Obama meets with liberal columnists  —  Obama held a meeting with several columnists and liberal commentators this morning, following up on last night's dinner with conservative writers, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting.  —  The group included the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne …

Cheney Tells Jim Lehrer Tonight: No Torture, Few Mistakes, Economy Not Our Fault  —  NEW YORK In an exit interview with PBS's Jim Lehrer on the NewsHour airing tonight, Vice President Cheney repeats claims that Saddam Hussein worked with al-Qaeda.  Asked if he made any mistakes in his eight years as V.P. …

IMF Informed Geithner on Taxes  —  Senate Delays Treasury Nominee's Hearing Till Jan. 21; Obama Vote of Confidence  —  Timothy Geithner, whose nomination as Treasury secretary has been delayed by his past failure to pay taxes, was repeatedly advised in writing by the International Monetary Fund …

WARREN COUNTY, N.J. NEWS  —  Real-time news for Belvidere, Phillipsburg and more  —  Boy named Adolf Hitler, his sisters removed from parents' home by New Jersey authorities … State authorities have removed Adolf Hilter Campbell and his two sisters from their parents' home in Holland Township …

U.S. military report warns ‘sudden collapse’ of Mexico is possible  —  President-elect Barack Obama listens as Mexico's President Felipe Calderon makes a statement to reporters in Washington, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009.  Mexico is one of two countries that “bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse …

Kennedy Fades As New Yorkers Back Cuomo For Senate, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; More Voters Don't Think Kennedy Is Qualified  —  New York State voters have cooled on Caroline Kennedy and more voters now prefer State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 31 - 24 percent for Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat …

The Surpassing Significance of Herring  —  By way of full disclosure, I was one of the defendant's lawyers in the Herring case, though my involvement in it was very limited.  I am not an expert on the Fourth Amendment, but my preliminary reaction is that we will at some point soon regard …

Why Israel Can't Make Peace With Hamas  —  IN the summer of 2006, at a moment when Hezbollah rockets were falling virtually without pause on northern Israel, Nizar Rayyan, husband of four, father of 12, scholar of Islam and unblushing executioner, confessed to me one of his frustrations.

Afghan Schoolgirls Undeterred by Attack  —  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — One morning two months ago, Shamsia Husseini and her sister were walking through the muddy streets to the local girls school when a man pulled alongside them on a motorcycle and posed what seemed like an ordinary question.

Bush Presidency Closes With 34% Approval, 61% Disapproval  —  Three-quarters of Republicans approve of Bush, up slightly from recent months  — USA - Democrats - Government and Politics - Independents - Presidential Job Approval - Republicans - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America

New official portrait released  —  Today we are releasing the new official portrait for President Barack Obama.  —  It was taken by Pete Souza, the newly-announced official White House photographer.  —  It is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera.

R.I.P. Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner's TV Visionary  —  “I am not a number, I am a free man!”  Patrick McGoohan's character Number Six shouted at the panoptic eye in the sky at the beginning of every episode of the revolutionary '60s sci-fi TV series The Prisoner.

The House Republicans Propose A Stimulus Alternative  —  There is no pride of authorship, President-elect Barack Obama said last week.  His economic team is open to and all ideas, regardless of progenitor.  —  So — the Republican Study Committee in the House has come out with an all-tax, no spending variant.

Obama's early stumbles  —  Longtime listener, first-time caller.  Although I wasn't yet alive in the times it describes, I too was blown away (pun intended) by “The Weather Underground” film, not so much by the namby-pamby William Ayers — who for all his scandalous reputation …

Senate takes oath as Blagojevich impeachment jurors  —  SPRINGFIELD—The Illinois Senate took an oath today to be sworn in as jurors in the historic impeachment trial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, hours after he made his first Capitol appearance since his arrest last month on federal corruption charges.

It's an injustice to NOT marry girls aged 10, says Saudi cleric … Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric has told followers it is permissible for ten-year-old girls to marry and anyone who think they are too young are doing the youngsters ‘an injustice’.  —  Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh …

Poll: Broad Backing for Obama, Stimulus  —  WASHINGTON — Americans support the economic-stimulus plan being pushed by President-elect Barack Obama but worry the government will spend too much money and widen the budget deficit, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found.

Obama's early stumbles  —  Dear Camille,  —  When Obama is reading off a teleprompter or in a scripted environment like a debate (where the game is to plug in your prepared sound bites regardless of the question), he comes across as a magnificent and inspiring speaker.

Ex-Bush aide takes blame for ‘Mission Accomplished’  —  (CNN) - It's a moment President Bush has repeatedly called a mistake: Delivering a speech on board the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Spring of 2003 with a “Mission Accomplished” banner featured prominently behind him.

Nick Fury no more?  Samuel L. Jackson says 'Maybe I won't be Nick Fury'  —  EXCLUSIVE AND UPDATED  —  Samuel L. Jackson, clearly bristling, said today that negotiations to put him in the role of Nick Fury have broken down because “there seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world.”

Carnahan is early front runner in Missouri  —  Democrat Robin Carnahan would be the early favorite for Missouri's open Senate seat if she decides to enter the field, Public Policy Polling's newest survey finds.  —  Carnahan leads three potential Republican opponents in hypothetical contests.

Czech art spoof sparks EU outrage  —  As if the Russian gas crisis and war in Gaza were not headache enough, the Czech Republic, which took over the rotating EU presidency at the start of the year, has been landed with a cultural debacle.  —  Sited prominently in the headquarters of the EU Council …

Current, Future Justice Officials Clash Over OLC Proposal  —  In a revealing conflict of views between outgoing and incoming Justice Department officials, Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently told Congress that a proposal that was conceived by Prof. Dawn Johnsen to require expanded reporting …

Ringo's Pix: Bad Craziness in Los Angeles  —  LGF operative “Ringo the Gringo” was at the Anti-Israel Demonstration in West LA on Jan. 10, 2009, and has dozens of photos and video clips of this eruption of insanity.  —  This video shows protesters chanting “Allahu Akbar,” then attacking a car whose driver was flying an Israeli flag.

New York Mag to Writers: You're Keeping Your Jobs, Getting a Pay Cut  —  Media layoff stories are, depressingly, old hat by now (but be ready for more).  Less common: tales of media companies asking their surviving employees to take pay cuts.  —  But that's what New York Magazine …

Friedman to Palestinians: Suck on This  —  America's leading foreign affairs columnist once again endorses collective punishment of Arabs.  I wish he would stick to climate change: … This in much the same way that Osama bin Laden sought to “educate” American civilians about the price …