Dan Webster confronted by angry town hall crowd  —  (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel / April 26, 2011)  —  A town hall meeting held in Orlando by U.S. Rep. Dan Webster degenerated into bedlam Tuesday, with members of the crowd shouting down the freshman Republican congressman and yelling at one another.

Why Paul Ryan could enter the 2012 presidential race  —  It's not just Bill Kristol, gang.  There's desire at the highest ranks of the Republican Party, according to my reporting and sources, to see House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan seek the 2012 presidential nomination.  Here's why:

Allen West- “You're Not Going to Intimidate Me”, Heckler Arrested at Townhall  —  Immediately after Allen West took the stage at his Town Hall meeting on Tuesday Evening in Fort Lauderdale, several hecklers who were planted in the crowd began to jeer and interrupt his remarks …

Dems Committing Fraud, Harassment in Green Bay  —  [Madison] - The Democrat Party of Wisconsin is using a fraudulent tactic to harass and intimidate constituents who favor recalling Democrat Senator Dave Hansen of Green Bay.  —  The Democratic Party has targeted for harassment people …

Seeing opening, White House pounces on Boehner's words  —  President Obama seized on a rare opening by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and urged Congress to eliminate subsidies for major oil companies.  —  With voters anxious over rising gas prices, the president fired off a letter Tuesday calling …

FACTS VS FEELINGS.... Democrats are, not surprisingly, hammering Republicans over the GOP budget proposal, with most of the attacks focused on the Republican plan to end Medicare and replace it with a privatized voucher system.  —  The typical Republican response is that Dems are relying on “scare tactics.”

Eric Holder rejects attacks on Paul Clement over DOMA defense  —  Attorney General Eric Holder is coming to the defense of former Solicitor General Paul Clement, after gay rights advocates criticized his decision to take on the defense of the Defense of Marriage Act in court.

The Vermont Senate Passes Bill Establishing A Single Payer Health Care System In The State  —  As ThinkProgress previously reported, the Vermont legislature, led by Gov. Peter Shumlin (D), has been considering a proposal to establish some sort of single payer health care system …

America Deserves Libya Explanation  —  Please make up your mind, Mr. President.  You can't vacillate when spending America's human and fiscal resources in yet another foreign country without good reason.  You said that Libyan leader Gaddafi has got to go.  Many of us heard that as your call to action and agreed, “Okay, you're right.

College Course: US Flag Is Racist, How-To Defeat America In Iraq And Afghanistan  —  While claiming the American flag represents racism and discussing today's Progressive Movement's efforts to defeat America both at home and abroad, including on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to help …

Despite Reports of Brutality Toward Civilians, Syria to Join U.N.'s Human Rights Council  —  Oct. 2: Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, gestures, after he is awarded with Iran's highest national medal by his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran, Iran.

Donald Trump's personal experience with questionable Ivy League admittance standards  —  Donald Trump added a blatantly race-baiting component to his already racially charged campaign against Barack Obama's Americanness this week when he claimed — based on things he's “heard” — that Obama was a …

Report: Obama's new Afghanistan ambassador is ... Bush's old Iraq ambassador  —  That would be Ryan Crocker, of course.  Please don't confuse him with David Petraeus, Obama's top Afghanistan commander who used to be ... Bush's top Iraq commander.  Or with Robert Gates …

Largest Banks Likely Profited By Borrowing From Federal Reserve, Lending To Federal Government … A newly-released study from the Congressional Research Service bolsters claims that the nation's largest banks profited off the Federal Reserve's financial crisis-era programs by borrowing cash …

Jackson: Trump birth talk is race “code”  —  Rev. Jesse Jackson told POLITICO today that the birther movement is part of a larger pattern of rollbacks against civil rights and and an attack on the legitimacy of the nation's first African-American president — reserving special ire …

Hmmm: Harvard Adopted Affirmative Action Policy For Law Review Well Before Obama Matriculated There  —  This has been discussed, but I haven't seen a citation for it.  (Then again, I never really investigated it.)  —  JeffB. sends this along.  This is the Harvard Crimson, which should know about its own law school's policies.

The Trouble With Independents  —  What if these voters are just a clueless horde?  —  No group in American politics gets more respect than independent voters.  Pundits and reporters probe what these allegedly moderate citizens think about this issue and that candidate …

SETI Institute to shut down alien-seeking radio dishes  —  If E.T. phones Earth, he'll get a “disconnect” signal.  —  Lacking the money to pay its operating expenses, Mountain View's SETI Institute has pulled the plug on the renowned Allen Telescope Array, a field of radio dishes that scan …

The Marxist in the mirror  —  Obama publicly declares war on capitalism  —  It's official.  President Obama has declared war on capitalism, which is funny because he never officially declared war on Libya.  But our fearless Marxist-in-chief reserves a special brand of hatred for capitalism, entrepreneurship and rich people.

Social Network Pioneer Friendster To Erase All User Photos, Blogs And More On May 31  —  Before MySpace and Facebook, there was Friendster, a pioneering social networking website for consumers.  First launched in 2002, Friendster attracted tens of millions of users over the years …

Louisiana v. Roe  —  A Louisiana lawmaker introduces the country's most extreme anti-abortion measure.  —  Post Comment  —  Anti-abortion lawmakers in state legislatures around the country have already drawn national attention—and outrage—for pushing bills that would drastically limit access to abortions.

Europeans Blame Israel for Murders Committed by Islamists  —  Berlin—Many European reactions to the recent murders by radical Islamists of pro- Palestinian Israeli filmmaker Juliano Mer-Khamis and Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni replicate the typical recurrence of the same …

GOP pollster: Trump “very serious” about 2012 bid  —  Billionaire Donald Trump laughs while speaking to a crowd at the 2011 Palm Beach County Tax Day Tea Party on April 16, 2011 at Sanborn Square in Boca Raton, Florida.  (Credit: John W. Adkisson/Getty Images)

CNN investigation: Obama born in U.S.  —  Editor's note: Tune in to “AC360°” on Tuesday beginning at 10 p.m. ET to see the remainder of Gary Tuchman's investigation into President Barack Obama's birthplace.  —  (CNN) — Was Barack Obama really born in America?

Katie Couric: I Am Leaving CBS Evening News  —  After weeks of widespread speculation about her future, Katie Couric is finally ready to go on the record.  —  “I have decided to step down from the CBS Evening News,” Couric tells PEOPLE exclusively.  “I'm really proud of the talented team …