Bush Vetoes Bill Tying Iraq Funds to Exit  —  President Bush vetoed a $124 billion war spending bill on Tuesday, setting up a second round in his long battle with Congressional Democrats who are determined to use the financing measure to force the White House to shift course in Iraq.

Obama blows into MySpace  —  This seems like it was bound to happen with Obama's top-down campaign structure as it grows by leaps and bounds.  With much of that energy coming from a bottom up movement that's responsible for that growth, the campaign moves in to take control of the decentralized action.

Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death  —  The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned.  The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction …

Study of N.B.A. Sees Racial Bias in Calling Fouls  —  An academic study of the National Basketball Association, whose playoffs continue tonight, suggests that a racial bias found in other parts of American society has existed on the basketball court as well.

Obama's Talking Points  —  A leaked document shows how staffers prep the Democratic presidential hopeful as he courts support among party leaders.  —  May 1, 2007 - Here's the private advice Sen. Barack Obama's staff gave him the other day as he prepared to make a series of phone calls in search of support:

BANANA REPUBLICANISM, CONT'D....Quote of the day, from Thomas Sowell: … Now that's a comforting, conservative thought, isn't it?  I wonder what Buckley thinks of NRO publishing stuff like this?  —  (And in case you're wondering, there's no further context.  That's the whole quote.

Digg This: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5- 63-56-88-c0  —  Today was an insane day.  And as the founder of Digg, I just wanted to post my thoughts...  In building and shaping the site I've always tried to stay as hands on as possible.  We've always given site moderation (digging/burying) power to the community.

Imus won't go quietly  —  The talk show host has hired a top First Amendment lawyer, and an unusual clause in his contract could give him a $40 million payday, writes Fortune's Tim Arango.  —  NEW YORK (Fortune) — Don Imus, the tousled and acerbic radio host whose racial remarks engendered …

Is Rice engaging in 'bad behavior'?  —  I can't wait to hear the noise machine blather endlessly about how Condoleezza Rice is undermining U.S. policy by chatting with Syrian officials.  (thanks to L.J. for the tip) … Ah yes, the Pelosi meeting.  As I recall, when the Speaker …

Ronald Reagan, In His Own Words  —  Ronald Reagan thought Alexander Haig was "utterly paranoid," considered former senator Lowell Weicker "a pompous, no good fathead" and was "surprised at how shy" Michael Jackson was.  —  Reagan also refused to talk to his son after Ron Reagan hung up on him …

Back in the Days of 'Mission Accomplished': How One Paper Covered Bush Declaration Four Years Ago  —  NEW YORK Today marks the fourth anniversary of President Bush's jet landing on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and his speech declaring major fighting in Iraq over, all in front of a giant "Mission Accomplished" banner.

Giuliani's Tie to Texas Law Firm May Pose Risk  —  For a native New Yorker mounting a first bid for national office, Rudolph W. Giuliani has shown an impressive ability to raise money in Texas, where his Republican presidential campaign collected $2.2 million in the first quarter of the year, far more than any other candidate.

Small turnout, big questions  —  Rallies draw a fraction of last year's crowd as activists ponder the movement's future.  Clash erupts in evening.  —  Waving U.S. flags and demanding citizenship for undocumented immigrants, tens of thousands of jubilant protesters marched through the streets …

Mr. Broder Goes to Washington  —  So the entire Democratic caucus in the United States Senate — 50 senators — has sent a letter to the Washington Post attacking the dean of the Washington press corps, David Broder, for a column in which Mr. Broder dared to criticize their leader for his preemptive surrender to the terrorists in Iraq.

Administration Pulls Back on Surveillance Agreement  —  Senior Bush administration officials told Congress on Tuesday that they could not pledge that the administration would continue to seek warrants from a secret court for a domestic wiretapping program, as it agreed to do in January.

Mitt's new flip-flop is out of this world  —  Already under scrutiny for shifting positions on key issues and his Mormon faith, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has made a bizarre new flip flop - saying on national TV his favorite novel is Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth."

Why I Fight  —  I have not had time to really get into Jonathan Chait's cover story in this weeks New Republic but I will write something more about it soon.  In the meantime, I did find these paragraphs intriguing in light of something else I read this morning: