White House aide Louis Caldera loses job over Manhattan flyover fiasco involving Air Force One  —  WASHINGTON - The White House aide who authorized the controversial Air Force One photo-op flight last week around the Statue of Liberty is out of a job.  —  President Obama has accepted …

CBS announcer: Any U.S. soldier would shoot Pelosi, strangle Reid  —  CBS Sports commentator David Feherty drew criticism Friday for suggesting any U.S. soldier would murder House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) if given the chance.

Steele on judges with ‘empathy’: 'I'll give you empathy.  Empathize right on your behind!'  —  Last week, when Supreme Court Justice David Souter said that he intended to retire, President Obama said that in naming a replacement, he would not only “seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind …

Obama to Address Muslim World From Egypt  —  President Obama will make his promised speech to the Muslim world from Egypt, a White House official said on Friday.  —  Obama pledged during the campaign to address the Muslim world from a Muslim capital within the first few months of taking office.

Train Wreck Ahead?  —  Why the U.S. and Israel may be headed for a collision.  —  For Israeli leaders, a public break with the United States is the third rail of politics.  The possibility that Israelis might lose the support of the one nation that can guarantee their security awakens …

Hoekstra's Office: He's Seen Documents That Prove Pelosi Was Briefed On Waterboarding  —  GOP Rep. Pete Hoekstra is upping the stakes of the torture fight in response to Nancy Pelosi's claims that she wasn't briefed on the use of waterboarding.  —  His office tells me that he's seen documents that will prove this isn't true.

Obama sends handwritten letter to gay soldier ousted from the military promising to repeal DADT.  —  In January, Sandy Tsao, an army officer based out of St. Louis, MO, told her superiors that she is gay — a violation of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law.  Tsao then wrote to President Obama …

Geithner Bets U.S. Can Avoid Japan Trap on Banks  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is betting that U.S. banks can do something their Japanese counterparts were unable to accomplish in that country's “lost decade” of the 1990s: earn their way out of trouble.

The face of naked eliminationism  —  You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!  —  Remember that DHS bulletin on right-wing extremism that got all the righties' shorts in a bunch?  Let's quickly recall the bottom line of its assessment:

Alan Keyes among 22 arrested at Notre Dame  —  Former Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes and 21 other protesters were arrested this morning when they refused to leave the Notre Dame campus during a protest of President Obama's upcoming commencement address there, authorities said.

A Mind-Meld Q&A With Leonard Nimoy  —  Leonard Nimoy is an author whose poetry collections include “A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life,” a photographer whose monographs include “Shekhina” and the director of seven films including “Three Men and a Baby.”

IF IT'S SUNDAY.... Just yesterday, Dick Cheney explained his belief that it's time for some of the older establishment Republican voices to exit the stage.  “I think periodically we have to go through one these sessions.  It helps clear away some of the underbrush,” the former vice president said …

Someone at Best Western gets it (UPDATED)  —  If this ad doesn't present a story worth telling, nothing does:  —  With props to Bob McCarty.  —  UPDATE: Wow, Glenn links... thanks Insty.

Republicans and ObamaCare  —  The sound of silence is deafening.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Listen.  That sound of silence?  That's what's known as the united Republican response to President Barack Obama's drive to socialize health care.  —  The president has a plan, and he's laid it on the table.

Palin “Supports” Prejean, Dad Claims  —  Carrie Prejean and Sarah Palin go together like lipstick and pigs.  —  So says Prejean's father, at least, who tells E! News in an exclusive interview that the Alaska governor has already been in touch with his lightning-rod spawn.

CAN LOCAL BLOGGERS REPLACE LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE?  —  “Not only is it going to be intrinsically difficult to ever find a viable revenue model for paying a reporter to cover the zoning board if people don't want to read about the zoning board,” writes Matt Yglesias, “[but] I'm not actually sure …

Obama drama  —  Nets take a stand against primetime pre-emptions  —  By and large, they personally forked out for his campaign, they voted for him, and they know he is capable of boosting TV ratings just by making an appearance.  —  But executives at the Big Four broadcast networks …

Democrats Do Best Among Generation Y and Baby Boomers  —  Republicans do better among Generation X  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Although Democrats currently enjoy a party identification advantage over Republicans among Americans at every age between 18 to 85, the Democrats' greatest advantages come among …

Tran launches Congressional campaign... in wrong district  —  After years of will-he or won't-he speculation, Assemblyman Van Tran officially launched his quest to unseat Rep. Loretta Sanchez at a press conference this afternoon at a Little Saigon office building in Westminster.

Sources: Senators weigh 3 government health plans  —  WASHINGTON - Senators are considering three different designs for a new government health insurance plan that middle-income Americans could buy into for the first time, congressional officials said Friday.