Congress Knew About the Interrogations  —  Obama should release the memo on the attacks prevented.  —  Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair got it right last week when he noted how easy it is to condemn the enhanced interrogation program “on a bright sunny day in April 2009.”

Shepard Smith Uncensored: “We Are America, We Do Not F**king Torture!”  (VIDEO)  —  Update: scroll down for Smith's uncensored comments  —  Fox News viewers witnessed a rather incredible scene on Wednesday as anchor Shepard Smith and Fox contributor Judith Miller (of CIA leak infamy) …

Drama at GE shareholders meeting  —  ‘Open hostility’ toward execs over MSNBC's ‘leftward tilt’  —  Things got testy Wednesday at the GE shareholders meeting courtesy of several complaints about political bias at its media division, NBC Universal.  —  Just don't expect to see the fireworks …

Top Bush Officials Approved of Harsh Interrogations as Early as Summer 2002  —  Condoleezza Rice, John D. Ashcroft and other top Bush administration officials reviewed and approved as early as the summer of 2002 the CIA's use of harsh interrogation methods on detainees at secret prisons …

Lewis Testifies U.S. Urged Silence on Deal  —  Bank of America Chief Says Bernanke, Paulson Barred Disclosure of Merrill Woes Because of Fears for Financial System  —  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Department chief Henry Paulson pressured Bank of America Corp …

Was Freddie pressured to toe Obama line?  —  Both the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are reporting that Freddie Mac's Chief Financial Officer, David Kellermann, who was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide, was involved in recent months in a heated dispute with Freddie's regulator …

NELL HUSBANDS MARTIN COULTER  —  A lot of people claim to be my No. 1 fan — God bless them — but my true No. 1 fan left this world last week.  My mother quietly stopped breathing last Tuesday, as she slept peacefully, holding my hand.  —  She was the biggest fan of all of us — Father, me and my brothers John and Jim.

Pelosi Tells of a Briefing by Officials on Harman  —  WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that she had been briefed by the Bush administration “maybe three years ago” that Representative Jane Harman, Democrat of California, had been picked …

FDA to allow morning-after pill over the counter for 17-year-olds  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The “morning-after pill” will be available without a prescription to women 17 and older, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.  The minimum age has been 18.

Tarheel Fascism  —  6 people, presumably students, have been arrested protesting Virgil Goode's speech against illegal immigration at UNC-Chapel Hill.  They seem to be every bit as tolerant as the Carolina blue fascists that violently ended Tom Tancredo's attempted speech last week.

Obama's Budget Satire  —  Monday morning the government braced for austerity, as the government understands that.  Having sent Congress a $3.5 trillion budget, the president signaled in advance — perhaps so his Cabinet members could steel themselves for the new asceticism …

Federal Program to Boost Private Lending Struggles to Get Money to Consumers  —  In its first two months, the government's signature initiative to support consumer lending has fallen well short of expectations, deploying only a fraction of the amount officials had hoped to extend to stimulate auto loans …

Some Immigrants Who Lose Freedom Face Loss of Custody  —  CARTHAGE, Mo. — When immigration agents raided a poultry processing plant near here two years ago, they had no idea a little American boy named Carlos would be swept up in the operation.  —  One of the 136 illegal immigrants detained …

AP Poll: Americans high on Obama, direction of US  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction, a sign that Barack Obama has used the first 100 days …

The Case for a Federalism Amendment  —  How the Tea Partiers can make Washington pay attention.  —  In response to an unprecedented expansion of federal power, citizens have held hundreds of “tea party” rallies around the country, and various states are considering “sovereignty resolutions” …

Serving Under the Army's Most Ruthless Soldier  —  Blogs and Stories  —  When Scott Beauchamp first described misconduct by American soldiers in Baghdad, the political right accused him of lying.  Last week, one of the soldiers who denounced him became the highest-ranking service member to be found guilty of murder in the Iraq war.

Want to Prosecute the Lawyers?  Cite Ministries — Not the Justice Case  —  Scholars who believe that the individuals who wrote the OLC memos authorizing torture should be criminally prosecuted — as I do — normally cite the Justice Case, decided by the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (NMT) …

The President's Apology Tour  —  Great leaders aren't defined by consensus.  —  President Barack Obama has finished the second leg of his international confession tour.  In less than 100 days, he has apologized on three continents for what he views as the sins of America and his predecessors.

Conservative reps. want Napolitano out  —  House Republicans are calling on Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to step down or be fired in the wake of a controversial department memo that has sparked indignant battle cries from conservatives and some veterans.

Fidel Castro calls Obama ‘conceited’  —  “Comrade Fidel” was quick to dash the president's optimism about easy rapprochement with Cuba, saying in a communique Tuesday that Obama misunderstood his brother Raul at the Summit of the Americas. … Multiple smackdowns and a first-name basis with ABC's Jake Tapper!

Torture: Who Was In The Key Meetings?  —  This newly declassified history comes courtesy of Sen. Jay Rockefeller and the Senate intelligence committee.  It includes a bit of information about the post 2005 Office of Legal Counsel memoranda and provides independent confirmation for the disclosure …