McCain launches direct mail attack  —  CONCORD - Republican hopeful Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, launched an attack - a direct mail campaign labeling New Hampshire primary front-runner Mitt Romney as a serial flip-flopper that "voters can't trust."  —  The mailing is believed to be the first …

Dems consider ousting Byrd as appropriations chair  —  A group of Senate Democrats has begun quietly exploring ways to replace the venerable Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) as chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, believing he's no longer physically up to the job …

The Obama-Clinton Issue  —  Hillary Clinton has been a much better senator than Barack Obama.  She has been a serious, substantive lawmaker who has worked effectively across party lines.  Obama has some accomplishments under his belt, but many of his colleagues believe that he has not bothered …

House guts border fence  —  Update 10:20am Eastern.  The fence gets robbed, but the spending bill gives $10 million in "emergency" funding for attorneys of illegal immigrants?!!?! … Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  I've warned several times that the border fence expansion was gesture politics.

A Beauty Contest?  Have You Seen These Beauties?  —  Could this image derail a presidential campaign?  Have political campaigns become the equivalent of beauty contests for both men and women, and if so, can women get a fair shake at an age where candidates have the requisite experience?

FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect  —  Agencies Also Disagree On Interrogation Methods  —  Al-Qaeda captive Abu Zubaida, whose interrogation videotapes were destroyed by the CIA, remains the subject of a dispute between FBI and CIA officials over his significance as a terrorism suspect …

Ezra Levant: Censorship in the name of 'human rights'  —  'Drug dealers get the benefit of the Charter, but not pastors accused of homophobia'  —  The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) is taking Maclean's magazine to a human rights commission.  Their crime?

Stay Classy, Bob Kerrey  —  It's hard to express how odious I find Bob Kerrey.  His behavior as a Senator was entirely discreditable, and it's hard to see that he's done anything good in his life in non-Senator roles.  Keeping it up, he's now following up on his "Barack Hussein Obama" …

Judge: White House visitor logs are public  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House must release its visitor logs and cannot hide behind a shield of privilege, a federal judge ruled Monday.  The Bush administration has resisted public disclosure while it fights a lawsuit over alleged political influence …

How High is Up?  The Defense Budget gets even crazier  —  For those of you concerned about the state of US security—levees that don't collapse, for example, or bridges that don't fall into the Mississippi river, sit down before you see these numbers.  —  Last week, both houses …

Jet From Supermassive Black Hole Seen Blasting Neighboring Galaxy  —  A jet of highly charged radiation from a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy is blasting another galaxy nearby — an act of galactic violence that astronomers said yesterday they have never seen before.

Little Outrage Over Student Beating at Princeton University  —  Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:  —  Silent Night  —  Conservative students and faculty at Princeton University are questioning the absence of campus and community outrage — following the beating …