It Worked So Well For Bush...  Whenever President Bush talked about immigration, his approval ratings went down.  It was like clockwork: liberals never understood that the fatal decline in Bush's popularity during his second term had at least as much to do with his advocacy of “comprehensive immigration reform” as with war-weariness.

Rating Agencies Shared Data, and Wall St. Seized on It  —  One of the mysteries of the financial crisis is how mortgage investments that turned out to be so bad earned credit ratings that made them look so good.  —  One answer is that Wall Street was given access to the formulas behind …

It's on: “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” set for May 20th  —  Someone at Dan Savage's blog started it, then Michael Moynihan at Reason picked it up, now I feel obliged to help push it out there.  Says Moynihan: … Cue the predictable media squealing that “you'll only antagonize them!”

American (Judicial) Idol  —  Americans are justifiably proud of having given the world a model for the architecture of democratic self-government.  Democracies old and new have emulated the separation of powers and the idea of a constitutional court with the authority to review and invalidate actions of the other branches.

Florida's Charlie Crist could use a hug  —  What is it about a man crush that is incompatible with the two-party system?  —  When a Democrat, Sen. Joe Lieberman, was kissed by George W. Bush on the House floor, the smooch became the symbol of Lieberman's embrace of the Bush war policies, and he was drummed out of the party.

GUY FAWKES, NEW REPUBLICAN HERO.... Last fall, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) organized a right-wing rally on Capitol Hill for November 5, in the hopes of killing health care reform.  After characterizing her followers as “insurgents” and “freedom fighters,” Bachmann urged far-right activists to, in her word, “scare” federal lawmakers.

FDIC closes Broadway Bank, Amcore, five others  —  Ricky McCullough, associate ombudsman for the FDIC, talks to the media about the closing of Broadway Bank on Friday, April 23.  (Phil Velasquez/ Chicago Tribune)  —  By Becky Yerak |  Broadway Bank, the family-run lender …

Have Conservatives Gone Mad?  —  Serious thinkers on the right have finally gotten around to a full and open debate on the epistemic closure problem that's plaguing the conservative movement.  The issue, to put it in terms that even I can understand, because I didn't study philosophy much in college: has the conservative base gone mad?

Climate change legislation unlikely this year, say sources  —  (CNN) - Despite a new bipartisan push on climate change, legislation on the issue is unlikely to make it to the Senate floor this year, two Senate Democratic sources tell CNN.  —  That would be a blow to three senior senators set …

Jon Stewart of ‘The Daily Show’ Takes On Fox News  —  George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are long gone.  Fox News Channel is Jon Stewart's new enemy No. 1.  —  Last week that comedian did something that the hosts of “Fox & Friends,” the morning show on Fox News, did not do …

Road to Radicalism: The Man Behind the ‘South Park’ Threats  —  By all appearances, Zachary Adam Chesser was the boy next door.  He played football and was on the crew team at one of the best high schools in the country.  He even studied Japanese.  He was hardly the sort of boy you'd expect …

A health-care reform Rorschach test  —  I long ago learned that cost estimates are health-care reform's version of a Rorschach test: They tell you more about the reader than the bill.  And the early reaction to the latest estimates (pdf) out of the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services are no different.

A program designed to reduce energy consumption persuaded some Republicans to consume more. … - What Obama Thinks About the KFC Double Down- Oceans: An Awesome Documentary About Crazy-Looking Fish- Lose 300 Million Tons of CO2 in Just Three Weeks!  - Katie Roiphe …

Edwards to Testify About Sex Tape  —  Hungry Beast Giving Beast Women in the World  —  Blogs and Stories  —  John Edwards will testify under oath about his relationship with mistress Rielle Hunter, facing questions about the infamous sex tape and whether he spent campaign funds to hide the relationship.