 million for the Democratic National Committee.

Specter Tops Toomey By 9 Pts.  In Pennsylvania Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; New Democratic Senator Has Big Primary Lead  —  Former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, the likely Republican challenger in the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate race, has gained some ground and now trails newly-converted Democratic …

Video: O'Reilly smears Hot Air  —  Ah, there's nothing like yanking a comment out of context and using it to smear the entire site, even though neither Ed nor I have ever referred to Obama as “Hussein.”  Bonus points to O'R for referring to the comment in question as a “blog posting” even though it's anything but.

Costs of dismissed Palin ethics complaints pile up  —  Personnel board member says tab is “close to about a third of a million dollars.”  —  scockerham@adn.com  —  The Alaska Personnel Board, clearly frustrated with the pile of ethics complaints filed against Gov. Sarah Palin, wants to publicize the cost of dealing with them.

FBI planning a bigger role in terrorism fight  —  Bureau agents will gather evidence to ensure that criminal prosecutions of alleged terrorists are an option.  The move is a reversal of the Bush administration's emphasis on covert CIA actions.  —  Reporting from Washington …

Shhhh.  Newspaper Publishers Are Quietly Holding a Very, Very Important Conclave Today.  Will You Soon Be Paying for Online Content?  —  Here's a story the newspaper industry's upper echelon apparently kept from its anxious newsrooms: A discreet Thursday meeting in Chicago about their future.

Ald.  Carothers, developer accused of corruption  —  Ald.  Isaac Carothers (29th), a staunch ally of Mayor Richard Daley, was indicted today on charges he accepted about $40,000 in improvements to his residence as well as meals and tickets to sporting events in exchange for backing a major project by a developer.

Please uncover your face.  It's our custom  —  Why are women's faces concealed in East London but not in Damascus?  —  Funny to return from Lebanon, Syria and Turkey - where women go unveiled - and return to Britain, the land of the full hijab.  I see more women with their faces covered in Tower Hamlets than I did in Damascus.

Pelosi appeals for China's help on climate change  —  BEIJING (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Beijing on Thursday to cooperate on climate change, calling a safe environment a basic human right.  —  Speaking at Beijing's elite Tsinghua University, Pelosi continued the theme …

A Conversation With Lawrence O'Donnell  —  Lawrence O'Donnell appears on my program at least yearly, and usually a memorable few exchanges result.  Yesterday's conversation was no exception.  I began with the transcript of Larry's exchange with Liz Cheney in hand, the one in which he had asserted about …