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 …

Furor grows over partisan car dealer closings  —  Evidence appears to be mounting that the Obama administration has systematically targeted for closing Chrysler dealers who contributed to Repubicans.  What started earlier this week as mainly a rumbling on the Right side of the Blogosphere …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Centrist Dem under fire for opposing Obama healthcare  —  Centrist Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) is under attack from an advertising campaign that criticizes his opposition to President Obama's healthcare plan.  —  The Web and direct-mail ads specifically take on Nelson for opposing Obama's proposal …

Gov. Crist signs $66.5 billion budget, breaks tax pledge  —  TALLAHASSEE — Breaking a pledge against raising taxes, Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's $66.5 billion budget into law Wednesday and barely used his veto pen.  —  Crist vetoed only two items: a small pay cut for some state workers …

Virginia DMV Bans Smiles in Driver's License Photos  —  Few places in Virginia are as draining to the soul and as numbing to the buttocks as the branch offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles.  And yet, until recently, smiling was still permitted there.  —  No more.