Reid: Roberts 'didn't tell us the truth'  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday that John Roberts misled the Senate during his confirmation hearings by pretending to be a moderate - and that the United States is now “stuck” with him as chief justice.

Senators Get Nasty: “You're Good” ... “Your Wife Said The Same Thing” (VIDEO)  —  Marking up budget legislation can be a brutal affair, often beginning early and lasting long into the night.  —  But buried within the hours of debate in the Senate on Thursday is an exchange you'd be more likely …

Touting Her Currency Conspiracy, Bachmann Insists: ‘This Is Not Michele Bachmann Being A Kook’  —  Earlier this week, right-wing fanatic Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) started peddling false conspiracy theories that the world was moving toward a unified global currency — and that the U.S. might join …

Obama Sets New Afghan Strategy  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to further bolster American forces in Afghanistan and for the first time set benchmarks for progress in fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban there and in Pakistan, officials said Thursday.  —  In imposing conditions …

The Market Mystique  —  On Monday, Lawrence Summers, the head of the National Economic Council, responded to criticisms of the Obama administration's plan to subsidize private purchases of toxic assets.  “I don't know of any economist,” he declared, “who doesn't believe that better functioning capital markets …

Conservatives embrace the Snuggie  —  “Never let it be said that conservatives and libertarians have no sense of humor,” says Americans for Tax Reform's Derek Hunter, who's been doing his best to photograph fellow conservatives sporting the trend of the moment: the Snuggie.

Gibbs ridicules media's teleprompter obsession  —  Washington Post reporter Lois Romano interviews White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs:

Brazilian President Says Credit Crisis Caused by ‘White People With Blue Eyes’  —  Brazil's President, while meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Thursday, said the global financial crisis was caused by “white people with blue eyes.”  —  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvamade made the comments …

GOP Leadership Rivals Throw Mike Pence Under the Bus  —  I've seen a lot of people link to this Glenn Thrush Politico item, but I have a slightly different take on it: … To me the salient point here is that Pence's spokesman is almost certainly telling the truth here …

As New Lawyer, Senator Was Active in Tobacco's Defense  —  The Philip Morris Company did not like to talk about what went on inside its lab in Cologne, Germany, where researchers secretly conducted experiments exploring the effects of cigarette smoking.  —  So when the Justice Department tried …

Baghdad in Fragments  —  Many third world cities look better at night than during the day.  Darkness hides shabbiness.  You have to imagine what the city actually looks like.  If you live in a first world city yourself, you might fill in the blanks with what you're familiar with.

Obama on Afghanistan: Disappointing  —  27 March 2009  —  President Obama has just spoken on AfPak.  I closed my eyes and listened closely to his words, coming via the BBC from the other side of the world.  —  The President's words were disappointing.  He talked about our goal to reach …

Sarah Palin Adviser's Secret Scientology Plot to Take Over Washington  —  John Coale, currently advising Sarah Palin on running for president in 2012, is a Scientologist.  And according to a memo obtained by Gawker, Coale once plotted to use friendly politicians to advance the power-hungry cult's agenda.

When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking  —  The rapper 50 Cent is among the legion of stars who have recently embraced Twitter to reach fans who crave near-continuous access to their lives and thoughts.  On March 1, he shared this insight with the more than 200,000 people who follow him …

Missouri Highway Patrol retracts controversial report on militia activity  —  The Missouri Highway Patrol this week retracted a controversial report on militia activity and will change how such reports are reviewed before being distributed to law enforcement agencies.

A Target-Rich Environment  —  Karl Rove made a habit of employing this strategy in the salad days of the Bush revolution: draw out the more voluble, more controversial, more trigger-happy Democratic voices and use them reductively, cutting off more legitimate debate with more legitimate Democrats.

Why Not Arbitrary Limits on Executive Pay?  —  Josh Marshall, in the course of making rather a different point, says: … Some people, as I understand it, just don't think inequality is a problem.  But for the egalitarians among us, I've never really understood the view that obscene executive compensation …

God Bless Bill Maher  —  And now, the award for best critical thinking by a television news commentator.  The nominees are (Drumroll): Bill Maher . . . and that's the only nominee.  He wins.  —  I watched Mr. Maher this weekend (March 20) on HBO's “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Slow Boil Over Egg Roll Tickets on Web  —  Maybe we should go back to standing in line.  —  The White House's Internet distribution of tickets to this year's Easter Egg Roll appears to have begun with a splat.  —  Yesterday's release of tickets online in batches produced …

National Health Preview  —  The Massachusetts debacle, coming soon to your neighborhood.  —  Praise Mitt Romney.  Three years ago, the former Massachusetts Governor had the inadvertent good sense to create the “universal” health-care program that the White House and Congress now want to inflict on the entire country.

On Spending and the Deficit, McCain Was Right  —  Barack Obama used to get very upset about federal budget deficits.  Denouncing an “orgy of spending and enormous deficits,” he turned to John McCain during their presidential debates last fall and said, “We have had, over the last eight years …

Welfare for Freed Gitmo Detainees?  —  Here, from the Associated Press, is a partial account of DNI Dennis Blair's first press conference today (emphasis mine): … Four short questions/comments:  —  (1) Does this mean that the Obama administration is planning on giving some freed Guantanamo detainees a stipend?

Osama Bin Laden Resurfaces In Congressional Race (VIDEO)  —  The National Republican Congressional Committee is poised to release a new ad for their man in the race to fill a vacant House seat in New York.  The ad, titled “National Tragedy,” beats up on Democratic candidate Scott Murphy …