Joe the Plumber: ‘I think media should be abolished’ from reporting on war.»  —  Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka “Joe the Plumber,” is currently in Israel covering the war for the conservative site PJTV.com.  When asked what he has learned from his new experiences as a journalist …

Obama's allegedly “new” centrism and his ABC interview today  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV)  —  The central tenets of the Beltway religion — particularly when a Democrat is in the White House — have long been “centrism” and “bipartisanship.”

Joe the Plumber is here, and he ain't happy  —  Samuel Wurzelbacher of Ohio, aka Joe the Plumber, arrived in Sderot at noon Sunday to show local and foreign reporters how to do it right.  —  “You should be ashamed of yourself,” he told foreign reporters.  —  “You should be patriotic …

Bush: I Personally Authorized Torture Of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed  —  In an interview with Brit Hume that aired today on Fox News Sunday, President Bush admitted that he personally authorized the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.  He said he personally asked “what tools” …

Earth on the Brink of an Ice Age  —  The earth is now on the brink of entering another Ice Age, according to a large and compelling body of evidence from within the field of climate science.  Many sources of data which provide our knowledge base of long-term climate change indicate that the warm …

Sources: Voinovich to retire from Senate  —  From CNN's Dana Bash, Ed Henry and Mark Preston  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sources close to Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, tell CNN he will announce Monday he is retiring from the Senate.  —  The 72-year-old senator and former Ohio governor …

GERMAN “POLICE” JOIN JEW-HATING MUSLIM MOB  —  Only one word comes to mind as I read and watch this: UNBELIEVABLE.  —  Wow.  In Germany.  Wow.  —  I read this story at the excellent Gaza war-posting blog, “Muqata,” and I was just able to dig up the vid on YouTube...It is obviously the same episode.

New Yorkers for Hamas  —  I was in New York this afternoon with the TigerHawk Teenager for a college interview.  Walking down 7th Avenue toward Penn Station, we happened across a large pro-Hamas demonstration that stretched for four blocks or so along the east side of the avenue.

The Embrace  —  Jim Henley offers a provocative thought: … There's something to that.  According to the perverse rules of our post-9/11 discourse, willingness to verbally endorse the idea of having other people torture strangers counts as a form of courageous “toughness” akin to, you know, actually doing something brave.

Big changes to Obama stimulus plan  —  President-elect Barack Obama tried Sunday to shore up support in Congress for his ambitious economic policies, with his top advisers offering concessions on his economic-stimulus proposal and preparing to detail conditions for how the incoming administration …

Forgive Not  —  INSTEAD of looking closely at what high-level officeholders in the Bush administration have done over the past eight years, and recognizing what we have tacitly permitted, we would rather turn our faces forward toward a better future, promising that 2009 and the inauguration …

Coulter addresses voting issue  —  Conservative scold Ann Coulter knows how this country should be run.  She may not be quite as clear about where she's supposed to vote.  —  The brassy pundit is facing new questions about whether she violated election laws.

A WAKE-UP CALL IN LIBERAL MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND  —  The leaders of Montgomery County, Maryland, where I live, have for years pledged not to enforce the nation's immigration laws.  Any jurisdiction that elects such leaders deserves the consequences.  —  According to the Washington Post …

Hail to the Faux Chief We Have Chosen as Rehearsal Stand-In  —  WASHINGTON — Politics and governance in Washington can sometimes seem like one big cast of characters play-acting prescribed roles and going through the paces.  Sunday morning was such a time.

Senator Asks Smithsonian to Change Text Next to Bush Portrait  —  Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says language next to president's portrait is misleading because it says the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks led to the war in Iraq.  —  MONTPELIER, Vt. — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders …