Who'll Claim the Center?  —  Republicans and Democrats adjust to last week's power shift.  —  WASHINGTON—A postelection stay in the cool, cloudy capital reveals a sober Republican Party attempting every day in conversations throughout Capitol Hill a rancor-free analysis of why the party lost …

REPORT: Karl Rove May Be Leaving The White House In 'Weeks, Not Months'  —  The White House Bulletin, a service of Bulletin News, reports that White House senior political adviser Karl Rove — aka "Bush's Brain" — may soon be on his way out: … Early this year, Rove gave up his role …

Philanthropy Expert: Conservatives Are More Generous  —  SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks is about to become the darling of the religious right in America — and it's making him nervous.  —  The child of academics, raised in a liberal household and educated …

McCain Tells Conservatives G.O.P.'s Defeat Was Payback for Losing 'Our Principles'  —  Senator John McCain said Thursday that Republicans had lost the midterm elections because "we abandoned our principles" on fiscal policy and government restraint, inviting a backlash from Americans over what they saw as widespread hypocrisy.

GOP Chooses Boehner as Minority Leader  —  House Republicans this morning voted to return two of their top officials to high-ranking leadership posts in the next Congress, despite challenges from representatives who said the party's defeat at the polls 10 days ago warranted putting new people at the helm.

DOUBT CAST OVER CLAIM OF FREED HOSTAGES IN IRAQ  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq — An Iraqi provincial governor said Friday that police located and freed two of five foreign security contractors taken hostage in a convoy hijacking near the Kuwait border, but a senior police official disputed that claim.

Santorum: No oval office run  —  Some backers sought an '08 campaign, but he said: "Absolutely, positively not."  —  Don't expect to see Sen. Rick Santorum's name on the 2008 presidential ballot.  —  "Absolutely, positively not.  Absolutely not," Santorum said yesterday on The Michael Smerconish Show on WPHT-AM (1210).

Cracked it!  —  Three million Britons have been issued with the new hi-tech passport, designed to frustrate terrorists and fraudsters.  So why did Steve Boggan and a friendly computer expert find it so easy to break the security codes?  —  Six months ago, with the help of a rather scary computer expert …

Issues Front and Center  —  Big Ideas for Democrats: Health Care, Energy and Economic Inequality  —  The Democrats now have the opportunity the Republicans spurned, which is to build a broad coalition in the center and become once again the nation's governing party.

Israel developing anti-militant "bionic hornet"  —Text+JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is using nanotechnology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday.

Why Iraq Is Crumbling  —  "A republic, if you can keep it."  — Benjamin Franklin, upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, in answer to "What have we got?"  —  We have given the Iraqis a republic, and they do not appear able to keep it.  —  Americans flatter themselves that they are the root of all planetary evil.

Ban on Silicone Breast Implants Lifted  —  WASHINGTON — The government ended a 14-year virtual ban on silicone-gel breast implants Friday despite lingering safety questions, making the devices available to tens of thousands of women who have clamored for them.

Gay penguin book shakes up Ill. school  —  SHILOH, Ill. - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book's availability to children — and the reluctance of school administrators to restrict access to it.

Senate Approves Nuclear Cooperation With India  —  The Senate gave overwhelming approval late Thursday to President Bush's deal for nuclear cooperation with India, a vote that expressed that a goal of nurturing India as an ally outweighed concerns over the risks of spreading nuclear know-how and bomb-making materials.

OUR ENEMIES' GLEE  —  ISLAMISTS DREAM BIG AFTER U.S. ELEX  —  RADICAL elements across the Middle East see last Tuesday's defeat of President Bush's Republican Party as their victory.  —  Calling the election "the beginning of the end for Bush," Ayatollah Imami Kashani told a Friday congregation …

Digg it: How you can help conservative blogs; Update: Readers weigh in  —  I've been meaning to write about this for awhile and now lazy Friday's given me the chance.  —  People occasionally e-mail us asking for a PayPal button so that they can donate.  That's kind of them …

Hibernating Moose  —  For now, the Moose bids adieu to his Mooseketeers.  —  It's been a good run.  The Moose has tremendously enjoyed musing, observing and holding forth on the issues of the day.  But, for the time being, this cervine creature will not be seen in cyberspace.