Will Obama Save Liberalism?  —  All good things must come to an end.  Jan. 20, 2009, marked the end of a conservative era.  —  Since Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, conservatives of various sorts, and conservatisms of various stripes, have generally been in the ascendancy.  And a good thing, too!

JUST PLANE DESPICABLE  —  ‘RESCUED’ CITI BUYING $50M JET  —  Beleaguered Citigroup is upgrading its mile-high club with a brand-new $50 million corporate jet - only this time, it's the taxpayers who are getting screwed.  —  Even though the bank's stock is as cheap as a gallon of gas …

The Stimulus Time Machine  —  That $355 billion in spending isn't about the economy.  —  The stimulus bill currently steaming through Congress looks like a legislative freight train, but given last week's analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, it is more accurate to think of it as a time machine.

Woodward Suggests Future Scandal For Obama White House  —  Appearing on the Chris Matthews Show Sunday, Bob Woodward offered a rather cryptic prediction of scandal that will plague the Obama White House.  —  “This may be tantalizing but vague,” said the Washington Post scribe.

BEHIND THE EXECUTIVE ORDERS  —  On Thursday, President Barack Obama consigned to history the worst excesses of the Bush Administration's “war on terror.”  One of the four executive orders Obama signed effectively cancelled seven years of controversial Justice Department legal opinions authorizing methods …

Feingold Introduces 28th Amendment  —  I hope you'll excuse the hubristic headline.  Constitutional amendments are introduced all the time in the Congress.  Most of them are used to make a political point of one kind or another and stand little chance of becoming law.

Blago Says He Thought of Oprah for Senate  —  Blago Goes on ‘GMA’ and Skips His Impeachement Trial  —  Illinois' beleaguered Gov. Rod Blagojevich said today that when he was deciding who would take President Obama's Senate seat he considered appointing talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.

Bad Faith Economics  —  As the debate over President Obama's economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: many of the plan's opponents aren't arguing in good faith.  Conservatives really, really don't want to see a second New Deal, and they certainly don't want to see government activism vindicated.

Franken-Coleman Senate race goes to trial  —  Today, the Great Minnesota Recount gets turned over to a new cast of characters.  —  In place of the state Canvassing Board, a three-judge panel will begin what could be a weeks- or months-long trial to decide who won Minnesota's U.S. Senate race.

Obama's Initial Approval Ratings in Historical Context  —  Rank among the best for a newly elected president since World War II  — USA - Government and Politics - Leadership - Presidential Job Approval - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America  —  PRINCETON, NJ …

Top EU official: Hamas fully responsible for Gaza war  —  Hamas bears full responsibility for the war in Gaza, a top EU official said Monday in the Strip, calling the group “a terrorist movement.”  —  “At this time we have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas,” Louis Michel …

Rep. Peter King calls on Paterson to justify Senate pick  —  While U.S. Senate designee Kirsten Gillibrand met Sunday with the state's top political power brokers in Manhattan, forces opposed to her began plotting against upstate congresswoman.  —  Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) …

New, Transparent WhiteHouse.gov Forgoes Press Briefing Transcripts?  —  Barack Obama's administration may be promising the “greatest ethical standard ever administered to an executive branch,” and increased transparency over his predecessor, but it seems to be forgoing at least one transparency practice …

Secretary Clinton names climate czar  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday will name Todd D. Stern, a trusted top aide in her husband's White House, to serve as a special envoy for climate change, Democratic officials said.  —  Climate was largely ignored by President George W …

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JIMMY CARTER  —  Jimmy Carter was on the Today show this morning, where he was interviewed by Meredith Viera.  Carter's exposition of events in the Middle East consisted mostly of an endorsement of Hamas.  It almost has to be read to be believed:

Cheney's Veil Lifted on Vice President's Residence  —  Hope and change has come to Google Maps.  The official residence of the vice president, obscured until Dick Cheney's last days in office and residence, now shines in satellite sunlight.  —  A reader tipped us off that Google Maps …

SWISS HISS FOR THE GOV  —  ALL SIDES RIP TRIP  —  By BRENDAN SCOTT and FREDRIC U. DICKER in Albany and SALLY GOLDENBERG in New York  —  Gov. Paterson was blasted by Republicans, Democrats and good-government groups for plans to jet off on a European junket this week …

Twenty-five people at the heart of the meltdown ...  Alan Greenspan, chairman of US Federal Reserve 1987- 2006  —  Only a couple of years ago the long-serving chairman of the Fed, a committed free marketeer who had steered the US economy through crises ranging from the 1987 stockmarket collapse through …

Commentary: Torture weakened America's national security  —  Editor's Note: John Kerry, a Democrat, is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the junior senator from Massachusetts.  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Thursday was an important day for the rule of law in the United States of America.

Krugman shows why we need more progressive voices on TV  —  When I was at MoveOn, media reform was one of my main issues.  I had substantial dialogues with the folks at ABC's This Week about the right-wing skew of some of their Sunday roundtables.  —  To his credit, George Stephanopoulous …