‘No-fly’ win for lame-duck Clinton  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's revelation that she won't be staying on if there is a second Obama term may have been news to those who don't know her, but did not surprise her friends, who say she's spending an increasing amount of time considering …

Libya Says It Will Release Times Journalists  —  TRIPOLI, Libya — Four New York Times journalists missing in Libya since Tuesday were captured by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and will be released Friday, his son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, told Christiane Amanpour in an ABC News interview.

Support for Gay Marriage Reaches a Milestone  —  More Than Half of Americans Say Gay Marriage Should Be Legal  —  More than half of Americans say it should be legal for gays and lesbians to marry, a first in nearly a decade of polls by ABC News and The Washington Post.

Reid trashes House vote to defund NPR, adjourns Senate  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) seized an opportunity Thursday night to criticize a House vote earlier in the day to defund National Public Radio.  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who had come to the floor …

The Forgotten Millions  —  More than three years after we entered the worst economic slump since the 1930s, a strange and disturbing thing has happened to our political discourse: Washington has lost interest in the unemployed.  —  Jobs do get mentioned now and then — and a few political figures …

Journalistic irony  —  On Wednesday, the Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gregory Jaczko, depicted the threat posed by Japanese nuclear reactors as much graver than had been suggested by Japanese officials.  Yesterday, this is how The New York Times described the impact …

Haley Barbour's son says he doesn't want father to make a White House run  —  WASHINGTON — The son of potential presidential contender Haley Barbour told a conservative columnist on Thursday that he hopes his father doesn't mount a White House bid.  —  In a personal e-mail to the columnist …

SEC moves to charge Fannie, Freddie execs  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving toward charging former and current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives with violations related to the financial crisis, setting up a clash with the housing regulator that oversees the companies, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Democrats argue party failing to humanize cuts, losing message war  —  A growing chorus of Democratic loyalists argue their party is losing the messaging battle over spending by failing to put a human face on cuts proposed by the GOP.  —  Instead of shining the spotlight on the programs slashed …

Half Would Vote Against Obama  —  Fully half of registered voters say they would definitely or probably vote for a candidate other than President Obama if the presidential election were held today, according to a new Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll.

Union thuggery against Althouse and Meade: “We will hang up wanted posters of you everywhere you like to go.”  —  “We will picket on public property as close to your house as we can every day.  We will harrass the ever loving s**t out of you all the time.  Campus is OCCUPIED.  State street is OCCUPIED.

O'Keefe's Latest NPR Bombshell Instantly Falls Apart  —  Discredited conservative activist James O'Keefe is out with yet another NPR video, and its auteur took to Twitter to tease its SHOCKING REVELATION:  —  Yep, that's the big story, and in his narration to the tape O'Keefe delivers this breaking news …

The NPR video and political dirty tricks  —  James O'Keefe's guerrilla video attack on NPR has led to the resignation of its chief executive and an ethical debate: When are lies justified in pursuit of a political cause?  —  It is now clear that O'Keefe's editing of the raw video …

Dealing on Detentions  —  There are a disagreements between Congressional Republicans and the Obama administration on military detentions, but the gulf between Obama and the left is bigger.  —  House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon wants to make a deal with the Obama administration on detention policy.

NAACP files suit over map impasse  —  Move follows state Senate's rejection of House redistricting  —  It appears increasingly likely a court will intervene in legislative redistricting - or, as Sen. John Horhn put it, the process of drawing new House and Senate maps is headed for a “train wreck.”

Obama to focus on economic issues, repairing relations in Brazil trip  —  RIO DE JANEIRO — Shortly after taking office, President Obama declared Brazil's charismatic president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva “the most popular politician on Earth.”  And Lula said he was “a fan” of Obama's.

Frantic Repairs Go On at Plant as Japan Raises Severity of Crisis  —  HONG KONG — Japanese engineers battled on Friday to cool spent fuel rods and restore electric power to pumps at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station plant as new challenges seemed to accumulate by the hour …

$350,000 Goal Is Set For Re-election Donors  —  WASHINGTON — The top contributors to President Obama's re-election campaign were given an ambitious set of marching orders on Thursday, with an elite group of 450 donors each asked to raise $350,000 this year to help finance what is likely …