Hillary's incredible, shrinking role  —  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is finding that her job description is dissolving under her feet, leaving her with only a vestige of the power she must have thought she acquired when she signed on to be President Obama's chief Cabinet officer.

Will Geert Wilders Be Arrested at Heathrow?  —  This morning Lord Malcolm Pearson, a member of the British House of Lords, announced that he has invited Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch Parliament, to show the movie Fitna (see it here) in a committee room of the House of Lords next Thursday (12 February).

Group pledges to fight GOP senators who support stimulus  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — An influential conservative political action committee is pledging to support primary challenges to any Republican senator who backs the economic stimulus package — the latest public show of dissatisfaction …

A rocky first few weeks  —  Obama sputters out of the gate — but don't fear yet.  Plus: Buxom foodies, frocks for the ages, and the eternal appeal of Mary McCarthy and Justin Timberlake.  —  Money by the barrelful, by the truckload.  Mountains of money, heaped like gassy pyramids in the national dump.

The Treasury's Financial Stability Plan  —  Here's my two cents on the latest two trillion.  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner began his remarks to the Senate Banking Committee this morning as follows: … To which I responded, Amen!  And Amen!  And I continued reading:

Because They Hate Shepard Smith and Want Him to Fail  —  Shep Smith leads the happy warriors of Fox News into a new political age.  —  Shepard Smith has a face made for television, a face seemingly created not just for the cameras but by them, a brand-name face that could be made into a mask and worn on Halloween.

10-Year-Old Spaniel Completes Comeback  —  At 10 years old, Stump the Sussex spaniel should be well into his dotage.  Instead, the dog who technically retired four years ago took home Best in Show on Tuesday at the 133rd Annual Westminster Kennel Club show at Madison Square Garden, becoming the oldest to win the award.

For senators, tax questions are taxing  —  When Timothy Geithner appeared before the Senate Finance Committee last month, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) accused the soon-to-be treasury secretary of “dancing around” questions about his taxes.  —  When news broke that Tom Daschle had failed …

“War of Northern Aggression”?  —  According to Republican State Rep. Bryan Stevenson, the proposed pro-choice “Freedom of Choice Act” is the biggest federal power grab since the “War of Northern Aggression.”  —  And I thought Scott Rupp was overly dramatic.

The president ran his prime-time press conference like a grad-school class.  —  The East Room of the White House has to be the fanciest room in which Professor Obama has ever held class.  But for an hour Monday night, he didn't seem to notice as he held a graduate seminar on the first 20 days …

How to Save the Suburbs: Solutions from the Man Who Saw the Whole Thing Coming  —  For a half century, it's been easy to mock suburbia for being too comfortable, white-bread and conformist.  That's all changed in the last 18 months as many suburbs have abruptly taken on a sense of tragedy …

Exclusive: Leahy Talks To White House About Investigating Bush  —  Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and White House Chief Counsel Greg Craig discussed on Tuesday the Senator's proposal to set up a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate potential crimes of the Bush administration.

The Money Liberal Conspiracy At Work  —  As promised, here are the gory mechanics of the liberal conspiracy to expand welfare rolls through an insufficiently publicized provision in the stimulus bill: … The major difference between the House and Senate versions of this deeply troubling provision …

On War Criminals' Trail, NBC News Stirs Criticism  —  NBC News, which teamed up with local police officers to trap sex offenders for its successful but scandalous “To Catch a Predator” series, is now using similar tactics to hunt bigger game: war criminals.  —  But one of the first efforts …

Progress in late-night stimulus talks  —  With Senate approval in hand, Barack Obama's economic recovery program moved quickly Tuesday into late night negotiations in the Capitol with the president stepping forward more to put his stamp on the package and to expedite final passage.

About Bailout Nation . . .  Alternative title: Adventures in Publishing  —  Since the news came out today, I might as well spill the details about my battle with McGraw Hill over the content in the book.  —  I did not release this news.  I got a message this morning (apparently left last night) …

Netanyahu: Right wing, led by Likud, won a clear victory  —  By Haaretz Service and News Agencies  —  Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory in Tuesday's parliamentary election as he addressed supporters in a speech early Wednesday, despite exit polls that predicted …

Public Rejects Obama Stimulus Bill According to New ATI-News/Zogby Poll  —  90 Percent of Republicans and 60 Percent of Independents Oppose Obama Economic Recovery Plan  —  Amidst all the rhetoric surrounding President Barack Obama's first signature piece of legislation, a massive $800 billion economic …

Media Matters for Obama  —  Like pretty much everyone in Washington, I don't take Media Matters for America very seriously.  But, I sometimes find it funny how seriously it takes itself.  A good example is Eric Boehlert's hysterical fit about my recent USA Today column on Obama's press coverage …

What do we do if the “two-state” solution collapses?  —  Lots of smart people have been focusing on the Israeli elections and trying to make sense of their immediate implications for the peace process.  I can't improve on the analyses provided by Glenn Greenwald, Yossi Alpher, Bernard Avishai …

Second Circuit to Second Amendment: Drop Dead...  ...you still don't apply to state and local regs.  Well, the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals has said it before (in the 2005 case Bach v. Pataki), and now they've said it again, in Maloney v. Cuomo.  CrimProf Blog has some details:

Lobbyist Inquiry Appears to Be Widening  —  WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are looking into the possibility that a prominent lobbyist may have funneled bogus campaign contributions to his mentor, Representative John P. Murtha, as well as other lawmakers, two people familiar with the investigator's questions said Tuesday.