You’d think some folks were in need of political deodorant due to the quick distance they’re putting between others — and themselves. Specifically, President George Bush who slowly but surely put himself a few Texas two-steps away from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay — as DeLay put himself a few Texas two-steps away from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. To wit: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) apologized yesterday for heated comments he made about possible retribution...

If you ever wondered how Rupert Murdoch became the media giant he is — how his thought processes worked to analyze and try to anticipate every development — you must read his speech peppered with warnings to newspaper editors. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch urged newspaper editors to grab on to the digital revolution, stop fearing or ignoring the power of the Web, and do more to serve the young news consumers — or “digital natives,” as he called them — who are more...

If you missed it (and even if you didn’t), make sure to catch the reruns today of leading centrist author John Avlon’s appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.” Avlon is a columnist for the New York Sun, a superb author and an analyist who is now talking about his book Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics — a book that has enormous relevance to the fast-breaking political events unfolding today. NOTE: TMV read...

Disagreements have bubbled to the surface beween Israel’s Prime Minister and a UN nuclear watchdog agency on the degree of the threat posed today by Iran: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Wednesday that Iran is nearing a “point of no return” in developing a nuclear weapon that could be used against his country. In a CNN interview, Sharon said Iran was years away from possessing a nuclear weapon — but could be just months away from overcoming “technical problems”...

Great news: we can downsize the CIA, fire all of our newly-hired intelligence operatives overseas and use our duct-tape supplies to keep the kids’ noise down because the UN passed a resolution banning terrorists from having or threatening to use nuclear weapons. The war on terrorism is now OVER: UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. General Assembly approved a global treaty Wednesday aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism by making it a crime for would-be terrorists to possess or threaten to use...

I didn’t intend to do any additional post about being on MSNBC, but after various emails it became a necessity. We’ve gotten lot of emails saying how on the show TMV looked like he was about 6 feet tall, 200 lbs, with broad shoulders — a big man in length…and width. In reality, TMV is five foot 2, 145 lbs, with shoulders he’d rather not talk about. Two weeks ago, while doing a beauty contest stage show with celebrity look alikes, the country’s top Robert DeNiro...

Good mews coming out of Wisconsin: The state’s governnor has made it clear he will nix moves to declare (literally) open season on feral cats. MADISON, Wis. – A proposal to legalize the killing of feral cats is not going to succeed, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday. “I don’t think Wisconsin should become known as a state where we shoot cats,” said Doyle, a Democrat who neither hunts nor owns a cat. “What it does is sort of hold us up as a state that everybody is...

I’m confused: did Phyllis Schlafly study the same constitution that I did or study the same law that all of my best friends at Colgate University did (they are now lawyers, prosecutors and judges)? I doubt it. UPDATE: You wanted to know what we were talking about? This: Congress and the president should not pass the buck to judges in black robes and hide behind their skirts when they make outrageous decisions. Here are some ways Congress can start to restore representative government. Congress...

Another case of an American reported to be held hostage pleading for his life in Iraq: An American citizen who was taken captive in Iraq on Sunday has pleaded for his life in a video broadcast on Aljazeera. The tape on Wednesday showed a man sitting behind a wooden desk as three men pointed their guns towards him. He was holding what looked like a passport and a photo identification. The US embassy spokesman in Baghdad – Bob Callahan – confirmed the captive’s name as Jeffrey Ake...

The Wall Street Journal has a new survey on blog readership and if you assume it’s awesome let’s quickly tell you: not really…The paper reports: Two-fifths of Americans who are online have read a political blog, and more than a quarter read them once a month or more, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll. Still, 56% of the public has never read a political blog and only 7% of online adults have posted a comment, according to the poll. Of online adults who have posted comments...

Glenn Reynolds has a piece on Tech Station Central about whether the U.S. is on the threshold of a new religious revival — and he issues a polite but firm warning to the Right that it could go too far: Read it in full. A few key quotes we’ll offer here: Are we in the midst of a religious revival that will change the face of America, and the world? Some people on the Right hope so, while many people on the Left fear so. I suspect, however, that the trend will be less dramatic than either...

But YOU can SAVE HIM.

This one doesn’t surprise me one bit. “I’ll call you back later. Something has come up.” (Paraphrase from an old James Bond movie. We DO attribute bad jokes..)

Another great cartoon via Cox & Forkum: UPDATE: It sounds like Tom DeLay figures he can be House AND SENATE Majority leader if you read this Washington Post story about how he “implored” Senators to stick with him while he deals with allegations about his travels and dealings with lobbyists: Attendees said DeLay, in extremely brief remarks, told the senators that, if asked about his predicament, they should blame Democrats and their lack of an agenda.

If New York Senator Hillary Clinton is thinking of running for President in 2008 as many think, there is a reality she must face: it won’t be a cakewalk. She now faces the prospect of a new poll not only showing that her constituents don’t want her to run, but that they favor former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. And, meanwhile, a top controversial GOP operative has her in his target, sparking angry comments from her husband former President Bill Clinton. The poll is a warning flag....

In the So What’s The Big Deal About That Department: MICHAEL Jackson’s young accuser and his family were offered a house and a college education in return for filming a rebuttal to British journalist Martin Bashir’s controversial documentary, a court heard yesterday. (The boy’s) stepfather, Jay Jackson, told Santa Maria court, California he feared the pop star’s aides were taking advantage of the family. He claimed one employee, Frank Tyson, had told him that…Jay...

Iran was a prime topic of conservations when President George Bush met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon — with Israel continue to urge Washington to keep diplomatic pressures on to assure Iran can’t develop a nuke. According to the Israeli paper Ha’aretz: A source in Sharon’s entourage said that Iran is sensitive to pressure, “and it is still possible to influence it.” The Iranian issue was the main point of Monday’s discussion during the lunch Bush...

The old-fashioned girls’ baby doll and boys’ action dolls are about to become outmoded with a new kind of doll — and if you don’t buy your kids one and they tell you to go to hell, you just might: NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – A talking Jesus doll is due to go on sale in May, along with versions of Moses, the Virgin Mary and David, as a teddy bear maker tries to find a market with churches and religious families. The foot-tall Jesus doll will be able to recite five Biblical...

Law professor Glenn Reynolds, on his MSNBC site, takes a look at the firestorm among GOP social conservatives over the judiciary. Read it all but here’s a key quote: Now the activist fringe of the Republican Party is out after the judiciary. Have they gone crazy, or is there method in their madness? Maybe a little of both. Perhaps they think that this sort of noise will intimidate the federal judiciary — as Roosevelt’s court-packing plan did. Or perhaps they’re just trying...

I mean, you DO have to wonder sometimes how people get the jobs they have: It’s the kind of spat that flares thousands of times a day in schools all over the country. But at Public School 34 in Queens Village, Assistant Principal Nancy Miller’s ghastly way of handling a minor scuffle between two Haitian fourth-graders has sparked fury. According to parents and students, Miller, who is white, chose to punish all 13 Haitian pupils in the school’s only fourth-grade bilingual class...