Housekeeper and Taxes Are Said to Derail Kennedy's Bid  —  ALBANY — Problems involving taxes and a household employee surfaced during the vetting of Caroline Kennedy and derailed her candidacy for the Senate, a person close to Gov. David A. Paterson said on Thursday, in an account at odds …

Obama Staff Arrives to White House Stuck in Dark Ages of Technology  —  If the Obama campaign represented a sleek, new iPhone kind of future, the first day of the Obama administration looked more like the rotary-dial past.  —  Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign …

Fred Hiatt and the Washington establishment's bizarre concept of “due process”  —  Barack Obama will have spent his first several days in office issuing a series of executive orders which, some quibbling and important caveats aside, meet or actually exceed even the most optimistic expectations …

Obama Orders Secret Prisons and Detention Camps Closed  —  WASHINGTON — Saying that “our ideals give us the strength and moral high ground” to combat terrorism, President Obama signed executive orders Thursday effectively ending the Central Intelligence Agency's secret interrogation program …

Limbaugh on Hannity: Racism is ‘the exclusive province of the left’  —  Something seems strangely off about Rush Limbaugh in his interview with Sean Hannity yesterday on Fox.  Of course, there's also the crazy things he says, such as his further explanation of why he hopes Barack Obama's presidency fails:

Cheney Speaks Out on Libby  —  Former vice president calls prosecution a “serious miscarriage of justice” and disagrees with Bush's decision.  —  Former Vice President Dick Cheney disagreed publicly with his boss just four times in the eight years they served together.

Wounded vets walk out during inaugural ball concert  —  An inaugural ball honoring U.S. military veterans ended in a kerfluffle as several veterans walked out when a musical act's attempt at humor backfired.  —  During the Heroes Red, White & Blue Inaugural Ball honoring the nation's veterans …

Coleman takes a new day job  —  Last session's senior senator from Minnesota Norm Coleman, still battling Al Franken to be seated in the Senate, has taken a paid job as a consultant to the Republican Jewish Coalition, which harshly attacked Obama last fall, its executive director, Matt Brooks, said.

2,688 Days  —  When President Bush left office on Tuesday, America marked 2,688 days without a terrorist attack on its soil.  There are 1,459 days until the next inauguration.  Whether Barack Obama is standing on the Capitol steps to be sworn in a second time depends on whether he succeeds in replicating Bush's achievement.

Geithner is approved  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  The Senate Finance Committee approved Timothy Geithner's nomination for Treasury secretary Thursday over the objections of several Republicans.  —  Five Republicans on the committee voted against him …

Chris Matthews' Inaugural Jib-Jabbery  —  The MSNBC motormouth talks a lot, says nothing.  —  Nobody in TV news stir-fries his ideas and serves them to the audience faster than MSNBC's Chris Matthews.  Drawing from a larder filled with old anecdotes, unreliable metaphors, wacky intuition …

Executive Order — Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and sections 3301 and 7301 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:

John Thain's $87,000 Rug  —  Merrill Shocker: CEO Thain's $87,000 Office Rug by Charlie Gasparino  —  Full Coverage: Obama Inauguration, Bush Farewell  —  Blogs and Stories  —  In a Daily Beast/CNBC exclusive, Charlie Gasparino reveals how Merrill Lynch's CEO spent over $1 million …

Book, TV deal in Sarah Palin's future?  —  Politician enlisting help of superstar D.C. attorney  —  NEW YORK — It looks like Sarah Palin may be ready to tell her remarkable story in print.  —  The former GOP vice presidential candidate has apparently enlisted the help …

This is Just Creepy...: Go to 3:54: “I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind.”

Video: No stimulus money for white males  —  Wasn't this supposed the era of post-racialism?  Robert Reich apparently didn't get that message.  In his appearance before Congress on structuring the stimulus plan on January 7th, Reich suggested that the package discriminate against white male workers:

Obama CIA choice won't call waterboarding torture  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's choice to head the CIA declined on Thursday to call waterboarding “torture,” only days after his attorney general nominee condemned the interrogation practice as precisely that.

The One-State Solution  —  THE shocking level of the last wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which ended with this weekend's cease-fire, reminds us why a final resolution to the so-called Middle East crisis is so important.  It is vital not just to break this cycle of destruction and injustice …

Gazan doctor says death toll inflated  —  Physician at Gaza's Shifa Hospital tells Italian newspaper number of dead in Israeli offensive ‘stands at no more than 500 or 600, most of them youths recruited to Hamas’ ranks'.  Senior Palestinian Health Ministry official denies claims …

Anti-Card Check Forces Target Obama Supporters  —  Here's an unusual web ad from the business-backed Workforce Fairness Institute.  They were set up to oppose EFCA, or “card check” legislation making it easier to unionize.  They've been active in states, and are trying to persuade soft Democrats …

Oaf of Office  —  IN 1969, Neil Armstrong appeared to have omitted an indefinite article as he stepped onto the moon and left earthlings puzzled over the difference between “man” and “mankind.”  In 1980, Jimmy Carter, accepting his party's nomination, paid homage to a former vice president he called Hubert Horatio Hornblower.