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Wow, one little lie about being an undercover cop who got too close to official corruption and you’re booted, even from the Tea Party. Apparently making up stories about your personal history is worse than believing in the grand UN bicycle conspiracy. At any rate, Colorado gubenatorial candidate Dan Maes is nobody’s darling anymore . Despite mounting pressure from the GOP establishment and Tea Party groups to get out of the governor’s race, Republican Dan Maes continued to dig in his heels Thursday, saying he wasn’t going anywhere.

One of the more anticipated primary days in recent weeks is upon us, as high-profile races will be decided in a quartet of states on Tuesday. The action will start early in the evening (when polls close in Florida and Vermont) and last well into the overnight hours (when polls close in Alaska).

ATLANTA — After a bruising runoff campaign, former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal and former Secretary of State Karen Handel were locked in a tight race Tuesday to decide the Republican nominee for governor. Unofficial early returns had Deal leading with 51 percent of the vote to 49 percent for Handel with 40 percent of precincts reporting. The three-week runoff between Deal and Handel has featured brutal attack ads, dueling endorsements from Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich and tough talk on the campaign trail.

Can we get a fair program where people stand at the back of the line, they pay a fine, they do some things that would ultimately allow a path to legalization? ~ Meg Whitman on citizenship for illegal immigrants, October 2009 So, I don’t think we should have blanket amnesty, and I am not for a path to citizenship. I have been very, very clear on that.

On this quite busy Thursday, there is much to be learned on the ol’ Wrap. For example: Confronting an angry group that was the victims of your biggest campaign gaffe can often lead to absolutely priceless video.

The fracas over General McChrystal departing Afghanistan is a reminder that impressive fireworks exist year round in our nation’s capital. I’m hoping everyone got a good refresher on civil-military relations out of this experience because we, as a nation, really need it. And despite what you think of the situation, McChrystal has exited gracefully. A manner of departure which, in itself, is another credit to his public service. Something we Americans often forget is that our country is widely admired for the civilian dominance in our governing DNA.

The only thing more blatant than the fraud and corruption that is killing our country is our current leaders’ unwillingness to stop it. Now, as we are faced with the unspeakable damage from both the Gulf oil spill and the financial crisis, our leaders still insist that the best people to deal with the aftermath are the very people who caused it in the first place. Imagine how silly this reasoning would sound if we decided to let the spouses of murder victims be in charge of the crime scene. After all, they know the area the best and are very familiar with the victim.

The only things more astounding than conservatives’ record of failure, are their denials of "personal responsibility" for the ensuing disasters, and their attempts to blame somebody — anybody — else. Their response to the growing ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is taken straight from Bart Simpson .

Layne Gray isn’t your typical investigative journalist. Philanthropist and founder of Vivanista , her mission is to empower women to be better fundraisers, organizers and volunteers. Yet when she poked around, she discovered that billionaire Meg Whitman may not be walking her talk with her foundation. While Whitman’s campaign for Governor of California is rolling in the dough, spending reportedly $59 Million, her foundation, by comparison, has been largely dormant, with only a couple of questionable contributions.

Are We On The Road From Ruin Yet? This week, the stock market flirted with the 11,000 mark and the AP reported that “Unemployment rates fell or remained unchanged in two-thirds of the 372 largest U.S. metro areas in February”. From this news, you’d think America has turned the corner and is on the road to recovery. Far from it. There are major, structural deficiencies in our system that point in very negative directions. And by “system” I don’t just mean economic system. I mean our social system, our culture.