The Sacking of Bill Kristol  —  Why The New York Times Sacked Bill Kristol by Scott Horton  —  Blogs and Stories  —  The famous neoconservative published his final New York Times column today.  Scott Horton reports on real reasons the Gray Lady didn't renew his contract.

Prosecuting torture: ‘Hard to believe’  —  Eric Holder, President Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general, made plenty of people uncomfortable when he asserted, flatly, in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, that water-boarding is torture.

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.

President Obama Does First Formal TV Interview as President with Al-Arabiya  —  As special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell heads off to the region to begin work on negotiating a cease fire between Israel and the Palestinians, President Obama has sat for his first formal TV interview …

Geithner Wins Confirmation  —  WASHINGTON — Timothy F. Geithner was sworn in as secretary of the Treasury on Monday evening, confirmed by a Senate majority that concluded that his experience in government and finance outweighed concerns about recent disclosures of some $34,000 in past tax delinquencies.

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 …

Senate Passes Bill to Delay Transition to Digital Television  —  The Senate last night approved a four-month delay in the nation's transition to all-digital television to give consumers more time to prepare for the switch.  —  Broadcasters are scheduled to stop airing analog broadcasts Feb. 17.

Obama begins reversing Bush climate policies  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama began reversing the climate policies of the Bush administration on Monday, clearing the way for new rules to force auto makers to produce …

Politico's Thrush invents Pelosi controversy  —  Glenn Thrush gets awfully creative in promoting the Right's attacks on Nancy Pelosi over her support for public funding for contraceptives.  —  Thrush writes: … Wow, really?  “One of her biggest political threats of the 111th” Congress?

Supreme Court Restricts More Rights  —  The Supreme Court issued opinions and orders today.  Among them:  — Ruled that a man wrongly convicted and sent to prison for 24 years cannot sue the former Los Angeles district attorney and his chief deputy for violating his civil rights.

How badly did Gaza poison the well?  —  The Israeli attack on Gaza during the last weeks of the Bush administration looks more than ever like Bush's “last gift” to Israel and to the region — carried out during the transition, with no American attempt to intervene, ending immediately before Obama's inauguration.

REPORT: TV Media Cited Disputed CBO ‘Report’ At Least 81 Times In Past Six Days  —  Last Tuesday, the AP reported on a leaked Congressional Budget Office (CBO) “analysis” that had concluded that “it will take years before an infrastructure spending program proposed” by President Barack Obama “will boost the economy.”

Obama Administration To Engage In “Direct Diplomacy” With Iran  —  UNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama's administration will engage in “direct diplomacy” with Iran, the newly installed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Monday.  —  Not since before the 1979 Iranian revolution …

More to It Than Meets the Eye  —  The hidden coherence of Obama's recovery plan.  —  It grieves me to say so, but President Obama's conservative critics just don't get it.  The new president has put forward a plan for economic recovery that is more coherent than they are willing to admit.

Fiscal Stimulus, Fiscal Inflation, or Fiscal Fallacies?  —  “Fiscal stimulus” is the proposition that by borrowing money and spending it, the government can raise the overall state of the economy, raising output and lowering unemployment.  Can it work?  Do the arguments for it make any sense?

The B.O. Republicans who voted for Geithner — and video of Inhofe's statement  —  Here is the roll call vote on the Geithner nomination:  —  And here are the 10 B.O. (Barack Obama/Bend Over) Republicans who sided with Obama and the Dems:  —  Corker (R-TN)  —  Cornyn (R-TX)  —  Crapo (R-ID)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009  —  CBO has released a cost estimate for H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was introduced today in the House of Representatives.  A link to the full cost estimate can be found here.

GORE HEARING ON WARMING MAY BE PUT ON ICE  —  Al Gore is scheduled before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning to once again testify on the ‘urgent need’ to combat global warming.  —  But Mother Nature seems ready to freeze the proceedings.

Anonymous Attack On GOP Chair Candidate Uses Fake Newspaper Cover  —  Uh oh — it looks like viral email dirty tricks (okay, parodies) are now entering into the race for Republican National Committee chair.  —  This image of a parodied USA Today cover is being anonymously blasted around among Republicans …

House Judiciary chair subpoenas Karl Rove  —  Subpoena continues long-running battle over firing of U.S. attorneys  —  WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee chairman subpoenaed former White House adviser Karl Rove on Monday to testify about the Bush administration's firing of U.S. attorneys …

Ex-Surgeon General Accused of Abusing Staff  —  ALBANY — Gov. George E. Pataki's appointment of Antonia C. Novello, a former United States surgeon general, as state health commissioner in 1999 was something of a coup for New York.  —  An appointee of President George H. W. Bush …