DOJ returns fire on judicial review dispute  —  Attorney General Eric Holder is pushing back against an attack from a federal judge in Texas, telling the judge that President Barack Obama's recent comments about the Supreme Court's review of the Affordable Care Act are “fully consistent” with longstanding legal principles.

Obama: It's time for Augusta golf club to admit women members  —  President Obama thinks women should be allowed membership in the Georgia golf club that is hosting the Masters tournament this week, according to the White House.  —  “His personal opinion is women should be admitted,” …

Exclusive: Low ratings could end cable deal for Gore's Current TV  —  (Reuters) - Al Gore's Current TV has bigger problems to deal with than a potential lawsuit from fired news anchor Keith Olbermann - namely not getting kicked off Time Warner Cable for low ratings.

Priebus Says Gender Battle as Fictonal as Caterpillar War  —  The leaders of the two political parties clashed over the role of gender in U.S. elections, with the Democrat saying her opponents have been “shockingly out of touch” on women's issues and the Republican saying Democrats and the media have created a phony conflict.

Rick Santorum huddles with conservatives about future  —  Rick Santorum huddled in Virginia Thursday with a group of conservative leaders led by Reagan-era activists Richard Viguerie and Rebecca Hagelin to chart a path forward in the presidential race, multiple sources familiar with the meeting told POLITICO.

Healthy polar bear count confounds doomsayers  —  WINNIPEG— From Thursday's Globe and Mail  —  The debate about climate change and its impact on polar bears has intensified with the release of a survey that shows the bear population in a key part of northern Canada is far larger than many scientists thought, and might be growing.

Buck up, Republicans: Romney is stronger than you think  —  I was on Morning Joe Thursday to talk about Paul Ryan's budget.  But the segment before mine was on Mitt Romney's emergence as the Republican Party's clear nominee.  And the panel — Scarborough in particular — seemed downright dejected.

TPM2012  —  Romney, Who Holds Two Harvard Degrees, Says Obama Spent ‘Too Much Time’ At Harvard  —  Mitt Romney again bashed President Obama for his connections to Harvard on Thursday, despite holding multiple degrees from the university himself and relying heavily on Harvard advisers as part of his presidential campaign.

Newt Gingrich think tank files bankruptcy … Newt Gingrich's health-care think tank has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  —  The Center for Health Transformation  —  , which has offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and St. Louis, plans to liquidate its assets, according to a filing Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta.

Barry Comment Critical of Asian Business Owners  —  While celebrating his Democratic primary victory in Ward 8 Tuesday night, D.C. Councilman Marion Barry delivered a remark apparently critical of Asian business owners.  —  Barry spoke of changes in the ward, saying he's worked hard …

Boycotts Hitting Group Behind ‘Stand Your Ground’ … Two of America's best-known companies, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have dropped their memberships in the American Legislative Exchange Council, a low-profile conservative organization behind the national proliferation of “stand your ground” gun laws.

CNN ENHANCES ZIMMERMAN 911 CALL AGAIN — AND REPORTER NOW DOUBTS RACIAL SLUR USED  —  Recently, CNN enhanced audio of George Zimmerman — the man who shot Trayvon Martin — to try and determine if he did, in fact, use a racial slur while calling police on the night of the shooting.

Next Great Depression?  MIT researchers predict ‘global economic collapse’ by 2030  —  A new study from researchers at MIT and produced for an international think tank, says that the world could suffer from “global economic collapse” and “precipitous population decline” …

Socialism and Social Darwinism  —  The arbiters of appropriate expression in America get very exercised when conservatives call Barack Obama a “socialist.”  They treat the claim in the same way as calling Obama a Muslim, Kenyan, or “the anti-Christ.”  —  But headlines this week report …

MSNBC duped: Network runs satirical fake news from Daily Kos as a real story  —  If you've ever tuned into to MSNBC weekdays between 11 a.m. and noon ET, you are likely to have sees at least one segment focused on a LGBT issue moderated by host Thomas Roberts.

Same-sex benefits denial is ruled discriminatory  —  The denial of insurance coverage to the same-sex spouse of a federal court employee in San Francisco was an act of discrimination, the court's chief judge has ruled in an order that entitles the employee to compensation for the costs of private insurance.