Retired Army General Antonio Taguba says he was quoted out of context claiming the prisoner-abuse photos President Obama is fighting to keep secret depict rape. Taguba was referring to photos he’d seen while investigating the Abu Ghraib scandal, not the 44 photos that are the subject of an ACLU investigation, which he has never seen. "These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency," Taguba said to the The Telegraph, which attributed the quote to the new photos. White House officials blasted the account. Taguba agrees with Obama that the 44 photos should not be released because they pose a danger to U.S. troops.

With former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe in the running, Virginia’s gubernatorial race is already hotly anticipated. And current RNC Chairman Michael Steele is fanning the flames. McAuliffe’s electoral opponent, Bob McDonnell, accepted his nomination on Sunday to Steele’s praise: McDonnell is part of the “Republican renaissance that starts this year in Virginia.” Steele pledged to devote “full attention and significant resources” to McDonnell’s race but acknowledged, “It is going to be a tough fight, but are well positioned for victory in November.” Talk about pressure.

Brace yourself, dreamers—Susan Boyle, she of the quaint Scottish village and overgrown eyebrows—came in second place on the Britain’s Got Talent finale Saturday night. Even more shocking: she lost to a ten-person dance troupe called “Diversity.” Despite returning to the song that made her an Internet sensation during her finals performance, Boyle couldn’t eke by with a win. The troupe earned a $159,000 prize and will perform before Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Show. Upon learning of her fate, Susan curtsied to the crowd and waggled her hips. Oh Susan, you’re not going anywhere.

Some may praise the U.S. for repurposing Saddam Hussein’s ornate palaces into temporary housing for the military, but photographer Richard Mosse, who has published images of the extravagant buildings for the first time, asks why the U.S. would want to sit in the throne of someone they have overthrown? “A savvier place to station the garrison would have been a place free from associations with Saddam, and the terror and injustices that the occupying forces were convinced they'd done away with. Instead, they made the mistake of repeating history,” said Mosse. The series of photographs, entitled Breach, shows weight sets and flags of soldiers decorating the columned marble halls. While most of the palaces have been turned back to the Iraqis, some soldiers still live there in cramped conditions on the front line.

General Motors might be a mess today as the government swoops in to buy up 72.5% of the company, but the White House sees things quickly improving under bankruptcy. According to projections by the Treasury Department, the US would see most of its $50 billion investment recovered within only five years as the company bounces back from a structured bankruptcy to become profitable again. "I'm not here to tout stock. But we're very excited about this as a company," one official told the Washington Post. But given the company's moribund state, some observers believe the government is wearing rose-colored racing glasses in its assessment. "Whenever a company goes through that deep of a restructuring, there are all kinds of risks," one economist told the Post. "This is not a nip-and-tuck exercise. This is major surgery."

The world’s most famous couple made an unexpected weekend jaunt to New York City on Saturday after attending daughter Malia’s soccer game in Washington D.C. President Obama and the First Lady flew to the city aboard a small Gulfstream jet and attended a performance of the raved-about play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone by August Wilson. (Nothing like a Presidential seal of approval to sell tickets.) The couple dined at Blue Hill restaurant near Washington Square Park, which specializes in local cuisine from the Hudson Valley. One group not gawking like tourists over the trip was the Republican National Committee, which issued the statement: “Putting on a show: Obamas wing it into the city for an evening out, while another iconic American company prepares for bankruptcy.” Obama responded, “I am taking my wife to New York City, because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished.”

North Korea has been throwing a thermonuclear tantrum this week, testing an atomic bomb and launching several experimental short-range missiles. Now spy satellites indicate the military dictatorship is setting up a launch site for a long-range missile, according to South Korean officials. In response to the latest provocation, Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered his harshest words yet for dictator Kim Jong-Il, warning that  North Korea's nuclear program was a "harbinger of a dark future." He added: "We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia—or on us." At the same time, Gates has tried to quell fears of military confrontation by de-emphasizing the immediate threat posed by North Korea's recent bluster.

Nadya Suleman's jump from tabloid page to the small screen is official: Us Magazine reports that America's most prolific mother signed a deal to star in what her lawyer calls a "quasi-reality TV series" with production company Eyeworks. No word on how much she's getting paid or whether any networks are interested in picking the series up, but we've got our eye on TLC, to fill that popular octo-parenting niche that Jon and Kate Plus 8 are rapidly falling out of.

Their party brethren could take a cue from the joint appearance of former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at a Toronto event on Friday. The two shared the stage in front of 6,000 people attending a forum and, much to the crowd’s chagrin, rarely engaged in forceful debate—in fact, former President Bush joked that his mother, Barbara, feels “President Clinton and Father share the stage so much, he's like a son to her." Bush continued: "So brother, it's good to see you." Taking a more serious tone, President Bush said the Cuban trade embargo should remain, while Clinton said it “ought to be part of the hemisphere.” On the topic of same-sex marriage, Bush called wedlock between a man and a woman “sacred” and Clinton said the more he knows gay people, the more he feels their relationships “should be up to them.” Each was paid an undisclosed—and likely very handsome—sum to appear.

