Barack Obama sends bust of Winston Churchill on its way back to Britain  —  Barack Obama has sent Sir Winston Churchill packing and pulse rates soaring among anxious British diplomats.  —  A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned …

The 7 stimulus lessons for the Dems  —  The stimulus fight is now history — but Democrats who don't study their stimulus mistakes are doomed to repeat them.  —  Two weeks of highly concentrated debate, backroom maneuvering, internecine fighting and reconciliation have taught …

TIME TO REFORM THE FILIBUSTER.... One of the striking aspects of the political process on the Hill is how quickly everyone has adapted to a once-rare tactic becoming routine.  Senate filibusters used to be exceedingly rare — a dramatic challenge only to be used under extraordinary circumstances.

Axelrod: Obama Has ‘Solid’ Housing Plan  —  The Obama administration this week will announce a “good, solid” plan with the goal of stemming mortgage foreclosures and putting a floor under falling real estate prices, a senior White House aide said on Sunday.  —  Speaking on “Fox News Sunday …

Graham: Nationalizing Banks Should Be On The Table  —  In a gloomy segment about the financial sector on ABC'S This Week, two self-avowed fiscal conservatives said that the U.S. Government should at least consider nationalizing the country's banking system as a means of moving beyond the current lending crisis.

A Torture Report Could Spell Big Trouble For Bush Lawyers  —  From the magazine issue dated Feb 23, 2009  —  An internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety among former Bush administration officials.

Taxpayer revolt: Porkulus protest in Seattle, Obama to sign theft act in Denver  —  There should be one of these in every town in America.  What are you doing?  Liberty Belle announces a taxpayer protest against the porkulus tomorrow in Seattle: … If you can get a real pig roast going, all the better!

Open Letter to a Craven Reporter in Iraq  —  I'm an independent reporter in Iraq, on assignment for a U.S. magazine (as well as a Huffingtonpost.com blogger).  I've just come off a three-week civilian tour of Anbar Province, living with sheiks and Iraqi civilians, trying to get a feel …

WHAT'S THE RUSH?  —  ‘URGENT’ $TIMULUS ON HOLD FOR BAM'S WEEKEND OFF  —  After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway.  —  Obama arrived at his home in Chicago on Friday …

Why Americans Hate the Media  —  In the late 1980s public-television stations aired a talking-heads series called Ethics in America.  For each show more than a dozen prominent citizens sat around a horseshoe-shaped table and tried to answer troubling ethical questions posed by a moderator.

Gingrich's obstructionism becomes role model for House GOP.»  —  In 1993, former Speaker Newt Gingrich notoriously whipped the House GOP into opposing President Clinton's major initiatives, ranging from the budget to health care reform.  The New York Times reports that Gingrich …

Burris confirms request for Blagojevich donation  —  SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Raising fresh questions about his appointment to Congress, Sen. Roland Burris admitted in a document released Saturday that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother asked him for campaign fundraising help before the governor named Burris as Illinois' junior senator.

Pakistan makes sharia law concession  —  Pakistan is to impose Islamic law in a vast region of the north-west called Malakand in an attempt to placate extremists, even as President Asif Zardari warns that they are “trying to take over the state”.  —  Pakistani Taliban militants who are in control …