Senator Byrd is Ill; A Note on West Virginia's Vacancy Laws  —  The 92-year-old Senator Robert Byrd, the longest-serving senator in United States history, is seriously ill, according to his office.  —  Byrd has been hospitalized three times since 2009.  If he were not to recover this time …

The last post: McChrystal's bleak outlook  —  President Obama lost patience with Runaway General's failed strategy  —  Sacked US General Stanley McChrystal issued a devastatingly critical assessment of the war against a “resilient and growing insurgency” just days before being forced out.

No, seriously!  —  David Weigel, who's been covering the right for the Washington Independent, will soon be heading to the Washington Post.  —  Weigel joins the Post on April 5, and will be launching a blog focused on the conservative movement, tea party activists, and how the GOP's preparing for November...

Alexi Giannoulias Subpoenaed For Blago Trial  —  CHICAGO (CBS) ― First it was President Barack Obama, then White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, now U.S. Senate Candidate Alexi Giannoulias is joining the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial subpoena list.

Theater of the absurd  —  On Wednesday, the same day President Barack Obama ousted his humiliated Afghanistan commander, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs walked into the Oval Office with more grim news: The cap on the gushing oil in the Gulf had been dislodged.  —  “What?”

Court to rule on Sarbanes-Oxley and gun rights  —  (Reuters) - The Supreme Court could strike down a key part of a 2002 corporate reform law and extend gun rights in the United States on Monday when the justices issue their final rulings of the term.  —  In eagerly awaited rulings …

Obama's race-rant Rev. rages on  —  CHICAGO — He's been keeping such a low profile since nearly derailing Barack Obama's campaign for president in 2008 — is it possible that the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright has mellowed?  —  Hardly.  —  During a five-day seminar Wright taught …

U.S. agency's action may kill Bucyrus deal, cost 1,000 jobs  —  Export-Import Bank denies loan guarantees for coal project in India  —  By Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel  —  Up to 1,000 jobs at Bucyrus International Inc. and its suppliers could be in jeopardy as the result of a decision …

US-Israeli relations suffer ‘tectonic rift’  —  A senior Israeli diplomat has warned that the Jewish state's relationship with the United States has suffered a “tectonic rift”.  —  The sobering assessment comes a week before Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, meets President Barack Obama at the White House.

G-20 nations pledge to cut deficits despite Obama's push for stimulus  —  President Barack Obama's push for continued global stimulus in light of a tenuous economic recovery was largely pushed back at the G-20 as world leaders agreed to focus on deficit reduction.

Martin Ginsburg, Justice's Husband, Dies  —  Prominent Lawyer and Husband of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Dead at 78  —  (AP) Martin Ginsburg, the husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a prominent lawyer in his own right, died Sunday from complications of metastatic cancer.

G20 Confers On How To Make You Pay For The Blunders Of The Rich  —  Protesters riot yesterday in Toronto at the G20.  —  It's really, really simple.  The rich crashed the world economy.  They were bailed out, with their wealth having almost entirely recovered and corporate profits likewise have pretty much recovered.