Obama's Gloves Are Off — And May Need to Stay Off  —  Unable once again to score a knockout, Sen. Barack Obama is likely to make his new negative tone even more negative — with a sharp eye on trying to end the Democratic presidential nomination fight after the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.

RNC CALLS WRIGHT AD ‘NOT APPROPRIATE’  —  From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann  —  Update to NC Gop anti-Obama ad that references the Rev. Jeremiah Wright...  Per the RNC, the national leadership of the Republican Party has been in contact this morning with the North Carolina GOP, urging them to refrain from running the “Extreme” ad.

In Oklahoma: Henry backs Obama  —  Gov. Brad Henry, who said earlier he would not endorse a Democratic presidential candidate until this summer's national convention, announced this morning he is supporting Barack Obama.  —  The endorsement means Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois …

The Next McGovern?  —  Obama may still get the nomination, but his loss tonight deals a harsh blow to his electibility arguments.  —  Hillary Clinton won a decisive ten-round decision over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary, but she didn't score a knockout.  The struggle continues.

Terrorist Fundraisers for Obama  —  Two years ago, Hatem El-Hady was the chairman of the Toledo, Ohio-based Islamic charity, Kindhearts, which was closed by the US government in February 2006 for terrorist fundraising and all its assets frozen.  Today, El-Hady has redirected his fundraising efforts …

Hagee Says Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans Because It Was ‘Planning A Sinful’ ‘Homosexual Rally’  —  On September 18, 2006, Pastor John Hagee — whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said this past Sunday he was “glad to have” — told NPR's Terry Gross that “Hurricane Katrina was …

‘Basic Instinct’ Director Paul Verhoeven: Jesus Was Son of Mary and a Roman Rapist  —  In his upcoming biography of Jesus, “Basic Instinct” director Paul Verhoeven will make the shocking claim that Christ probably was the son of Mary and a Roman soldier who raped her during the Jewish uprising in Galilee …

Petraeus To Become Centcom Commander … As Ilan Goldenberg points out at Democratic Arsenal, this move will take two of the biggest critics of our Iraq strategy — Fallon and Gen. Cody (who is currently Petraeus' #2 in Iraq) — out of Iraq and replacing them with Petraeus and Odeirno …

Bill: Stop selling Playboy, Penthouse on base  —  Concerned that the military is selling pornography in exchange stores in spite of a ban, one lawmaker has introduced a bill to clean up the matter.  —  “Our troops should not see their honor sullied so that the moguls behind magazines …

Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations'  —  The United States has less than 5 percent of the world's population.  But it has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners.  —  Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent …

The Big Superdelegate Suck-Up  —  Matthew Yglesias, the leftist blogger, cries to the heavens: “I have to say that I'm getting really tired of this.  All the superdelegates should just say who they're voting for and bring this to the end.”  The New York Times is, I hear, going to call on them to do the same immediately.

The Accidental Rebel  —  IT was the year of years, the year of craziness, the year of fire, blood and death.  I had just turned 21, and I was as crazy as everyone else.  —  There were half a million American soldiers in Vietnam, Martin Luther King had just been assassinated …