Specter: Republicans Support Stimulus, Don't Want ‘Fingerprints’ On It  —  Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), who broke with his party to support President Obama's stimulus package last week, said before the final vote Friday that more of his colleagues would have joined were they not afraid of the political consequences.

BREAKING: Court Excludes ‘Huge Number’ of Ballots in MN's U.S. Senate Election Contest  —  [Updated several times at bottom of article.]  —  A late Friday finding from the 3-judge panel presiding over the Coleman/Franken U.S. Senate election contest in Minnesota, has limited the number …

Prominent Orchard Park man charged with beheading his wife  —  Orchard Park police are investigating a particularly gruesome killing, the beheading of a woman, after her husband — an influential member of the local Muslim community — reported her death to police Thursday.

THE WHITE HOUSE BUBBLE  —  From NBC's Chuck Todd  —  Obviously, I'm one of the newbies here in the White House press corps, so maybe I'm unfamiliar with the ways of how this place works.  I have to say, nothing is more frustrating than covering an actual event here at the White House …

Borders Bookstore in Dallas Praises Saint Obama  —  A reader sent me this picture taken at a Borders Bookstore in Dallas.  He says the picture was taken in the Kids section.  I guess Borders understands that it's never too early to indoctrinate the younguns.  —  Welcome to the Obamanation.

Addicted to fake outrage  —  I'm not sure if it's because we're strung out on “Lost” episodes, or if it's because we're still suffering from a post-9/11 stress disorder that makes us crave “breaking news” alerts, or if it's because the economy has turned us into distraction junkies.

Afghan President Karzai hopes Obama will “settle down,” show “better judgment”  —  President Barack Obama is moving up in the world in terms of picking fights.  Or walking into them.  —  First came a disagreement over the impact of the administration's economic stimulus package in East Peoria …

Virginia GOP Chair goes all Cro-Magnon on Darwin, on his birthday  —  Yesterday was the birthday of Lincoln and Darwin, and Virginia GOP chairman Jeff Frederick couldn't pass up the opportunity to go all Cro-Magnon on the father of modern biology.  —  Frederick obviously put a lot of thought …

Justice Dept. Lawyers in Contempt for Withholding Stevens Documents  —  An angry federal judge held Justice Department lawyers in contempt yesterday for failing to deliver documents to former senator Ted Stevens's legal team, as he had ordered.  —  U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan called it …

White House books Brown's flight to D.C.  —  Sarah Abruzzese reports:  —  A government plane will ferry Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) back to Washington from his mother's wake in Ohio in time to vote tonight, courtesy of the White House.  —  Brown won't even be leaving until viewing hours end …

House Judiciary Committee Calls for Federal Investigation of Sheriff Arpaio's Abuses  —  We couldn't be happier to hear that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee released a letter today calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct a federal investigation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's enforcement tactics.

Failed Banks Pose a Big Test for Regulators  —  WASHINGTON — When regulators took over the First National Bank of Nevada last year, they faced a showdown with the Terrible Herbst, the mustachioed cowboy who boasts of being the “best bad man in the West.”  —  This was no real gunslinger …

Lessons in Blogging  —  I avoided blogging for a long time.  And the one time I briefly tried it prior to my current stint at TNR, I hated it.  Why?  Because something about the form (most likely its instantaneousness) encourages glibness.  And the issues I like to write about — religion …