Most transparent White House ever...  Police chased reporters away from the White House and closed Lafayette Park today in response to a gay rights protest in which several service members in full uniform handcuffed themselves to the White House gate to protest “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”

Head Lock  —  The inside story of how Goldman and the banks are getting clobbered on financial reform.  —  Some two dozen executives from large corporations will be descending on Capitol Hill today to make the case against over-regulating derivatives.  The “fly-in” is being organized in part …

McCain: I won't support Crist if he runs as an Independent candidate  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday he will not support Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in his Senate race if he runs as an Independent.  —  Crist, who helped McCain win Florida in the 2008 presidential GOP primary …

FDA plans to limit amount of salt allowed in processed foods for health reasons  —  The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands …

Ronald Reagan and James Dean: Rare Video From 1954  —  Today, it's an astonishing, even eerie, scene: the icon of modern American conservatism, whose rise to political prominence was galvanized by the cultural rebellion of the 1960s, fighting off an attack-at-gunpoint by the quintessential modern American rebel.

McConnell softens tone on finance regulation bill  —  A Democratic Wall Street overhaul bill may be gaining an unlikely champion: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).  —  After a week of attacking the pending legislation as a ticket to new taxpayer “bailouts,” McConnell is striking a different tone.

Supreme Court voids law aimed at banning animal cruelty videos  —  The Supreme Court struck down a federal law Tuesday aimed at banning videos depicting graphic violence against animals, saying that it violates the constitutional right to free speech.  —  Chief Justice John J. Roberts Jr. …

Halperin Takes A Stand  —  It isn't every day that a consumate inside-game reporter/pundit type like Mark Halperin aggressively calls out one party for lying, but that's exactly what Halperin did early this morning on MSNBC, talking about the GOP claim that the Dem financial reg reform bill will lead to a permanent bailout.

For Apple, Lost iPhone Is a Big Deal  —  For anyone who has ever lost a cellphone, remember this: it could be worse.  You could be the person who left his phone in a bar in California.  And it wasn't just any phone; it was a supersecret version of the next iPhone.

Waco  —  Bill Clinton's invocation of Timothy McVeigh in connection with the Tea Party movement caused me to recall my review of a book on the Waco massacre that was a motivation for McVeigh.  The book under review was Reavis, The Ashes of Waco, and it appeared in the Times Literary Supplement in 1995.

Burns leads Critz 44-41  —  Buoyed by an electorate that is exceptionally sour on national Democrats, Republican Tim Burns has a 44-41 lead over Democrat Mark Critz in the special election to replace John Murtha in the House.  —  It's a rare election these days where both candidates are viewed pretty favorably in the district.

Dem to Obama: Push immigration or I'll tell Latino voters to stay home  —  A congressman from the president's home state is threatening that he will urge Latino voters to stay home this November if the Democratic Party does not make a concerted effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

California senator complains of harassment from Palin fans  —  California State Senator Leland Yee, who has been battling a state university over disclosing Sarah Palin's speaking contract, complains in a press release today that he's been getting nasty emails and faxes.

Arizona Sheriff Says Cops Are Being Killed by Illegal Aliens; Joins Call for U.S. Troops at Border  —  (CNSNews.com) - Law enforcement officials from the Arizona counties hardest hit by illegal immigration say they want U.S. troops to help secure the border, to prevent the deaths of more officers …

Obama to Save Boxer Like He Saved Corzine!  —  Do Obama and Boxer realize they are on the wrong side of a tsunami of voter discontent with a government run by and for the public employee unions?  —  President Obama is “swooping” into Los Angeles today to try to save Senator Barbara Boxer …

Dorothy I. Height, founding matriarch of civil rights movement, dies at 98  —  Dorothy I. Height, 98, a founding matriarch of the American civil rights movement whose crusade for racial justice and gender equality spanned more than six decades, died early Tuesday morning of natural causes …

Poll: Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) in deep trouble with GOP voters  —  So, why is Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff so confident that Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) is on track to lose at the state GOP convention on May 8?  I got an early look at a survey of state GOP delegates conducted by a Utah firm.

Bernard Goldberg Admits Jon Stewart is Right About His Generalizations and Then Attacks Him  —  I said last week that Bernard Goldberg wasn't going to be happy after Jon Stewart ended his segment Fox News Pundits Don't Agree With Demonizing an Entire Group Unless it's the Liberals by telling Bernard Goldberg to go f**k himself.

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO CHARGES PEDRO ESPADA JR. AND 19 EXECUTIVES WITH LOOTING HIS BRONX NOT-FOR-PROFIT  —  Espada and His Family Siphoned More Than $14 Million Over 5 Years  —  Espada Packed Board with Family Members and Senate Employees to Rubber Stamp Expenditures

Hoyer says House won't vote on D.C. voting rights bill  —  The House will not vote on a bill granting the District of Columbia a voting member of Congress, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday.  —  “The price was too high,” said Hoyer (D-Md.), who cited extraneous measures …

House GOP Plans New ‘Contract With America’ After Labor Day  —  House Republicans are on track to lay out a “Contract With America” style document after Labor Day, the head of the GOP's campaign operation told reporters today.  —  “We will have a Contract With America that will be very specific …

Miss America's a fan of the Palin clan  —  You betcha Caressa Cameron's not picking political sides, but Miss America 2010 is willing to say she's a fan of the Palins.  —  “She's someone who cares about the world around her, and she comes from a pageantry background,” Cameron said of Sarah Palin …