Obama Says U.S. Could Be Seen as a Muslim Country, Too  —  HAHN, Germany — As President Obama prepared to leave Washington to fly to the Middle East, he conducted several television and radio interviews at the White House to frame the goals for a five-day trip, including …

In Online Slip, Nuclear Sites Make Rounds  —  The federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation's civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons.

Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor: You Read, You Decide  —  Shortly after President Obama nominated her to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, I read Judge Sonia Sotomayor's now famous words:  —  “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often …

CNN Poll: No frontrunner in GOP 2012 presidential race  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new national poll of Republicans suggests that there's no front runner at this extremely early moment in the next race for the White House.  —  Three possible candidates are all bunched at the top of a CNN/Opinion Research

Cheney Led Briefings of Lawmakers To Defend Interrogation Techniques  —  Former vice president Richard B. Cheney personally oversaw at least four briefings with senior members of Congress about the controversial interrogation program, part of a secretive and forceful defense he mounted throughout 2005 …

Washington Sketch: Here Comes Judge Sotomayor  to Lunch With Schumer  —  Some senators issue news releases to announce new legislation.  Others do it to react to world events.  Sen. Chuck Schumer issued a news release to say that he was eating lunch yesterday.

Ex-Prosecutor Wins G.O.P. Primary in New Jersey  —  Christopher J. Christie, a former prosecutor who sent a parade of corrupt New Jersey politicians to prison, handily won the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday, earning the right to try to dislodge the state's embattled Democratic incumbent, Jon S. Corzine.

Glenn Beck Slams Obama's 31 Year-Old Wunderkind Brian Deese Heading General Motors (Video)  —  Change!  —  FOX News' Glenn Beck slammed Barack Obama's General Motors Auto Task Force kid wonder and former George Soros employee, Brian Deese.  —  This was brutal.  It was honest, but it was brutal:

Why the Health Care Rush?  —  Democrats don't think their bill can stand public inspection.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  If sharks stop swimming, they sink and drown.  President Obama seems to view his health-care program the same way.  “If we don't get it done this year,” …

The Sweethearts of the GOP Rodeo  —  It's bad enough that conservatives have brought in a known dirty tricks practitioner to work behind the scenes to stop Sotomayor.  But it's amazing how they do not seem to have any idea of optics anymore...other than the ability to think the D.C. press corps will ignore such matters.

Which State Was Least Great in 2008?  —  A really cool data table — with an even cooler graph after the jump — shows how GDP, jobs and home prices moved in each state last year.  How did your state do?  If you live in North Dakota, congratulations to both of you for nationwide highs …

Obama on Obama  —  During a telephone interview Tuesday with President Obama about his speech to Arabs and Muslims in Cairo on Thursday, I got to tell the president my favorite Middle East joke.  It gave him a good laugh.  It goes like this:  —  There is this very pious Jew named Goldberg who always dreamed of winning the lottery.

The 10 Hottest Liberal Women In Politics  —  After the debacle that was Playboy's Hit Piece On Conservative Women, I thought, “Someone should do this right.”  I mean, can't we simply admire the female form without being jerks about it...ehr, much?  —  So, I thought about doing a list …

An Inconvenient Truth  —  What dismays me most about Barack Obama's Middle East initiative is that the only country in the area he seems to be pressing is Israel.  He is not pressing Egypt and perhaps that's because there is nothing that Cairo can give., Maybe I'll be surprised …

Why Don't MSNBCers Question “Morning Joe” About Abortion Doc Killings?  —  Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow devoted much of their MSNBC shows last night to the assassination of George Tiller.  Maddow actually led with a headshot of Michael Griffin, the first abortion-doctor murderer …

Bam and Michelle's marriage went through frosty period, says new book  —  The First Family, Michelle, Sasha, Barack, and Maila Obama.  The Obamas marriage went through a rough patch between the birth of their two daughters, says a new book.  —  Barack and Michelle Obama may look like the picture …

EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico  —  Seeks white militias as allies  —  U.S. counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border …

Newsweek Turns to Tina Tricks: Meet Guest Editor ... Stephen Colbert!  —  In the two weeks since Newsweek has redesigned, the magazine's editors have sent out a statement that they intend to sever any and all connection to the turgid, dusty newsweekly of yore.

Federal Antitrust Probe Targets Tech Giants, Sources Say  —  The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether some of the nation's largest technology companies violated antitrust laws by negotiating the recruiting and hiring of one another's employees, according to two sources with knowledge of the review.

U.S. demands Israel halt construction in East Jerusalem market  —  Washington is furious over the Interior Ministry's anticipated approval of a plan to build a new hotel in East Jerusalem, just 100 meters from the Old City's walls.  The plan, which would see the demolition of a wholesale market …

Report of Motive in Recruiter Attack  —  A 23-year-old man charged with killing one soldier and seriously wounding another in a shooting outside an Army recruiting office in Little Rock, Ark., was once detained in Yemen for possessing a fake Somali passport and other counterfeit documents, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

VP: $600 mil ‘not a lot’  —  Remember when the White House strongly swatted down criticism that President Obama's $100 million in budget cuts ...  ... wasn't significant compared with a $1.3 trillion deficit?  —  White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs repeated that “only in Washington, D.C. is $100 million not a lot of money.”

EXCLUSIVE: IRS files $800,000 lien on '04 Kerry campaign  —  Senator says he paid bill  —  The Internal Revenue Service has filed a tax lien seeking more than $800,000 from Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, escalating a dispute over payroll taxes that the lawmaker's office blames on faulty government paperwork.