McDonnell's Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders  —  RICHMOND — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday …

FIRST THOUGHTS: THE GOP'S VOID  —  The GOP's leadership void... The hits keep on coming for Steele, though the RNC reported raising $11.4 million in March... But that is less than the $13 million-plus the DNC is reporting... Is Bart Stupak going to call it quits?... Obama heads to Prague this evening …

Reporter's notebook: What really happens at Tea Party rallies  —  (CNN) — When it comes to the Tea Party movement, the stereotypes don't tell the whole story.  —  Here's what you often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: offensive posters blasting President Obama and Democratic leaders …

Obama Bans Islam, Jihad From National Security Strategy Document  —  The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war.

Obama weighs new peace plan for the Middle East  —  Despite recent turbulence in U.S. relations with Israel, President Obama is “seriously considering” proposing an American peace plan to resolve the Palestinian conflict, according to two top administration officials.

Health care overhaul spawns mass confusion for public  —  WASHINGTON — Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them.  —  Questions reflecting confusion …

For the wealthy, less in taxes is not always more  —  You thought only conservatives got mad about taxes?  —  Tea partiers, eat your hearts out: A group of liberals got together Tuesday and proved that they, too, can have a tax rebellion.  But theirs is a little bit different: They want to pay more taxes.

Opposition Claims Control in Kyrgyzstan  —  MOSCOW — Large-scale protests appear to have overthrown the government of Kyrgyzstan, an important American ally in Central Asia, after violence between riot police officers and opposition demonstrators on Thursday killed at least 17 people.

Specter claims Reid deal for Judiciary chair  —  Sen. Arlen Specter says he has an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to become the next chairman of the Judiciary Committee, but three senior Democrats are blocking the deal.  —  Specter (D-Pa.) has worked diligently behind …

55% Say Media Bias Bigger Problem in Politics Than Big Contributions  —  Voters agree that big money talks in politics but apparently not as loudly as big media.  —  Fifty-five percent (55%) of U.S. voters continue to think that media bias is a bigger problem in politics today …

The Church's Judas Moment  —  I'm a Catholic woman who makes a living being adversarial.  We have a pope who has instructed Catholic women not to be adversarial.  —  It's a conundrum.  —  I've been wondering, given the vitriolic reaction of the New York archbishop to my column defending nuns …

Parties Even in Congressional Midterm Preferences  —  Rise in voter enthusiasm after passage of healthcare has since steadied  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Daily tracking for the week ending April 4 finds the two major parties tied at 46% in the congressional voting preferences of registered voters nationally.

GOP will win House, Senate  —  Stanley Greenberg and James Carville claim that the Republican Party has peaked too soon.  —  Stanley Greenberg and James Carville claim that the Republican Party has peaked too soon.  Incredibly, Greenberg says that “when we look back on this, we're going to say Massachusetts is when 1994 happened.”

New Duke Policy Renders Students Unwitting Rapists; Removes Protections for Those Accused of Sexual Misconduct  —  Duke University has instituted a new “sexual misconduct” policy that can render a student guilty of non-consensual sex simply because he or she is considered “powerful” on campus.

Supreme Court May Soon Lack Protestant Justices  —  text sizeAAA  —  With U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens talking openly about retirement, attention has focused on the “who” — as in who is on President Obama's short list of potential nominees.

Florida says challenge to healthcare reform widens  —  (Reuters) - Five more states are joining a Florida-led group of states in a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, Florida's attorney general said on Wednesday.

Up from Slavery  —  There's no such thing as a golden age of lost liberty  —  For many libertarians, “the road to serfdom” is not just the title of a great book but also the window through which they see the world.  We're losing our freedom, year after year, they think.

Obama Can't Handle Immigration Reform  —  The leading proposal will curtail liberties without making life better for immigrants.  —  America's immigration system is badly broken and in desperate need of fixing.  And that is precisely why President Barack Obama should not be allowed to touch it.

‘Riot Is the Voice of the Unheard’  —  Tea-party foe Maxine Waters once made excuses for real political violence.  —  “The Tea Party emerges as not only outrageous, but they have turned up the volume in ways that even Code Pink have not been able to do,” Rep. Maxine Waters said the other day on MSNBC.

Iran ridicules Obama's “cowboy” nuclear strategy  —  TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line president on Wednesday ridiculed President Barack Obama's new nuclear strategy, which turns the U.S. focus away from the Cold War threats and instead aims to stop the spread of atomic weapons to rogue states or terrorists.

House liberals shift climate change tactics, will not draw ‘lines in the sand’  —  Liberal House Democrats are shifting their political tactics on climate change after failing to secure a public option in the new healthcare reform law.  —  The move comes in the wake of liberals having to walk …

GOP Senator: Health Care Law Will Permit Sex Offenders to Get Viagra  —  The Congressional Research Service has confirmed Sen. Tom Coburn's assertions that sex offenders not in prison could get Viagra and other drugs treating erectile dysfunction under health plans subsidized by taxpayer dollars.

Tim Pawlenty joins the Bachmann-Palin Express  —  The Minnesota governor helps out with a Minneapolis rally Wednesday — and might help his 2012 campaign, too  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks at a healthcare rally on Capitol Hill in Washington in March.