Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  The Senate today — led by Jay Rockefeller, enabled by Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP caucus …

Gov. ‘Blunt Talk’ Rendell (and other topics)  —  So many topics, so little space:  —  Gov. Ed “Don't Call Me ‘Fast Eddie’ ” Rendell met with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week to talk about his latest budget.  But before turning the meeting over to his number-crunchers …

Obama Unplugged  —  Lost without a Teleprompter.  —  USUALLY WHEN BARACK OBAMA gives a major speech, the overdone hosannas from the liberal commentariat follow as surely as night follows day.  The American Prospect's Ezra Klein wrote of Obama's post-Iowa victory speech, “I've been blessed to hear many great orations.

Inside the Clinton Shake-Up  —  Like so much involving Hillary Clinton, Sunday's departure of her campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, has gotten tons of attention, but its larger significance has been somewhat misunderstood.  I've spent a fair amount of time over the last two years reporting on …

McCain still winner in updated WA GOP caucus results  —  OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state Republican Party released additional results late Monday from last weekend's presidential caucuses, and declared Arizona Sen. John McCain the winner once again.

Cool on O'Bama  —  All this emoting over Barack Obama's wonderful, wonderful personality is starting to trigger my gag reflex.  —  What are we electing here, a faith healer?  What is Obama's view of the executive power?  How, exactly, does he propose to “bring us together”?  Just by being half-black?

John McCain's Top 24 Potential Picks For Vice-President  —  Predicting whom a particular candidate will take as Vice-President is always difficult because so many factors play into it.  Do both candidates get along?  Is the presidential nominee looking to carry a particular state, region …

Outside the Beltway and Off the Rails  —  James Joyner is rushing to do damage control for Barack Obama: Obama Che Guevara Flag ‘Scandal’.  He takes particular exception to an “insinuation” (his word) he says I made: … “Loyalty oath?”  Where the hell does that come from?

When Reality Bites  —  There's a big difference between the Republican and Democratic campaigns: The Republicans have split on policy grounds; the Democrats haven't.  There's been a Republican divide between center and right, yet no Democratic divide between center and left.

Go with the tough guy  —  The new ‘axis of evil’ doesn't fear the U.S. McCain could change that.  —  Some conservatives are having conniptions over the rise of John McCain as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.  Personally, I am less interested in what Rush Limbaugh …

Mortgage Crisis Spreads Past Subprime Loans  —  The credit crisis is no longer just a subprime mortgage problem.  —  As home prices fall and banks tighten lending standards, people with good, or prime, credit histories are falling behind on their payments for home loans …

TO FIRE OR NOT TO FIRE (HINT: OPTION #1)  —  In his interview with Hillary Clinton, The Politico's John Harris asked whether she really wanted MSNBC's David Shuster fired.  Here's what she said.  —  Late Update: We've now seen the video of the Harris interview.