Senators Raise Questions About Geithner's Nomination at Treasury  —  Sen. Charles E. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is raising questions about a housekeeper who worked briefly for Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner without proper immigration papers …

Palin slams ‘bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie’  —  (CNN) — Sarah Palin fired a new salvo in her war on the media, unloading in a new interview on her home state paper and “bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie.”  —  The Alaska governor, who has granted a steady stream …

Rollins: Bush still doesn't get it  —  Editor's Note: Ed Rollins, who served as political director for President Ronald Reagan, is a Republican strategist who was national chairman of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign.  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — One week from today …

Obama Dines With Conservative Opinion Leaders  —  It's true.  —  He motorcaded to a house in Maryland this evening, and if the press pool report is accurate, he is breaking bread with William Kristol and David Brooks.  (If Brooks and Kristol seem to be unusually briefed about Obama's thinking, you'll know why.)

Obama Issues First Veto Threat  —  President-elect Barack Obama made his first veto threat Tuesday in a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats.  Obama told his former colleagues that if Congress passes a resolution blocking release of the second half of the financial bailout funds he will veto it …

Cheney: NYT Pulitzers for Spying Stories ‘Aggravating’  —  Vice President Dick Cheney said that the prizes won by the New York Times for uncovering the Bush administration were “aggravating” to him, and cautioned the incoming administration on the lessons he's learned in office.

Obama backed same-sex marriage in 1996  —  A document has emerged suggesting that Obama had taken more public, liberal stands in the past than had been revealed in the digging of reporters and opposition researchers over two years of campaigning, the latest of several pointing to a rightward shift as he moved into national politics.

My Dinners with Dubya  —  When a college drinking buddy invited C. Brian Smith to hang out with her parents, he tried not to sweat the fact that they lived in the White House.  He even had fun—until 9/11 made watching bad movies with the president feel like a guilty pleasure America couldn't afford.

Nazi?  You?  —  Ever thought about how you would have reacted had you lived in Nazi Germany?  Ronald Bailey reflects on a famous experiment that meant to discover whether it could happen here, in America.  His conclusion is instructive: … In other words, American culture …

Video: Freudian slip of the day  —  Slog through the interminable platitudes of her prepared remarks or WaPo's joyless running account of the Q&A and you'll see that this really was the most interesting thing said all day.  Somehow the closing of Guantanamo and what it would mean …

Joe the Plumber plunges deeper: ‘Military should decide what information to give the media.’  —  Continuing his reporting from Israel, Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher tried to clarify his remarks criticizing media coverage of war, in a new Pajamas TV segment.

Europe Reimports Jew Hatred  —  The mythical Arab Street now reaches deep into Paris, London, Berlin and Madrid.  —  Give Giancarlo Desiderati credit for his unintellectual honesty.  While most left-wing detractors of Israel claim their animosity toward the Jewish state has nothing …

Dem blasts Obama econ team's ‘mumbo jumbo’  —  A Democratic senator on Tuesday accused President-elect Obama's incoming director of the Office of Management and Budget of talking “mumbo jumbo” instead of offering hard details on the economy.  —  “I would think that in this era of freshness …

Pelosi tries Dadaism  —  A video posted just now by the Speaker's office.  Really.  —  Good to see they're having a good time up there.

Europe baffled by broken gas promises  —  By Isabel Gorst in Moscow, Joshua Chaffin in Brussels and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev  —  The bitter gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine descended into near-chaos on Tuesday, leaving European Union diplomats baffled as promises to restart supplies fully …

The Truthiest New Show on Television  —  The strongest case against the Department of Homeland Security is that it's not really about homeland security at all.  Rather than catch terrorists, DHS officers at the border spend most of their time arresting people for drug and immigration offenses instead.

Obama inauguration to air in theaters  —  MSNBC pact puts coverage in 27 U.S. locations  —  NEW YORK — President-elect Barack Obama is on his way to the big screen, thanks to a deal between MSNBC and Screenvision that will put the news channel's inaugural coverage in 27 theaters around the country.

‘Trashion’ Trend: Dumpster Couture Gets a Boost at Green Inaugural Ball  —  Designer Judd Will Be Showing Off a Coat of Many Colorful Obama Posters  —  SANTA FE, N.M. — In the world of trashy fashion, designer Nancy Judd has hit the big time.  —  Ms. Judd spends her days in a studio …

Democratic Lawmakers May Investigate Bush Years  —  Listen Now  —  · President-elect Barack Obama has suggested that when it comes to investigating the Bush administration on issues such as eavesdropping or terrorist interrogations, he'd rather look forward than back.

Report Calls Online Threats to Children Overblown  —  The Internet may not be such a dangerous place for children after all.  —  A high-profile task force created by 49 state attorneys general to find a solution to the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded …

Pentagon: 61 ex-Guantanamo inmates return to terrorism  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday that 61 former detainees from its military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appear to have returned to terrorism since their release from custody.

Former GOP House Aide Nabbed Trying to Sell Inaugural Tickets  —  Selling inauguration tickets isn't illegal, not yet anyway.  But it was still embarrassing for one former congressional aide who now works at a powerful lobbying firm when she was caught this week trying to sell tickets …

Obama's Solid Choice For FCC Chair  —  For one of the final appointments of the Obama transition, Julius Genachowski has been named FCC chair: … There are several things to like about this pick.  First, as an advisor to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Genachowski helped to develop …

Does “Black Hawk Down” Portray an American War Crime?  —  At least nine hundred people, maybe half of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza so far, the overwhelming majority presumably killed by Israel (some people, more than we probably know right now, have been killed by Hamas, mainly Fatah activists in revenge killings).

As Senate Hearings Begin, Hillary Clinton's Image Soars  — USA - Democrats - Favorability - Government and Politics - Republicans - Americas - Northern America  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll finds 65% of Americans saying they have a favorable opinion of Hillary Clinton, the highest rating for her in almost 10 years.