Back when newspapers still mattered, and our finest journalists wrote important articles regarding crucial current events and our national conversation in the nation’s better daily periodicals, America knew where to turn for the best columnist covering the subjects all citizens cared about most: Larry King and his USA Today column! But then, inexplicably, about 10 years ago, USA Today killed the finest punditry in U.S. History. The newspaper business has been in free fall ever since. MORE »

EARLIER: Did Hillary Clinton Really ‘Shake Hands’ With MLK When She Was 14?

Hillary Clinton just gave a speech exploiting the assassination of MLK somberly remembering the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and she added a (new to us) detail: Hillary claims she saw the Reverend King speak and even shook his hand, when she was 14 years old. Wonkette operatives “Gary & Marilyn” ask, “Doesn’t her attendance at such an event sound unlikely for a Goldwater Girl? I can’t find my copy of her autobiography, think that would have been a memorable event she would have written about at the time … so I’m putting this in your capable fact-checkers’ hands.” MORE »

There you go. Is it still exciting and inspiring? Or is it just more dull Barry on the Stump? Our liveblogging of the speech is here.

So many victories! So many stalemates! So many crushing losses! It’s like a Super Bowl every week, forever, between the same two teams. Barack Obama has some new “Obamentum” tonight, so let’s enjoy his latest speech which will either be a pretty impressive piece of political stagecraft or another worn-out Barry on the Stump. Wait, AP just reported Obama has yet another victory tonight — and it’s not even an actual state! MORE »

• Heard on the Hill: Ken Mehlman goes to a birthday party at the Rock and Roll Hotel, awkward time had by all. Extensive quoting of Biggie… “Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), ranking member on the Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Mehlman on Monday asking him to ‘fess up about whether he took U2 concert tickets from Jack Abramoff“… [Roll Call]
• Yeas and Nays: Male politicians make numerous amusing grooming faux pas… “Meet the Press” producer Betsy Fischer threw a cocktail party with Dina Powell, assistant secretary for educational and cultural affairs at the State Department. Everyone in bed with everyone story #5,673. [Examiner]

The House Government Reform Committee released a lengthy report on convicted defrauder/super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s contacts at the White House, and every news outlet in the country has been going over it looking for the most damning detail. We’ve learned that Jack was best buds with Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove, and that they got lots of presents and helped Jack’s clients any way they could. But our musically-inclined baby brother Idolator found the most important news: White House officials have terrible taste. MORE »

* Soledad O’Brien: Wednesday’s “Hump Day Hussy.” [Evil Discussor] MORE »

* Ralph Reed is happy to grip and grin with a blatant adultering cousin-fucker, as long as it brings in contributions. [Talk To Action] MORE »

“Hey now baby, get into my big black car, I wanna just show you what my politics are…” MORE »

* White House shake-up is directed at the midterm elections; Bolten is following a five-point plan that includes an “extremely visible enforcement crackdown at the Mexican border.” Bush advisor: “If we don’t keep Congress, there won’t be a legacy.” [Time]
* Osama Bin Laden releases new audio tape; analyst says intention is to provide a global posture for al Qaeda: “Bin Laden is a master craftsman at recognizing issues and knowing how to exploit these issues for his own purposes. He’s trying to enlarge the global conflict and is trying to incite and anger the Muslim world against the West.” [WP]
* Eight American troops have been killed over the past two days in Iraq; April will likely be the deadliest month this year. [AP]
* West Wing is said to feel “really weird right now” because “people are worried about their jobs,” says a senior official; aides “are on edge.” Mark McKinnon: “Karl has more bandwidth than anyone on the planet, but with the elections coming up, we have to make sure he has the time to concentrate on the big message.” Nicole Wallace on Bolten: “It was nice to cut right to the chase. He set a very honest and direct tone. It was kind of, ‘We’re going to get through all this together, and we need to step it up.’” [Newsweek, NYT]
* White turnout in the New Orleans mayoral election was double the norm; Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu could be the city’s first white mayor in nearly three decades. [NYT, WP]
* CIA is cracking down on leaks by subjecting dozens of employees to polygraph tests; top Democrats suggest a double standard exists about leaking for political purposes. [NYT, WP]
* Los Angeles Times editorial board calls for Bush to boot Cheney: “Having changed his tune, the president should also think about changing the company he keeps — big time, as Dick Cheney would say.” [LAT]

MORE »