The Obama administration continues to change the way it describes some of the nation's toughest problems. The latest phrase to go: "the war on drugs."

The Wall Street Journal says drug czar Gil Kerlikowske feels it is a barrier to dealing with the nation's drug issues: "Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them. We're not at war with people in this country."

Kerlikowske says the administration is likely to deal with drugs as a matter of public health rather than criminal justice alone — favoring treatment over incarceration.

The president has already shelved the phrase "global War on Terror." And we reported back in March on Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's avoidance of the word "terrorism" — in favor of "man-caused disasters."

See the story in its original context HERE.

Hey, Obama! Let's focus less on changing the names of issues (Terrorism is now man-caused disasters? Are you serious?), and more on solving those issues! You may be able to fool some of the country into thinking that these name changes are some sort of progress, but whether you call it 'terrorism' or 'man-caused disasters' people are still dying. Fix the issue... not the name!

House Majority Leader Refuses to Back Pelosi's Claims

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's deputy in the House declined to back her up on her stunning claim Thursday that the CIA misled Congress about its use of enhanced interrogation techniques.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, panned the recent criticism of Pelosi as a "distraction" during a verbal tangle with Republican Whip Eric Cantor on the House floor.

But when asked directly whether he shares Pelosi's belief that the CIA misled Congress, he backed off.

"I have no idea of that. I don't have a belief of that nature because I have no basis on which to base such a belief," Hoyer said. "And I certainly hope that's not the case. And I don't draw that conclusion."

Hoyer was challenged on the issue after Pelosi, facing questions over how much she knew early on about the Bush administration's interrogation policies, told reporters Thursday afternoon that the CIA misled Congress. She adamantly insisted that she was not aware that waterboarding or other enhanced interrogation techniques were being used on terrorism suspects.

"Every step of the way the administration was misleading the Congress, and that is the issue and that's why we need a truth commission," she said, referring to her call for a congressional investigation into such Bush-era policies.

But Republicans stirred skepticism over her accusation against the CIA.

Read the full story HERE.

Another State Falls to Gay Marriage

BOSTON — Gov. John Lynch of New Hampshire said Thursday that he would sign the state’s same-sex marriage bill if it was amended to further protect opponents of such unions from having to take part in ceremonies celebrating them.

Legislative leaders indicated they would allow the changes, making it all but certain that New Hampshire will become the sixth state to allow marriage between gay couples.

“New Hampshire’s great tradition has always been to come down on the side of individual liberties and protections,” Mr. Lynch, a Democrat, said in a statement. “But following that tradition means we must act to protect both the liberty of same-sex couples and religious liberty.”

In its current form, the bill exempts clergy members from having to perform same-sex weddings.

The amendment proposed by Mr. Lynch goes further, exempting any “religious organization, association, or society,” as well as individuals or nonprofit groups working with or for such an organization, from having to participate.

Vermont and Connecticut used similar language in their same-sex marriage bills.

See the story in its original context HERE.

Pelosi Claims CIA Memos Were 'Misleading'

The speaker of the US House of Representatives says she was misled by the CIA about the use of harsh methods during terror interrogations.

Nancy Pelosi has been under pressure to clarify what she knew since one of her aides said she had been briefed in 2003 that the CIA had waterboarded suspects.

Critics say the methods amount to torture and that officials who authorised them should be prosecuted.

Ms Pelosi has herself condemned the use of harsh interrogation techniques.

Questions remain

Nancy Pelosi has been feeling the political heat over the question of what she knew and when regarding the CIA's interrogation techniques.

At a somewhat chaotic news conference, the speaker - who used to be the leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee - turned her fire on the CIA itself.

Previously she said she had been briefed in 2002 that waterboarding and other controversial methods had been approved but not that they had been used.

Now she says the agency misled her by explicitly informing her that those methods had not been employed.

The question of Ms Pelosi's knowledge has taken on greater political significance since the White House published justice department memos written in 2002 and 2005 that provided the legal framework for the interrogations of terrorist suspects.

The decision to publish them has been criticised by some conservatives, while critics of the methods have used them to call for the prosecution of former Bush administration officials.

That is something the Obama Administration initially opposed, but then said was a matter for the courts.

Ms Pelosi reiterated her call for a truth commission at the news conference and called the criticism she has been facing a "diversionary tactic".

But questions remain about why she did not raise objections to the interrogation methods at the time.

If her goal today was to clarify the situation, she failed.

See the story in its original context HERE.

Notre Dame Seniors to Forego Commencement Ceremony

The University of Notre Dame is allowing a group of seniors to hold a prayer demonstration on school grounds on Sunday, graduation day -- to protest President Obama's controversial visit, which the students say undermines the school's Catholic identity.

"The university isn't sponsoring it, but we've approved it," university spokesman Dennis Brown told FOXNews.com on Tuesday.

The demonstration -- spearheaded by the student group ND Response -- is in protest of the honorary law degree Obama will receive during Sunday's commencement. The group claims that by honoring Obama, the university is sanctioning his positions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research, which the Catholic church opposes.

"In defense of the unborn, we wish to express our deepest opposition to Reverend John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.'s invitation of President Barack Obama to be the University of Notre Dame's principal commencement speaker and the recipient of an honorary degree," the group states on its Web site.

ND Response has planned a prayer vigil on the university's South quadrangle during commencement to "bear prayerful witness" to Obama's speech, graduating senior Michele Sagala, who plans to attend the vigil, told FOXNews.com.

Read the full story HERE.

ND Response - Official Video

WASHINGTON — Justice David H. Souter plans to retire at the end of the term in June, giving President Obama his first appointment to the Supreme Court, four people informed about the decision said Thursday night.

Justice Souter, who was appointed in 1990 by a Republican president, the first George Bush, but became one of the most reliable members of the court’s liberal wing, has grown increasingly sour on Washington and intends to return to his home state, New Hampshire, according to the people briefed on his plans. One official said the decision might be announced as early as Friday.

The departure will open the first seat for a Democratic president to fill in 15 years and could prove a test of Mr. Obama’s plans for reshaping the nation’s judiciary. Confirmation battles for the Supreme Court in recent years have proved to be intensely partisan and divisive moments in Washington, but Mr. Obama has more leeway than his predecessors because his party holds such a strong majority in the Senate.

Read the full story HERE.

Clinton and House Republicans Face-Off

WASHINGTON - House Republicans grilled Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday on renewed US support for abortion providers overseas and on recently released memos detailing harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists in CIA custody, prompting frank and often feisty exchanges with the nation's top diplomat.

Clinton's first appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was a five-hour, mostly friendly session, but it turned combative at points. Representative Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, told Clinton that the harsh interrogation techniques - which included mock drownings known as waterboarding - "were cleared with the leadership of both the House and the Senate," apparently referring to classified briefings that some members received about the tactics.

"They knew about them," he said, adding that the CIA officials involved in the interrogations should not be prosecuted. "We need both hands untied with our intelligence agencies to really stop terrorism."

Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, repeatedly asked Clinton whether the administration would declassify documents that former Vice President Dick Cheney has said paint the CIA interrogators in a more heroic light and show the important information produced from the interrogations....

Read the full story HERE