OLBERMANN: S.E. CUPP SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN BORN, PROVES ‘NECESSITY’ OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD  —  Keith Olbermann is not known for his candor.  In a sense, it's what's made him a popular figure on the left.  And sure, he makes off-the-wall comments sometimes in order to evoke a response.

Obama Exclusive: I Was Born in Hawaii and I Don't ‘Have Horns’  —  I thought the president would take a pass when I asked him about Donald Trump's rise to the top of the Republican field in my exclusive interview today.  —  Far from it.  —  He grabbed at the chance with a big smile …

Scott Walker Admits Union-Busting Provision 'Doesn't Save Any' Money For The State Of Wisconsin  —  Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called Govs. Scott Walker (R-WI) and Peter Shumlin (D-VT) to testify in a hearing titled “State and Municipal Debt: Tough Choices Ahead.”

Obama puts GOP in no mood to deal  —  President Barack Obama extended a fiscal olive branch to Republicans on Wednesday.  Then he beat them up with it.  —  Obama's long-anticipated speech on the deficit at George Washington University was one of the oddest rhetorical hybrids of his presidency …

Trump: ‘Always Had a Great Relationship With The Blacks’  —  You are missing some Flash content that should appear here!  Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.  —  Donald Trump speaking with Fred Dicker.  —  Donald Trump shot down a report claiming …

House approves budget deal that averted shutdown  —  Alex Wong/ GETTY IMAGES - U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chairman of the House Budget Committee, holds up a copy of the 2012 Republican budget proposal.  —  Eliminating any threat of a government shutdown until the fall …

The Ryan Plan's Political Problem  —  I have been meaning to write about the Ryan Plan for days, but have not gotten around to it (although, in general, I think that both James Fallows and Michael Kinsely are largely on target).  This post is less about the plan itself than about the politics of the plan.

Poll: Floridians Have Strong Buyers Remorse After Electing GOP Gov. Scott  —  Only three months removed from Governor Rick Scott's (R) inauguration, a majority of Florida voters now say the state is headed in the wrong direction and that, if they could do it all over again …

Bill Clinton Recalls “Romantic” Days of Prostitutes in Times Square  —  Former President Bill Clinton fondly remembers a “romantic” time when you could still get a prostitute in Times Square.  —  Clinton was at a news conference in Times Square with Mayor Bloomberg on Wednesday when a reporter asked …

PROFESSOR: Sarah Palin Probably Staged A Gigantic Hoax About Being Trig's Mother  —  An interesting footnote has emerged to a theory that raged around the Internet during Sarah Palin's candidacy for Vice President:  —  The theory is that Sarah Palin is actually the grandmother of her purported son Trig …

Gaza fighter died in ‘jihad mission’  —  GAZA CITY (Ma'an) — The armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said one of the group's fighters was killed Thursday morning, when an explosive device detonated while the young man was on a “jihad mission,” a statement said.

False pretense for war in Libya?  —  EVIDENCE IS now in that President Barack Obama grossly exaggerated the humanitarian threat to justify military action in Libya.  The president claimed that intervention was necessary to prevent a “bloodbath” in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city and last rebel stronghold.

D.C. Abortion Funding Ban Begins To Rear Its Ugly Head  —  The compromise reached last week by President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner to reinstate a ban on D.C.'s ability to fund abortions for low-income women has, so far, been enveloped inside a bubble of political rhetoric.

Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa  —  1Department of Psychology, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.  —  2Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, 64 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PN, UK.

U.S., allies see Libyan rebels in hopeless disarray  —  (Reuters) - Too little is known about Libya's rebels and they remain too fragmented for the United States to get seriously involved in organizing or training them, let alone arming them, U.S. and European officials say.

Georgia blogger claims hate letter sent to Ball, says he is ‘using Muslims’  —  A Georgia grandmother who says she sent state Sen. Greg Ball a Curious George monkey with a label saying it was bound for Auschwitz, cheap perfume and an anger-filled, anti-Semitic letter also laid claim Wednesday …

The Economic Effects of the Ryan Plan: Assuming the Answer?  —  Last week the House Budget Committee, chaired by Congressman Paul Ryan (R, WI) issued a Budget Resolution for fiscal year 2012 along with a Republican blueprint for addressing the nation's long-term fiscal imbalance.

The Torture Apologists Who Corrupted America's Youth  —  3 in 5 teens believes it's acceptable to abuse captive enemy soldiers - and a long list of Americans shares blame for a generation less enlightened than their elders … Three-in-five teenagers thinks it's sometimes acceptable …