Guantanamo Case Files in Disarray  —  President Obama's plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials …

Limbaugh Responds to Obama  —  According to an account in the New York Post, President Barack Obama yesterday told Republican leaders, “You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.”  With George W. Bush now off the stage, it may be that Obama and some of his fellow Democrats view Limbaugh …

The Worst Pop Singer Ever  —  Why, exactly, is Billy Joel so bad?  —  This may seem an odd moment to bring up the subject of Billy Joel.  But the recent death of the painter Andrew Wyeth revived a long-standing debate over whether his art is respectable or merely sentimental schlock.

Two ex-Guantanamo inmates appear in Al-Qaeda video  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) — Two men released from the US “war on terror” prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have appeared in a video posted on a jihadist website, the SITE monitoring service reported.  —  One of the two former inmates …

Obama gets his opening grade  —  The Gallup Poll on Saturday released the first job-approval rating for President Obama, based on interviews during his first three full days in office: 68 percent.  —  Now that he's in office, Obama's approval ratings are starting to normalize, as partisan back-and-forth picks up.

Obama Plans Fast Action to Tighten Financial Rules  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to move quickly to tighten the nation's financial regulatory system.  —  Officials say they will make wide-ranging changes, including stricter federal rules for hedge funds …

Obama's Partisan, Profane Confidant Reins It In  —  WASHINGTON — Early this month, Barack Obama was meeting with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other lawmakers when Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, began nervously cracking a knuckle.  —  Mr. Obama then turned to complain to Mr. Emanuel about his noisy habit.

Dolls Resembling Daughters Displease First Lady  —  WASHINGTON — The company that makes Beanie Babies has introduced two new dolls, named Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia.  —  Hey, wait a minute, aren't Sasha and Malia the names of the Obama daughters?  Yes.  —  Coincidence?

A Loophole In the Rules  —  From the magazine issue dated Feb 2, 2009  —  Publicly at least, President Obama has made a clean break with his predecessor's controversial counterterrorism policies, but in private the new administration is leaving itself some wiggle room.

Reagan wouldn't recognize this GOP  —  The Gipper may be the patron saint of Limbaugh and Coulter, but he'd be amazed at what's been done in his name.  —  In my mind's eye, I can see Ronald Reagan, wearing wings and a Stetson, perched on a cloud and watching all the goings-on down here in his old earthly home.

Iraq Election Highlights Ascendancy of Tribes  —  In Anbar, Clans Are Coddled, Cultivated  —  RAMADI, Iraq — In rugged western Iraq, once the bastion of the insurgency against the American occupation and now a freewheeling arena of electoral politics steeped in payola …

Price Paid for Merrill Is Rising  —  You could hardly blame Kenneth D. Lewis, the embattled leader of the Bank of America Corporation, for feeling a bit of buyer's remorse.  —  His audacious acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the giant brokerage, looks so disastrous that many on Wall Street wonder if he can keep his job.