Security Lapses Let Bomb Suspect Board Plane  —  WASHINGTON — Why was Faisal Shahzad permitted to board a flight for Dubai some 24 hours after investigators of the Times Square terrorism case learned he might be connected to the attempted bombing?  —  Though Mr. Shahzad was stopped …

Meet Geo, The Male Prostitute Hired By NARTH Member & Family Research Council Co-Founder Dr. George Rekers  —  I was going to withhold the identity of the male prostitute hired by Dr. George Rekers, the virulently anti-gay NARTH board member and Family Research Council co-founder.

Black Hopefuls Pick This Year in G.O.P. Races  —  Among the many reverberations of President Obama's election, here is one he probably never anticipated: at least 32 African-Americans are running for Congress this year as Republicans, the biggest surge since Reconstruction, according to party officials.

Dem Turnout Falls Off A Cliff  —  Turnout among Dem voters dropped precipitously in 3 statewide primaries on Tuesday, giving the party more evidence that their voters lack enthusiasm ahead of midterm elections.  —  In primaries in NC, IN and OH, Dems turned out at far lower rates than they have in previous comparable elections.

Why Charter Schools Fail the Test  —  THE latest evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the oldest and most extensive system of vouchers and charter schools in America, came out last month, and most advocates of school choice were disheartened by the results.

Amount of Spill Could Escalate, Company Admits  —  WASHINGTON — In a closed-door briefing for members of Congress, a senior BP executive conceded Tuesday that the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico could conceivably spill as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil, more than 10 times the estimate of the current flow.

Wash Post shifts leftward online  —  The once-cautious Washington Post has begun to invest heavily in the liberal blogosphere, transforming its online presence - a combination of accident and design - into a competitor of the Huffington Post and TalkingPointsMemo as much as the New York Times.

Taliban lackey's twisted mission  —  It was payback.  —  The Connecticut man charged yesterday with the botched Times Square car bombing confessed to trying to slaughter innocent people in retaliation for US drone attacks that wiped out the leadership of his beloved Taliban, The Post has learned.

Max Baucus Meta-Nixes Bank Tax  —  When Congress passed TARP back in the fall of 2008, they included a provision requiring the executive branch to devise a proposal for recovering the funds.  The Obama administration delivered in January, with an idea for a temporary “bank tax” …

To replace John Paul Stevens, an atheist  —  It's something Thomas Jefferson might have done: nominate a nonbeliever to the Supreme Court  —  As President Obama considers nominees to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, a debate bubbles as to whether religion should play a role in his choice.

Fox refuses climate ad  —  Fox News last week refused to carry an advertisement from the liberal group VoteVets on the grounds that it was “too confusing,” a spokesman for the group said.  —  The ad, above, seeks to make the familiar case that climate legislation would have national security benefits …

Lieberman wants to strip citizenship of Americans who join foreign terror orgs.  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is planning to introduce a bill that would allow the government to take away citizenship from Americans who join foreign terrorist organizations.

Time for some oil spill perspective  —  Eleven people died when BP's Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform exploded nearly two weeks ago in the Gulf of Mexico, 53 miles southwest of the Louisiana coast.  It's a sad measure of how much of the subsequent commentary on this disaster …

Obama administration says Emirates Airlines Dropped the Ball; 9/11 Commission Vice-Chair Says U.S. Govt Is Dropping the Ball  —  Senior administration officials say that Faisal Shahzad was put on the no fly list on Monday at 12:30 pm ET.  —  So how was he able to board the Emirates Airlines flight to Dubai?

US takes early lumps in case against Mich. militia  —  DETROIT (AP) — Federal authorities touted the arrests of nine members of a Michigan militia as a pre-emptive strike against homegrown terrorists, declaring at an initial court hearing that the suspects with “dark hearts and evil intent” wanted to go to war against the government.

Marshall favored in runoff  —  Elaine Marshall will begin the runoff election against Cal Cunningham strongly favored.  On our final pre-primary poll, which proved to be pretty accurate in predicting tonight's results, we also asked about a potential runoff election.  Marshall led Cunningham 43-32.