Gallup Daily: Obama Edges Ahead of Clinton  —  Democratic nomination preference: Obama 48%, Clinton 45%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has quickly made up the deficit he faced with Hillary Clinton earlier this week, with the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on Democratic presidential …

CEO of passport contractor is Obama adviser  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The CEO of a company whose employee is accused of improperly looking at the passport files of presidential candidates is a consultant to the Barack Obama campaign, a source said Saturday.  —  John O. Brennan …

Spitzer Miami tryst alleged  —  Almost four months before Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal, a lawyer for Republican political operative Roger Stone sent a letter to the FBI alleging that Spitzer “used the services of high-priced call girls” while in Florida.

Freed SLA member Olson arrested again  —  State corrections officials re-arrested Sara Jane Olson on Saturday - five days after she was released - and announced that they intend to keep her in prison for another year.  —  California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Oscar Hidalgo …

Hillary Clinton in Bosnia  —  The former First Lady described her 1996 trip to the base at Tuzla earlier this week in a speech: … I don't recall that sniper incident, but I was only fifteen or so at the time, and now video has surfaced showing contemporary news coverage of the sniper attack on Clinton …

Climate facts to warm to  —  CATASTROPHIC predictions of global warming usually conjure with the notion of a tipping point, a point of no return.  —  Last Monday - on ABC Radio National, of all places - there was a tipping point of a different kind in the debate on climate change.

To Keep and Bear Arms  —  Nearly 135 years ago, the United States experienced what may have been the worst one-day slaughter of blacks by whites in its history.  On April 13, 1873, in the tiny village of Colfax, La., white paramilitaries attacked a lightly armed force of freedmen assembled in a local courthouse.

Newsrooms Revolt!  —  Profound sadness was my dominant emotion as I watched one of the cable news shows this morning.  Two attractive young ‘political analysts’, a handsome African American and a winsome blonde, (guess their politics), ‘illuminated’ the presidential race.

Book Details U.S. Pressure On Allies Before War  —  UNITED NATIONS — In the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration threatened trade reprisals against friendly countries who withheld their support, spied on its allies, and pressed for the recall of U.N. envoys …

Deja vu — Judith Apter Klinghoffer  —  OBAMA ON HIS NOT “TYPICAL WHITE” GRANDPARENTS  —  To fully appreciate the venality of Obama's treatment of his grandmother, one needs to read the other stories he tells about her.  Yes, Obama does tell in his book the story of his grandmother fear of a man who accosted her on the bus (p.88):

Speech Translation  —  While Barack Obama's speech on race earlier this week was geared primarily toward domestic concerns, as an American of Middle Eastern origin, watching from a café in Jordan, I was struck by the possibilities it offered not only for race relations at home …

So much for the ‘post-racial’ candidate  —  “I'm sure,” said Barack Obama in that sonorous baritone that makes his drive-thru order for a Big Mac, fries and strawberry shake sound profound, “many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.”

Incompetence  —  The past week saw a lot of “what did I get wrong"-type articles about Iraq and they frequently put me in the mind of the incompetence dodge.  I note that one frequent way in which people argue for the proposition that poor execution, rather than an underlying flawed concept …

Clinton Sees Rise in Online Donations  —  In the middle of her victory speech after the Ohio and Texas primaries this month, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton paused to reel off the Web address for her campaign.  —  “Go to www.HillaryClinton.com,” she said, drawing applause and cheers from her throngs of supporters.

Washington Post's curious Iran reporting  —  William Branigin and Robin Wright have a rather factually flawed Washington Post article on President Bush's speech on Iran that suggests either extreme sloppiness or that integrity has gone out the window in the news section.

Classy  —  NYT: … (ht reader r)