Jerry Brown urges court to void Prop.  8  —  SAN FRANCISCO — California Attorney General Jerry Brown changed course on the state's new same-sex marriage ban Friday and urged the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8.  —  In a dramatic reversal, Brown filed a legal brief saying the measure …

Document drop: The story behind Change.gov  —  I've obtained documents sent to a reader in response to his FOIA request regarding the creation of Barack Obama's Change.gov website.  It gives you the rest of the story.  You'll recall last month that I blogged several questions about the propriety …

If criminal penalties are removed, what will deter lawbreaking by political officials?  —  (updated below)  —  The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus today perfectly expresses the consensus view of establishment Washington regarding the exemption which political elites should and do enjoy from the rule of law …

Veep-Hunting  —  Looking for the party line on Cheney?  Here it is.  —  Angler  —  The Cheney Vice Presidency  —  by Barton Gellman  —  Penguin, 384 pp., $27.95  —  Anyone still interested in the sorry state of mainstream journalism should have a good, long look at Barton Gellman's blistering portrait of Dick Cheney.

Nepotism NY style as clans vie for seat  —  The appointment of the New York Senate seat Hillary Clinton will shortly vacate has become a struggle among political dynasties, with the question being which family ends up on top.  —  It involves no fewer than five intertwined political clans …

Tech followups on NYTimes.com blockage in China (updated)  —  On December 19, the NYTimes.com site was apparently blocked all across China.  For the sake of completeness, these followups.  —  1) Could the problem be related to a recent physical break in three of the four main internet cables connecting Asia to North America?

A Chance for Consensus on Iraq  —  After our visit to Iraq this month, it is clear that what was once unthinkable there is now taking place: A stable, safe and free Iraq is emerging.  Violence has fallen to the lowest level since the first months of the war.

Rick Warren and the Presidency  —  Barack Obama's invitation to evangelical powerhouse Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation has angered abortion and gay rights advocates.  They are overreacting.  The invitation merely confirms Obama's admirable willingness to reach out across a relatively broad ideological spectrum .

We're in the fast lane to Bailoutistan  —  Recommend  —  “See the USA in your Chevrolet!” trilled Dinah Shore week after week on TV.  —  Can you still see the USA in your Chevrolet?  Through a windscreen darkly.  —  General Motors now has a market valuation about a third of Bed …

First in a series of year end pensees: grand strategy  —  Could end up being a very brief series, but here is one to start:  —  As my wife and I near our third consecutive Christmas/New Year stretch outside the United States, mainly we feel lucky for all that we've been able to see and do and experience in China and its environs.

THE MEANING OF IRAN'S RHETORIC  —  Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and other officials of the Iranian regime regularly direct blood-curdling rhetoric of hate and extermination toward the state of Israel.  Is this rhetoric to be taken seriously?  Bar-Ilan University senior lecturer Ze'ev Maghen thinks that it is.