Chief U.S. District Judge sends racially charged email about president  —  HELENA — Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull on Wednesday admitted to sending a racially charged email about President Barack Obama from his courthouse chambers.  —  Cebull, of Billings, was nominated …

Limbaugh Calls Student Denied Spot At Contraception Hearing A ‘Slut’  —  Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown student whom House Republicans wouldn't let testify at a contraception hearing last week, a “slut” and a “prostitute” today, because …

Romney Wins, the Middle Class Loses  —  Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum fought each other to nearly a draw in the Michigan primary and may actually have to split its delegates, but together they may have lost Michigan for their party by running campaigns that were completely disconnected …

TPM2012  —  Romney Comes Out In Support Of Controversial Birth Control Bill  —  One day before a critical Senate vote that could loom large as a 2012 election issue, Mitt Romney came out for a congressional Republican measure designed to roll back the Obama administration's requirement that employer health plans cover birth control.

Obama to demand Capitol Hill vote on killing oil tax breaks  —  President Barack Obama intends to press lawmakers Thursday to quickly strip billions of dollars in oil industry tax breaks, remarks that will come during his second energy-themed speech in two weeks aimed at blunting GOP attacks over gasoline prices.

GOP Slightly Ahead in Voting Enthusiasm  —  Both parties far less enthusiastic today than Democrats were in 2008  —  PRINCETON, NJ — By 53% to 45%, Republicans, including independents who lean Republican, are slightly more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they are …

Did lawsuit factor in Olympia Snowe's departure?  —  Last August, while Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was in the midst of an intensive round of fundraising for her 2012 reelection bid, a four-year-old civil lawsuit alleging fraud by an education company in which she and her husband are heavily invested became public.

Kim Dotcom's first TV interview: 'I'm no piracy king' … Campbell Live has spoken exclusively with Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom in his first TV interview since being arrested.  —  Dotcom faces a barrage of FBI charges relating to the operation of his file sharing company Megaupload.

Poll Shows Brown Leading Warren by 10  —  Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., leads Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren by 10 points in a private Massachusetts Senate race poll.  —  The poll, conducted by Opinion Dynamics for Boston-based consulting firm Mass Insight Global Partnerships …

After Many Tough Choices, the Choice to Quit  —  WASHINGTON — The looming Senate vote on a Republican plan to give employers the right to withdraw health care coverage based on religious and moral convictions put Senator Olympia J. Snowe in a tough but familiar position …

One Million Homophobic Moms Target Archie Comics And Toys R Us (UPDATED)  —  UPDATE: John Goldwater, c0-CEO of Archie Comics has responded to the story below.  He writes; … Despite a few Fox News commentators, the introduction of gay characters and gay marriage into Archie Comics had gone down rather smoothly.

Chu Lets the Cat Out of the Bag  —  Barack Obama came into office as an anti-petroleum crusader.  He made no bones about the fact that he wanted gas prices to rise; likewise, his Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, explained that he wanted U.S. gas prices to rise to European levels.

Three Percent  —  When you have a candidate few people really like, whose support is a mile wide and an inch deep, whose raison d'etre (a 4am fancy word) is fixing an economy that is fixing itself without him, and who only wins his actual, factual home state by three percentage points …

Muslim Fascists' Virulent Jew-Hatred At The University of California-Davis Last Night  —  University of California-Davis has a disruptive group of Muslim brownshirts who take every chance they can to act in a disgusting manner to enforce the blasphemy laws under the sharia (restriction of free speech).

Is This What an Arranged Marriage Feels Like?  —  Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney addresses supporters in Manchester on January 10, 2012 after seizing a second victory in his fight to be the party's presidential nominee, winning New Hampshire's key primary, EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP / Getty Images

By George, Clooney's Got Us  —  Gearing up for the one-night-only L.A. reading of 8, Dustin Lance Black's Prop. 8 play, George Clooney reaffirms his commitment to marriage equality and opens up about persistent gay rumors, his bromance with Brad Pitt, and the prospect of playing Paul Lynde.

Obama: I'll veto bill that will provide water to California's Central Valley  —  I've called the judicially-imposed drought in California's Central Valley “the Dust Bowl Congress created” through its creation of the Endangered Species Act, invoked in this case by the Delta smelt, a fish that's not suitable for eating.

Are the Rich Completely Undeserving of Sympathy?  —  I saw a fair amount of chortling this morning about this Bloomberg piece on wealthy financial-industry types who are having to cut back because of plummeting bonuses.  And to be sure, some of the cuts are in the “Call me a Waaaah-mbulance” category: can't go to Aspen any more?