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 …

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.

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:

Banks Won Concessions on Tests  —  Fed Cut Billions Off Some Initial Capital-Shortfall Estimates; Tempers Flare at Wells  —  The Federal Reserve at the last minute significantly scaled back the size of the capital hole facing some of the nation's biggest banks, following days of intense bargaining …

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 …

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.

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 …

Q&A:Huckabee points to religious influence  —  Times-Delta: How has your religious faith inspired or influenced your political career?  —  Mike Huckabee: I believe that if a person is a believe, then you take seriously the word of Jesus when he said you're the salt of the earth, the light of the world ... .

MoveOn moves against Specter  —  One of the nation's largest liberal advocacy organizations, MoveOn.org , is resisting efforts to clear the Democratic primary field for Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter.  —  The political arm of MoveOn flexed its muscle Friday by releasing …

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 …

Are AIG FP Employees Using Bailout Cash To Get Jobs Elsewhere?  Looks Like It, Says AIG Source  —  Remember the rumors that AIG Financial Products had “thrown in the towel,” handing over massive portfolios of derivatives to the trading desks of major investment banks to unwind in a process …

Barack Obama to walk in footsteps of uncle who helped free Buchenwald  —  Tom Baldwin in Washington, and Roger Boyes in Berlin  —  President Obama is preparing to follow in the footsteps of his great-uncle, Charlie, with a visit to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany when he returns to Europe this summer.

Governor Clintonism?  —  The Virginia Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner, held at Richmond's sprawl of a convention center on a mild Saturday night in February, was particularly festive this year.  The Democratic Party is enjoying a resurgence in Virginia …

Media Still Covering Up The $400 Billion Fannie And Freddie Scandal  —  This morning, Fannie Mae (FNM) announced that it had lost another $23 billion in the quarter, and would have to call down $19 billion more in taxpayer support.  It also said that it would face losses as far as the eye can see.

Cue the world's smallest violin.  Again  —  The Hollywood Reporter goes big today with a long article about how entertainment execs at the nets hate pre-empting their schedules for Obama's primetime pressers.  About how the nets are losing millions of dollars in ad revenue, although actually …

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.

Mainstream Bigotry and Racism on the Democratic-Left  —  I've long documented the most vile bigotry and racism on the left end of the dial.  During the 2008 primaries, we witnessed some of the most disgusting racism and sexism in decades.  And across the blogosphere, the most reprehensible racial slurs …

Nation ripe for entitlement reform  —  WASHINGTON — The mountain labored, and brought forth a mouse.  Last week the administration confronted the budget of the U.S. government in the “line-by-line” review long promised by President Obama — and found theoretical savings almost invisible to the naked eye.

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.

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 …

Text: Obama's Remarks on Training for the Unemployed  —  The following is the text of President Obama's prepared remarks on Friday on government plans to provide educational opportunities for the unemployed, as released by the White House.  —  This morning, we learned that our economy lost another 539,000 jobs in the month of April.