Is Obama’s hindsight 20/20—even on someone else’s behalf? Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was under heavy media fire this week for a comment she made in 2001 saying a female Hispanic judge would reach a better decision than a white male judge. "I'm sure she would have restated it," President Obama told NBC News, without any further remarks. At a press conference earlier in the day, spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "I think she'd say that her word choice in 2001 was poor." Gibbs said that while he did not talk to her directly, he learned that from people who spoke to her. Critics are latching on to the quote, given a Berkeley lecture titled “A Latina Judge’s Voice” that stated in full: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.” 

The British Ponzi scammer who once targeted Bruce Springsteen has finally been tracked down in Los Angeles. Rodney Tringham was wanted by the FBI, the Inland Revenue, the French police and the Triads, and will face charges for a $14 million Ponzi scheme that funded his glamorous L.A. lifestyle. He promised returns of 30 percent a year with his sham company, Finbar Securities Corp. Springsteen won damages from Tringham in 1998 for selling two unauthorized CDs of his music. The scammer disappeared quickly after the trial.

Jay Leno hosted his 3,775th and final “Tonight Show” Friday, thanking Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Monica Lewinsky and Michael Jackson for 17 years of comedic material. He mused about changes that occurred since he started the show, when his hair was “black and the president was white,” and paraded 68 children on stage who had been born by people who met because of the show (“the greatest thing we’ve ever done”). Ratings have been up over 20 percent for Leno’s final week. He also introduced his successor Conan O’Brien, who takes over when Leno moves to NBC’s primetime next fall, and asked viewers to “give Conan as much support as you’ve given me throughout the years.”

Stressed from the pressure of her too-eager fans, a high-stakes singing contest, relentless paparazzi, and the demands of song-seeking passersby, has Susan Boyle finally found refuge—via disguise? In his blog Andy Borowitz presents his exclusive candid shot of Boyle in a "new disguise."

A Pennsylvania newspaper says it’s sorry it accidentally ran a classified ad that called for the assassination of President Obama. "May Obama follow in the steps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy!" the ad read. The publisher of the Warren Times Observer said the editors hadn’t made the connection that the four presidents listed were all assassinated and apologized for the “oversight.” The man who placed the ad is now the subject of a Secret Service investigation.

It's a tough job being a high-ranking military official in Venezuela—one minute you're running the show, the next minute you're being dragged into a prison cell with a gun to your temple. That was the case for Raul Isaias Baduel, the former army chief of the country who was ordered detained by President Hugo Chavez last month. Baduel is only the latest officer to be arrested on suspicion of planning a coup as the increasingly paranoid Chavez has thrown admirals and generals into prison as well. For Baduel, the move was a major reversal of fortune. In 2002, he led a paratrooper operation that successfully repelled a coup attempt against Chavez. But after retiring, Baduel became a critic of the Venezuelan president in 2007, taking Chavez to task over his efforts to expand his power and authority of the state. “Chavez does not have the support he thinks he has in the armed forces,” Baduel, 53, told The New York Times.

Tom Cruise, put down your laptop. Wikipedia’s arbitration committee has voted to block contributions from members of the Church of Scientology after users complained they were editing the website to push propaganda. "Newcomers are treated rudely. Bad faith assumptions, personal attacks, edit wars, soapboxing, and other disruptions are common occurrences," the committee said. Anyone who logs in with an IP address traceable to the Church will be blocked from editing articles about Scientology. Wikipedia, the most-used online reference site, strives for impartiality in its entries but has been criticized for its occasionally unreliable content.

Not only has the US finally found some actual WMDs, but they didn't even need an invasion to eliminate them. Russia and America jointly opened a plant in Siberia yesterday tasked with destroying the former Soviet Union's stockpile of deadly chemical weapons that have worried U.S. leaders since 1994. The more than two million shells and warheads are loaded with VX, sarin and soman, and just one of the shells could kill tens of thousands of people if detonated in a high-density area. High costs and bureaucratic delays pushed back the opening of this facility, first discussed in the early ‘90s. The U.S. donated $1 billion to the effort, and other Western countries chipped in about $200 million.

The Los Angeles Lakers won their 30th Western conference championship Friday, defeating the Denver Nuggets en route to a finals appearance against either Lebron James and the Cavaliers or Dwight Howard and the Magic. Despite a slow start against the Nuggets at the beginning of the series, the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers took complete control during its final two games to win in six, easily picking apart their opponents defense. Nuggets coach George Karl said after yesterday's game  that Bryant, who logged 35 points and 10 assists in the 119-92 win, made shots that were so impressive "that I think Jesus would have had trouble covering him."

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has fallen in the good graces of one high-profile—and very vocal—Republican. Outspoken RNC chairman Michael Steele said on a radio show Friday that his party should hold off “slammin’ and rammin’”Sonia Sotomayor and that he was “excited” to have a Hispanic woman as a nominee. While he acknowledged the trap for the GOP is “enormous” he says first they must recognize the “historic aspect” of her nomination and then discuss the “substance of the conversation about what this woman believes.” Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh recently stated that the “way to get promoted in the Barack Obama administration” is by “hating white people.” He added that “she brings a form of bigotry or racism to the court.”

With no official events planned for Saturday, President Obama will spend Saturday in his unofficial role as a father and husband. The president and first lady ditched their usual cabal of reporters to attend daughter Malia’s soccer game at field in D.C.’s Palisades neighborhood. Afterwards, Barack and Michelle flew to Manhattan aboard a small aircraft (not the president’s favored Air Force One jumbo jet).