Gates Says U.S. Lacks Strategy to Curb Iran's Nuclear Drive  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret three-page memorandum to top White House officials that the United States does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran's steady progress …

Source Of Vicious Right-Wing “Whisper Campaign” Against Elena Kagan Uncovered  —  Like Domenech and Yglesias, 48 hours ago I would have sworn Kagan was out.  Now I realize that I was the gullible victim of a right-wing “whisper campaign,” launched in its latest incarnation by wingnuts …

Clinton: Rush Limbaugh Comment “Doesn't Make Any Sense”  —  In my EXCLUSIVE “This Week” interview, former President Bill Clinton told me Rush Limbaugh's assertion that Clinton had “set the stage for violence in this country” and that “any acts of future violence” would be on Clinton's shoulders, “doesn't make any sense”.

Pelosi: Two ‘pillars’ down, one more to go in passing Obama ‘blueprint’  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said the Democrats are one bill away from completing President Barack Obama's “blueprint for American prosperity.”  —  “We have passed two of the three pillars in the historic healthcare …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Romer: 'It's Aggregate Demand, Stupid'  —  Christina Romer, chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, says the reason unemployment remains so painfully high is clear: It's not the inadequacy or laziness of the workers or the long-standing mismatch between workers' skills and employers' needs.

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 …

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 …