Why's Sen. McConnell trashing Wall Street regulation bill?  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell this week threw a rhetorical stick of dynamite into what had been a collegial debate about overhauling the nation's financial regulations, triggering criticism and confusion …

A Mighty Pale Tea  —  On Thursday, I came here outside Dallas for a Tea Party rally.  —  At first I thought, “Wow!  This is much more diverse than the rallies I've seen on television.”  —  Then I realized that I was looking at stadium workers.  I should have figured as much when I approached the gate.

Limbaugh: Volcanic eruption in Iceland is God's reaction to health care's passage.  —  Yesterday, hate radio host Rush Limbaugh talked about the volcanic eruption that's affecting air travel over much of Europe, saying it was “God speaking” in response to the passage of health care: … Listen here:

Obama Must Act To Ease Arizona's Deportation Panic  —  It is open season on the Latino community in Arizona.  In Phoenix, Tucson, and across the state, people in Latino neighborhoods are afraid to leave their houses, afraid to be apart from their children for even a minute …

Fight Al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule: researchers  —  LONDON — Satire and ridicule can help win the fight against Al-Qaeda by stripping it of its glamour and mystique, a team of researchers argue in a report released in London and in comments to AFP.  —  Beating the Islamist movement …

President George Washington racks up $300,000 late fee for two Manhattan library books  —  He may have never told a lie, but George Washington apparently had no problem stiffing a Manhattan library on two books.  —  Two centuries ago, the nation's first President borrowed two tomes …

Press airs grievances to Gibbs  —  White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs met with a delegation from the White House press corps for 75 minutes on Thursday in an effort to improve frayed relations between the two sides.  —  Ed Chen, a White House correspondent for Bloomberg News …

Pictures: TWO Monitors Extremist Conference In Lynchburg  —  For the past two days I observed The Awakening, a two day extremist conference that took place at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. In-depth commentary and analysis will be provided later when I return to New York City.

Air Travel Crisis Deepens as Europe Fears Wider Impact  —  PARIS — As an increasingly large part of European airspace was shut down for the third day on Saturday and the towering fountain of ash from an Icelandic volcano showed no signs of letting up, questions about the long-term impact …

New Jersey's ‘Failed Experiment’  —  The new governor is on a mission to make his state competitive again in attracting people and capital.  —  'I said all during the campaign last year that I was going to govern as if I was a one-termer," explains New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on a visit …

The Perry Doctrine … From the magazine issue dated Apr 26, 2010  —  Last week NEWSWEEK contributor Evan Smith of The Texas Tribune met with Gov. Rick Perry to talk about W, Obama, the New Deal, and his own political future.  Excerpts:  —  SUBSCRIBE  —  Exactly one year ago today …