Exclusive: The Woodward, Sperling emails revealed  —  POLITICO's “Behind the Curtain” column last night quoted Bob Woodward as saying that a senior White House official has told him in an email he would “regret” questioning White House statements on the origins of sequestration.

Congress Finally Passes the Violence Against Women Act  —  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) at a rally in support of VAWA.  —  Five hundred days since letting the Violence Against Women Act expire, House Republicans finally caved today and voted to reauthorize the bill …

Arkansas legislature passes 12-week abortion ban  —  The Arkansas Legislature has approved the earliest abortion ban in the nation.  —  And it's now up to Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe to decide what to do next.  If he vetoes the bill, his veto could be overridden by a simple majority …

Obama administration to express support for gay marriage before Supreme Court  —  Administration officials say the Justice Department will urge the U.S. Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriage to resume in California, wading into the protracted legal battle over Proposition 8 and giving gay-rights advocates a new court ally.

Reid, McConnell exchange fire ahead of dueling sequester votes in Senate  —  Senate leaders exchanged fire on Thursday morning ahead of dueling votes on plans to alter the looming $85 billion cut from sequestration.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) compared the GOP sequestration plan …

Businessweek Warns That Minorities May Be Buying Houses Again  —  Bloomberg Businessweek is a genuinely great magazine that does an amazing job of making business and economics news accessible and interesting, but this way of illustrating a cover story about the return of aggressive mortgage lending products is really something else.

The Business Case for Healthier Food Options  —  In recent years, they have generated more than 70% of the growth in sales for packaged-goods companies.  —  For years, America's childhood obesity crisis was viewed as an insurmountable problem, one that was too complicated and too entrenched to ever really solve.

Republicans need to go negative  —  What a sad state Republicans are in.  Leaderless and rudderless, they flail about, trying to figure out who they are and which of various political Pied Pipers onstage today will lead them from the wilderness.  —  What they fail to see is that there will …

Two Popes, One Secretary  —  The damage Benedict XVI has done to the Catholic church and the papacy may be far from over.  All I can say about yesterday's developments is that they seem potentially disastrous and also indicative to me of something truly weird going on underneath all of this.

Dennis Rodman tells Kim Jong Un: ‘You have a friend for life’  —  SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman met North Korea's Kim Jong Un on Thursday on the third day of his improbable journey to Pyongyang, telling the leader “You have a friend for life,” a delegation spokesman said.

Gruenhagen: Homosexuality is a ‘sexual addiction’  —  One of the Legislature's most vocal opponents of same-sex marriage says homosexuality is a choice and form of sexual addiction.  —  “It's an unhealthy, sexual addiction,” state Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen said Wednesday.

Erdogan calls Zionism a ‘crime against humanity’  —  Turkish PM slammed for juxtaposing Jewish self-determination with anti-Semitism, Islamophobia; UN chief called out for remaining silent  —  Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday described Zionism as a “crime against humanity” on par with anti-Semitism and fascism.

Rand Paul, Realism and Republican Reform  —  A few weeks ago, during Chuck Hagel's confirmation hearings, the American Conservative's Daniel McCarthy wrote a post arguing that Hagel's treatment at the hands of various Republican senators demonstrates that the space for a less bellicose foreign policy …

Assault weapons proposal delayed  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a markup for new gun control legislation for one week, delaying action on a controversial proposal to ban assault weapons.  —  The postponement also allows more time for bipartisan negotiations between Sens. Chuck Schumer …

In 2nd District Republican squeaker, ex-convict looks to be winner  —  With lead of 23 votes and help from state GOP unlikely, McKinley prepares to face Kelly in Democratic stronghold … Republican voters are suggesting the 2nd Congressional District replace one felon with another …

Van school worker shot during gun training class  —  The Tyler Morning Telegraph has learned that a Van Independent School District employee accidentally was shot during a district-sponsored concealed handgun license class on Wednesday.  —  The class was part of an effort to permit teachers to carry firearms on VISD campuses.