Obama wins endorsement of government employees union  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The American Federation of Government Employees endorsed Barack Obama Friday, giving the Illinois senator fresh momentum toward capturing the Democratic nomination for president.  —  “Our people, I think …

Obama Now Takes The Lead in Superdelegates Too  —  ABC News' Karen Travers Reports: For the first time this campaign season, Barack Obama has surpassed Hillary Clinton's support among superdelegates, according to the ABC News delegate estimate.  —  Sen. Obama, D-Ill., picked up two superdelegates …

Hezbollah militias seize West Beirut  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) — Hezbollah militias took control of western Beirut on Friday, dealing a major blow to the U.S.-backed government in the worst sectarian violence since the end of Lebanon's civil war in 1990.  —  Walid Jumblatt …

Damsel of Distress  —  This is an amazing story.  The Democratic Party has a winner.  It has a nominee.  You know this because he has the most votes and the most elected delegates, and there's no way, mathematically, his opponent can get past him.  Even after the worst two weeks of his campaign …

Rahm Emanuel: Obama Is Our Presumptive Nominee  —  One of the most influential (and thus far subdued) voices in the Democratic primary all but declared the contest over on Friday morning.  —  “At this point, Barack is the presumptive nominee,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel during the New Yorker's magazine conference.

IRAN'S WEAPONS....Tina Susman of the LA Times reports that Iranian involvement in Iraq's civil war may not be everything it's been cracked up to be: … This item only showed up on the LAT's Iraq blog, not in a regular news piece.  If it weren't for the blog, I wonder if we ever would have heard of this?

Obama's Faulty Tax Argument  —  As the presidential campaign heats up, a key issue is whether to extend the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts, which expire in 2011.  John McCain wants to make the tax cuts permanent.  Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want to let the rates rise.

Republicans vote against Mother's Day.  —  On Wednesday, the House took up the seemingly uncontroversial H. Res. 1113, “Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day.”  The resolution initially passed 412 to 0, until Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) rose in protest:

Did Edwards Tip His Hand?  —  Former presidential candidate appears on MSNBC, refuses to reveal who he voted for on Tuesday.  —  But says in passing- “I just voted for him on Tuesday.”  Or was it “just voted for 'em?”  Or something else? … Also says there's “a great likelihood” …

You want radical?  You got it  —  Supreme Court justices take an oath promising to “faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties . . . of the Supreme Court of the United States under the Constitution and laws of the United States.  So help me God.”

3 accused of using corpse head to smoke pot  —  The Kingwood teenager's story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it.  —  Yet, Kevin Wade Jones Jr., 17 …

Obama Needs a History Lesson  —  In his victory speech after the North Carolina primary, Sen. Barack Obama said something that is all the more remarkable for how little it has been remarked upon.  —  In defending his stated intent to meet with America's enemies without preconditions, Sen. Obama said:

Q&A: James Clyburn  —  The House Majority Whip On The State Of The Democratic Primary Campaign  —  Fri.  —  National Journal's Linda Douglass spoke with House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., for the May 9 edition of “National Journal On Air.”  This is a transcript of their conversation.