On this day in 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, CA, by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Happy birthday to Rosa Parks (91) and George A. Romero (64).

Woo! Massachusetts backs same-sex marriages.

"Because the proposed law by its express terms forbids same-sex couples entry into civil marriage, it continues to relegate same-sex couples to a different status. The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal."
-Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall

Thomas Friedman on a rude awakening in the Middle East.

Nicholas Kristof slams Bush's budget policies.

QUICKIE NEWS:
* UN warns of looming crisis in Colombia.
* Learning from Frist's ricin scare.
* Bush changes his mind, backs extension to 9/11 probe.
* Pakistani scientist apologizes for handing over nuclear secrets. Gee, thanks.
* We can't address the balooning national debt until we get more government transparency.
* Meanwhile, an Italian commentator looks at our budget problem through European eyes.
* Rumsfeld *still* says WMD may turn up in Iraq.
* Hee, Maureen Dowd mentions Jon Stewart.)
* McGovern sets things straight. Yes, that McGovern.

Wait, Lieberman dropped out? Who could have predicted that?