What's Really in the RESTORE Act  —  I was pleased to see Time Magazine columnist Joe Klein acknowledge that he "may have made a mistake" in his column attacking the House Majority ("The Tone Deaf Democrats") and misrepresenting the RESTORE Act.  Unfortunately, Mr. Klein still professes confusion toward …

Exclusive: Romney Opposed Naming Muslim To Cabinet On Second Occasion, Witnesses Say  —  Presidential canidate Mitt Romney has discounted appointing Muslims to his cabinet on more than just the one occasion reported in a CSM op-ed yesterday.  —  TPM Election Central has learned …

Hillary's Secret Weapon: Colin Powell?  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been talking for some time now about how, if she is elected president, she will ask both Democratic and Republican statesmen to hit the road on her behalf to declare that "bipartisan foreign policy is back" in post-George W. Bush America.

Bay State's going slap-happy  —  Pols debate ban on spanking … Parents who spank their kids - even in their own homes - would be slapped by the long arm of the law under an Arlington nurse's proposal to make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to outlaw corporal punishment.

I was with Fred  —  Somewhere over South Carolina (CNN) — I am in a coach middle seat, flying from Washington, D.C. to Tampa, Florida on US Airways Flight 1491, destined for the CNN-YouTube GOP debate in St. Petersburg.  —  The child cooing two aisles in front of me is Samuel Thompson, potentially the nation's future first toddler.

Defining news story of the cycle?  —  We might have just found the issue and story that crystalizes the anxieties of all Americans around a protectionist message.  The story is: … Let's put the pieces together.  — We have a shadowy Middle Eastern monarch.  A King.

Extreme right wing Phil Kline investigated by KCTV5  —  You may know of Phil Kline by his numerous appearances with Bill O'Reilly and his constant attacks on Planned Parenthood.  You'd think he would have won his election against Paul Morrison because of all the free publicity, but he got defeated.

An Edgy Calm in Fallujah  —  FALLUJAH, IRAQ - "You're probably safer here than you are in New York City," said Marine First Lieutenant Barry Edwards when I arrived in Fallujah.  I raised my eyebrows at him skeptically.  "How many people got shot at last night in New York City?" he said.

BUSH: WE ARE ALL TERRORISTS NOW  —  Bush has lost his mind and his moral compass.  This statement is an outrage.  A lie and a blood libel.  Israel has never committed any acts of terrorism.  What a tool of Islamic jihad.  Based on that, Bush is a terrorist, anyone that defends himself, his family, his country is a terrorist.

Oscar Wyatt receives 12-month sentence  —  NEW YORK — Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt was sentenced today to 12 months and a day in prison on a criminal charge stemming from illicit payments to Saddam Hussein's regime under the United Nations Oil-for-Food program.  —  He pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

BOXBUX SUX AS STIX HIX NIX XMAS FLIX  —  Los Angeles - Despite critical acclaim and massive promotional budgets, a wave of anti-Santa holiday pictures floundered at the box office over the Thanksgiving opening weekend, leading some entertainment industry analysts to question whether Hollywood …

Science Is Not Notable  —  Scott Eric Kaufman draws my attention to the fact that the New York Times has posted its Notable Books for 2007 list.  The list is divided into "Fiction & Poetry" and "Non-Fiction," and Scott correctly notes that the "Fiction & Poetry" books all have terrible blurbs …

EPIPHANY  —  Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was looking at some polling charts at pollster.com.  And I had what I can only call a computational epiphany.  Those of us who are watching the races at least somewhat closely know that the basic tension in the Republican race is that Rudy Giuliani …

CNN pledges no Dem "gotchas" in Republican YouTube debate — so why did CNN allow partisan "gotchas" in Dem debate?  —  In a November 21 post to The New York Times' political blog, The Caucus, staff writer Ariel Alexovich purported to give a "sneak peek" at how questions for the November 28 …