Romney Spokesman Won't Say If Atheists Have Place In America  —  A spokesman for the Mitt Romney campaign is thus far refusing to say whether Romney sees any positive role in America for atheists and other non-believers, after Election Central inquired about the topic yesterday

Whitehouse Reveals Smoking Gun of White House Claiming Not to Be Bound by Any Law  —  Damn, I love me some Sheldon Whitehouse.  He, like, actually knows the law.  And he, like, is willing to actually read the stuff he is exercising oversight over.  —  Which is why this speech he gave today …

Huckabee Surges, Obama Gains in Iowa  —  The new NEWSWEEK poll shows the former Arkansas governor now has a two-to-one lead over Romney, while Barack improves against Hillary.  —  Yana Paskova / Getty Images  —  Looking Up: Huckabee now seems unstoppable in the Iowa caucuses

Pelosi calls Cheney swipe undignified  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says a swipe that Vice President Cheney took at Democratic House leaders is "beneath the dignity of his office."  —  Capitol Hill was abuzz Thursday with discussion of the vice president's assertion in an interview …

Democrats Call for Inquiry in Destruction of Tapes by C.I.A.  —  Angry Democratic lawmakers called for investigations today into the Central Intelligence Agency's destruction in 2005 of at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Qaeda operatives in the agency's custody.

IDF to show US nuclear data on Iran  —  Disappointed after failing to make their case on Iran and influence the outcome of the United States's National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released this week, Military Intelligence will present its hard core evidence on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program …

The Mandate Muddle  —  Imagine this: It's the summer of 2009, and President Barack Obama is about to unveil his plan for universal health care.  But his health policy experts have done the math, and they've concluded that the plan really needs to include a requirement that everyone have health insurance — a so-called mandate.

Their own worst enemies  —  When Muslim groups try to silence the press, they live up to the most negative prejudices about Islam  —  Nothing sets back the eradication of Islamophobia more than Muslim groups' crying wolf against inaccurate punditry.  —  The latest instance of this is in Canada.

Why I won't do Spanish debate  —  I declined the invitation to participate in the Spanish-language Republican presidential debate on Sunday because I do not want to endorse the further Balkanization of American political life.  —  The debate is being sponsored by Univisión …

Islam's Silent Moderates  —  The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with 100 stripes: Let no compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day.  (Koran 24:2)  —  IN the last few weeks …

Romney's Terrible Speech  —  The editors of National Review proclaim that "we suspect that most people who watched the speech were impressed, sympathetic, and sometimes moved."  I had an instinct to respond in time, saying that I suspect the speech will fall flat, backfire, etc., etc., etc.

Imam's daughter in hiding after her conversion to Christianity sparked death threats  —  The daughter of a British imam is living under police protection after receiving death threats from her father for converting to Christianity.  —  The 31-year-old, whose father is the leader of a mosque in Lancashire …