IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office  —  (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)  —  The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Onset of Woes Casts Pall Over Obama's Policy Aspirations  —  WASHINGTON — Thwarted on Capitol Hill, stymied in the Middle East and now beset by scandal, President Obama has reached a point just six months after a heady re-election where the second term he had hoped for has collided with the second term he actually has.

The scandals are falling apart  —  Things go wrong in government.  Sometimes it's just bad luck.  Sometimes it's rank incompetence.  Sometimes it's criminal wrongdoing.  Most of the time you never hear about it.  Or, if you do hear about it, the media eventually gets bored talking about it (see warming, global).

Benghazi auditors Mullen, Pickering refuse meeting with Issa  —  The co-leaders of the independent audit into the Benghazi attack have categorically refused to meet with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) for a private interview.  —  Thomas Pickering and Michael Mullen called the proposed closed-door proceeding …

Boston bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left note in boat he hid in, sources say  —  (CBS News) Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left claiming responsibility for the April 13 attack on the Boston Marathon, reports CBS News senior correspondent John Miller.

Men who are physically strong are more likely to have right wing political views  —  Men who are physically strong are more likely to take a right wing political stance, while weaker men are inclined to support the welfare state, according to a new study.  —  Researchers discovered political …

Re: the Benghazi messages: Browse administration emails like an inbox  —  The 100 pages of emails that the White House released on Wednesday, which cover the administration's crafting of its talking points about the Sept. 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi, Libya, do not contain any clear indications of a political cover-up.

Theater Night: Vigilantes 1, Vulgarians 0  —  I had a genuinely new experience at the theater tonight: I was thrown out.  —  The show was Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, which was quite good and which I recommend.  The audience, on the other hand, was horrible — talking …

Former Sen. John Edwards to speak at retreat for lawyers a year after corruption trial  —  RALEIGH, N.C. — Former presidential contender John Edwards is setting out on the speaking circuit.  —  The former U.S. senator and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee from North Carolina …

Obama eyes Gov. Deval Patrick to replace Eric Holder at Justice  —  Tipsville . . .  Sneed is told that Attorney General Eric “Fast and Furious” Holder's days are numbered.  —  Sneed hears President Barack Obama, who is this/close to Holder, has set his sights on Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick …

Exclusive: Anthony Weiner Spotted Shooting Campaign-Style Video at Childhood Home  —  Anthony Weiner was spotted shooting a campaign-style video on the stoop of his childhood home in Brooklyn Thursday as he weighs whether to run for mayor, NBC 4 New York reports exclusively.

‘Cooter’ and ‘Fast Eddie’  —  It isn't every day that one makes preparations to go and play music for some friends but instead ends up being portrayed in the national press and on the Internet as some sort of antediluvian racist who should not be seen in the company of someone aspiring to the Senate.

Fight Over Obama Appointees May Spur Senate Rule Change  —  Washington — The escalating Senate fight over President Obama's cabinet appointments moved closer to a showdown on Thursday as two nominees headed to the floor with no Republican support.  —  Gina McCarthy, Mr. Obama's choice …

First on CNN: Witness Protection Program lost two ‘known or suspected terrorists’  —  This report has been updated.  —  The U.S. Marshals Service lost two former participants in the federal Witness Security Program “identified as known or suspected terrorists,” according to the public summary …

House votes to repeal ObamaCare  —  The House voted to repeal ObamaCare on Thursday for the third time since Republicans took over the chamber in 2011.  —  Only two Democrats sided with Republicans in the party-line 229-195 vote — Jim Matheson (Utah) and Mike McIntyre (N.C.).

Internet celebrity sought in Clark man's murder  —  CLARK, N.J. (WABC) — Authorities in Union County have issued an arrest warrant for internet celebrity “Kai the hatchet wielding hitchhiker” in the murder of Joseph Galfy, Jr. in Clark, New Jersey  —  The suspect is identified …

Behind the I.R.S. Mess: A Campaign-Finance Scandal  —  Let's stipulate that the scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative nonprofit groups portrays government as if drawn in caricature — an almost Keystone Kops-style comedy of errors on the part of low-level staffers …