Time to stop feeling guilty and start really bombing  —  (updated below)  —  The Wall St. Journal's Opinion Journal today published an Op-Ed by Shelby Steele that advances one of the most truly incoherent and just plain inane arguments I have read in a long time.

The Cole Report  —  When it comes to Iran, he distorts, you decide.  —  In some ways, the continuing row over his call for the complete destruction of Israel must baffle Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  All he did, after all, was to turn up at a routine anti-Zionist event and repeat …

More on Mike.  —  Below (via Atrios) I flagged this Huffington Post Mike McCurry post about the Net Neutrality debate.  But I wanted to focus in on this one paragraph where Mike is discussing not so much the NN debate as the culture of the blogosphere and the relationship between blogs and the mainstream media ...

MSNBC update: Cheney's office knew Plame's work was sensitive  —  On Chris Matthews' Hardball Tuesday evening, MSNBC correspondent David Shuster provided updates on what RAW STORY first reported in February: that outed CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson was working on Iran at the time she was outed …

MARY CHENEY SAYS HER FATHER SAID EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED TO HEAR WHEN SHE TOLD HIM SHE WAS GAY  —  Vice president tells VANITY FAIR his image might be better if he spent more time trying to improve it, "but that's not why I'm here"  —  New York, N.Y. - In her new memoir, NOW IT'S MY TURN …

In the Roberts Court, More Room for Argument  —  WASHINGTON, May 2 — This is the week that the Supreme Court, done with its regular argument sessions, enters the stretch run.  —  While it is too soon for substantive appraisals of the first year of the Roberts court, it is not too soon …

Bush, Hill Republicans Agree To Extend Expiring Tax Cuts  —  Democrats Point to Deficit and Benefits for the Rich  —  President Bush and congressional Republicans agreed yesterday on a $70 billion package of tax-cut extensions that they hope will help halt the deterioration of their political fortunes.

NYT Editor Bill Keller: Slayer of Straw Men; Inventor of Privileges  —  Like most Americans, the Wall Street Journal's editors have a low opinion of leakers passing top secret material to "reporters" who in fact act as fax machines to the front page.  —  New York Times' editor Bill Keller responds …

U.S. and Europe Draft U.N. Resolution on Iran  —  PARIS, May 2 — The United States, Britain and France have drafted a binding Security Council resolution requiring Iran to stop key nuclear activities, but Russia and China are already resisting, officials involved in the negotiations said today.

Taliban Threat Is Said to Grow in Afghan South  —  TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan, April 27 — Building on a winter campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations and the knowledge that American troops are leaving, the Taliban appear to be moving their insurgency into a new phase …

After reports, New Jersey senator calls on CIA director to conduct Plame damage assessment  —  In light of reports that CIA Agent Valerie Plame was working to track Iran's effort to obtain nuclear weapons when her identity was leaked, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) today called …

UPDATE: The National Anthem At Bush's First Inaugural  —  UPDATE: Contemporaneous media accounts (see here for example) report that Secada was singing "America the Beautiful," not the national anthem.  The story from Cox News below, reporting that Secada sang the national anthem in Spanish, appears to be in error.

Voters Oust Backers of Immigrants In Herndon  —  Three Incumbents Lose Who Supported Center  —  Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and two Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum …

I Gotcher Bad Taste For Ya Rite-chia  —  I'm listening to Scarborough dissect Colbert's performance with Ana Marie Cox and Michael Sherer from Salon and I can't believe how vapid it is.  They all agree that Colbert is usually hilarious but he wasn't entirely successful at the white house …