Top House Democrat denounces Clinton campaign tactics  —  WASHINGTON - “Scurrilous” and “disingenuous” were among the words a top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives used on Thursday to describe Hillary Clinton's campaign tactics in her bid to defeat Barack Obama for their party's presidential nomination.

Obama's ‘Distractions’?  —  Real change has never been easy. . . . The status quo in Washington will fight.  They will fight harder than ever to divide us and distract us with ads and attacks from now until November.  —  Pennsylvania primary night speech  —  With that, Obama identified …

Jeremiah Wright  —  More than 3,000 news stories have been penned since early April about Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama.  But behind the five second loop is a man who has preached three different sermons nearly every Sunday since 1972.  In his interview on BILL MOYERS JOURNAL …

Self-Inflicted Confusion  —  After Barack Obama's defeat in Pennsylvania, David Axelrod, his campaign manager, brushed it off: “Nothing has changed tonight in the basic physics of this race.”  —  He may well be right — but what a comedown.  A few months ago the Obama campaign was talking about transcendence.

The men in black vanish and Basra comes to life  —  The first Western journalist to enter the city since Operation Charge of the Knights was launched a month ago  —  Young women are daring to wear jeans, soldiers listen to pop music on their mobile phones and bands are performing at wedding parties again.

Study says near extinction threatened people 70,00 years ago  —  WASHINGTON - Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests.  The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought …

Syria Reactor Story a Diversion; But From What?  —  The US and Israel accused Syria on Thursday of building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korean help.  There was a lot of innuendo in the press that the reactor was intended for nuclear weapons production.  But AFP notes:

You Don't Screw With “The Man”  —  In a case that's more instructive in government power and control than most anything a liberal, or civil libertarian might opine upon, Wesley Snipes received the maximum sentence, 36 months in prison for not paying his taxes.

The Democrats Have a Nominee  —  So what?  —  Other than ensuring the Greatest Show on Earth will continue, does it matter that Hillary Clinton defeated Barack Obama Tuesday in Pennsylvania by nine-plus points?  Barack Obama is the nominee.  —  No matter how many kicks the rest of us find …

The Swiftboating Begins  —  Clinton did not make a dent in Obama's lead by her win in Pennsylvania but what has happened is that the republican attack machine has begun the swiftboating in the wake of her negative attacks rightly decried by the New York Times.

Friday Line: McCain's Best Strategic Moves  —  With Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) locked in a seemingly endless fight for the Democratic nomination, The Fix is taking a pass on the vice presidential Line this month.  There's too much uncertainty — even for us.

Israel's UN ambassador calls Jimmy Carter ‘a bigot’  —  NEW YORK - Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday called former President Jimmy Carter “a bigot” for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria.  —  Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner …

No more Michigan talk!  —  That's it.  Enough is beyond enough.  For what feels like the one millionth time, I just did some segment over at MSNBC on the theme of how Michigan possibly impacts Hillary's position if the popular vote there is factored into the candidates' running tallies.