Lawmakers look dumb for reviving Obama hoax  —  In the Handy Guide for Newspaper Opinion Columnists, this is called shooting fish in a barrel.  Or hitting a slow-pitched softball.  —  Four Tennessee state representatives, all Republicans, have signed up to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit …

Sam Donaldson, Moving Out of Shouting Distance  —  Forceful Newsman to Retire After Four Decades at ABC  —  Whatever else he accomplished in his 41 years at ABC News, Sam Donaldson knows he'll be remembered mainly for his bellowing voice.  —  “I guess it'll be on my tombstone: ‘He yelled at Ronald Reagan,’ ” Donaldson says.

Former Gitmo Guard Tells All  —  Army Private Brandon Neely served as a prison guard at Guantánamo in the first years the facility was in operation.  With the Bush Administration, and thus the threat of retaliation against him, now gone, Neely decided to step forward and tell his story.

Chavez calls Venezuela vote mandate for socialism  —  CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez says a referendum victory that removed limits on his re-election is a mandate to intensify his socialist agenda for decades to come.  Opponents warn of an impending dictatorship.

To Fix Detroit, Obama Is Said to Drop Plan for ‘Car Czar’  —  DETROIT — President Obama has dropped the idea of appointing a single, powerful “car czar” to oversee the revamping of General Motors and Chrysler and will instead keep the politically delicate task in the hands …

Archbishop of Canterbury: Society is coming round to my views on sharia  —  The Archbishop of Canterbury has defended his controversial comments about the introduction of Islamic law to Britain and claimed that public opinion is now behind him.  —  On the anniversary of the interview …

IDF: World duped by Hamas's false civilian death toll figures  —  Four weeks after the cessation of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF finally opened its dossier on Palestinian fatalities on Sunday for the first time, and presented to The Jerusalem Post an overview utterly at odds with the Palestinian figures …

Burris under an ethical cloud  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  A month to the day after he was sworn into office by Dick Cheney, Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) is under an ethical cloud that threatens to upend his turn on the national stage.

A guide to the 100 best blogs - part I  —  The online world of the bloggers and how you can connect, communicate, publish your thoughts or diaries and ‘spy’ on the famous  —  Blogs — an ugly word, but now unavoidable — were born with the internet.  As soon as people started to use …

UK to shift anti-terror strategy  —  The UK government is preparing a major shift in its counter-terrorism strategy to combat radicalisation, the BBC's Panorama programme has learned.  —  Conservative Muslims who teach that Islam is incompatible with Western democracy will be challenged …

The First Three Weeks  —  IF PRESIDENT Obama and his advisers had a magic wand rather than a balky, and balkanized, Congress, the dire recession would still be daunting.  But the presidency does not come with a magic wand; nor, we have learned, is Mr. Obama, however talented, a wizard.

The Two Progressivisms  —  The definitions of the terms “liberal” and “conservative” have been the subjects of much debate in contemporary American politics.  But it has become increasingly clear that the term “progressive” is equally ambiguous, and is associated with at least two relatively distinct philosophical traditions.

California Budget is run by “Girly Men”  —  California is about to go out of business quite literally and still these idiot tax cutting freaky Republicans like Sen. Dave Cox are doing their best to do just that.  A lot of Americans don't know that California has a weird super majority vote …