On a Senate Call, a Glimpse of Marching Orders  —  Um, Senators, ever heard of the mute button?  —  Moments before a conference call with reporters was scheduled to get underway on Tuesday morning, apparently unaware that many of the reporters were already on the line, Charles Schumer of New York …

Judge again blocks GOP collective-bargaining plan  —  But Van Hollen assistant says law is in effect  —  By Patrick Marley, Bill Glauber and Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison - For the second time in less than two weeks, a Dane County judge Tuesday issued an order blocking …

Obama Says ‘Days Are Numbered’ for Qaddafi's Regime to Keep Power in Libya  —  President Barack Obama said Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's reign is nearing its end under pressure from sanctions and the intervention of an international military force.  —  The “noose has tightened” …

Why I Won't Vote to Raise the Debt Limit  —  Everyone in Washington knows how to cut spending.  The time to start is now.  —  Americans have built the single greatest nation in all of human history.  But America's exceptionalism was not preordained.  Every generation has had to confront …

Justice Lawyers Cleared in Voting Case  —  The Justice Department's internal ethics watchdog on Tuesday told Congress that it had cleared all department lawyers of wrongdoing in relation to a much-disputed voter-intimidation case involving the New Black Panther Party, a black-nationalist fringe group.

Maher on Palin and Bachmann: I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings, but no, I wasn't wrong  —  This may be the first time that this particular permutation of “apology” has been offered for dropping a C-bomb on someone.  A forthright apology would be one thing, a “sorry if you were offended” …

Sarah Palin Exaggerates Cost of Libya Intervention By 700%  —  Last night on Fox News, Greta van Susteren hosted former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to discuss what Palin termed the “squirmish” in Libya.  True to form, the former governor was reckless with basic facts and casually septupled the cost of U.S. intervention.

Why Obama had to act in Libya  —  “We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi - a city nearly the size of Charlotte - could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world.  It was not in our national interest to let that happen.

Huckabee Continues to Lead in GOP Positive Intensity Tracking  —  Little-known Herman Cain generates strong enthusiasm among those who recognize him  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mike Huckabee continues to generate the strongest favorable reactions from Republicans who recognize him, with a Positive Intensity Score of 26.

Take Two: Donald Trump Releases Official Birth Certificate  —  ABC News Michael Falcone reports:  —  Donald Trump learned the hard way this week that if you're going to call on the president to release his official birth certificate, you'd better do the same.

Tom Tomorrow:  —  A period of transition  —  I don't really remember the exact date, but at some point in late 1994 or early 1995, I met my editor from the SF Examiner, David Talbot, for lunch at the Rincon Center food court in San Francisco.  Over some cheap take-out …

House votes to end HAMP  —  The House Tuesday voted to eliminate the last of four Obama administration housing programs, in an effectively symbolic vote to end the controversial Home Affordable Modification Program 218 to 109.  —  The loan program launched at the beginning …

Japan ‘has lost race’ to halt meltdown  —  Fukushima meltdown fears rise after radioactive core melts through vessel - but ‘no danger of Chernobyl-style catastrophe’  —  • In pictures: Fukushima nuclear emergency - week three  —  • Interactive: Efforts to contain the nuclear accident

CRUISE SHIP CONFESSION: Top Fox News Executive Admits Lying On-Air About Obama  —  In newly uncovered audio, a Fox News executive boasts that he lied repeatedly during the closing days of the 2008 presidential campaign when he speculated on-air “about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism.”

Justice Antonin Scalia ticketed for GW Parkway fender-bender; will he take it to court?  —  Now here's a date in traffic court we'd like to attend: In the matter of Antonin Scalia and the George Washington Parkway pileup.  —  The Supreme Court justice was ticketed early Tuesday for his role in a four-car fender-bender.

Media Ignores Calls For Socialist Revolution at ‘Anti-War’ Rally in Chicago  —  Chicago media reported on a recent march in Chicago as being an “Anti-War” march organized by students and “faith based groups” who “hope to spark change in our democracy.”  What they left out was the clear fact …

Obama to Speak on Energy Policy  —  WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama, under pressure to respond to rising gas prices, will outline Wednesday a series of initiatives to cut the nation's reliance on foreign oil, including new initiatives to expand oil production, increase the use of natural gas …

Greater Wisconsin Committee says Supreme Court Justice David Prosser mishandled allegation of sex abuse by priest  —  A new TV ad claims that in 1978, when Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser was a district attorney, he didn't ask police to investigate an abuse case involving …

NATO Chief Opens The Door to Libya Ground Troops  —  The mantra, from President Obama on down, is that ground forces are totally ruled out for Libya.  After all, the United Nations Security Council Resolution authorizing the war explicitly rules out any “occupation” forces.

CAN'T ANYBODY HERE PLAY THIS GAME?.... At face value, congressional Republicans went into budget talks playing a strikingly weak hand.  They're an unpopular party, pushing unpopular spending cuts, going up against a more popular president.  Of the three main players — the House, the Senate …

Cuts protest: I'm a political prisoner now  —  Why was I jailed with other peaceful UK Uncut supporters arrested at Fortnum & Mason?  We'd messed with the rich, apparently  —  On the day of the anti-cuts march the comedian Josie Long tweeted: “UK Uncut is about fun and peaceful protest.”

Conservative Think Tank Seeks Michigan Profs' Emails About Wisconsin Union Battle ... And Maddow  —  A free enterprise think tank in Michigan — backed by some of the biggest names in national conservative donor circles — has made a broad public records request to at least three in-state universities …

Calling BULLS**T on Rolling Stone  —  Seldom do I waste time with rebutting articles, and especially not from publications like Rolling Stone.  Today, numerous people sent links to the latest Rolling Stone tripe.  The story is titled “THE KILL TEAM, THE FULL STORY.”  It should be titled: “BULLS**T, from Rolling Stone.”