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 …

Decade at Bernie's  —  By now everyone knows the sad tale of Bernard Madoff's duped investors.  They looked at their statements and thought they were rich.  But then, one day, they discovered to their horror that their supposed wealth was a figment of someone else's imagination.

In All Fairness  —  SCREENING OBAMA  —  One wouldn't know it from reading the Washington Post or New York Times, but some inside the White House don't think that President Barack Obama hit a home run with his first national press conference last week.  —  “It looked scripted beyond the scripted part …

Clinton warns North Korea during Tokyo visit  —  TOKYO (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Tokyo to begin her first trip abroad as President Barack Obama's chief diplomat, said Washington's alliance with Japan is a cornerstone for the U.S. and warned North Korea to live …

STUDY HARDER  —  I'm not sure what other ways he's going to follow in Newt Gingrich's steps.  But GOP House whip Eric Cantor seems to have the megalomania and ego front down pat.  He's been putting out word over the last few days that he's modeling himself off Newt and now apparently Winston Churchill too.

White House Backs Off ‘Car Czar’  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will not name a “car czar” to help oversee the auto industry's restructuring and will instead create an inter-agency task force to deal with the issue, according to senior administration officials.

C-SPAN ranks presidents: Abe still on top, new shocker at the bottom  —  On this sacred United States holiday devoted to honoring the birthdays of the two most important presidents in the nation's history by selling bed linens and used automobiles at discount prices, we're publishing …

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.

Liberals not pleased with go-slow approach by Obama  —  Activists recall his promises as a candidate and express frustration at his equivocation as president.  They cite stem cell research and the detainee policy as examples.  —  Reporting from Washington — Slowly over the last few weeks …

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.

Islamic law to be imposed in parts of Pakistan  —  PESHAWAR, Pakistan - The government agreed to impose Islamic law and suspend a military offensive across much of northwest Pakistan on Monday in concessions aimed at pacifying the Taliban insurgency spreading from the border region to the country's interior.

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.

Dismal scientists: how the crash is reshaping economics  —  With the chattering classes consumed by concern for the devastated value of their 401K funds, and their suddenly precarious lifestyles, there has been much anger and scorn directed at those former masters of the universe, financiers.

Hamburgers are the Hummers of food in global warming … When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say.  —  Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says she keeps 2 rifles under bed  —  WASHINGTON - - New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who argues her pro-gun stance aims to protect hunters' rights and the Second Amendment, last week said she and her husband, Jonathan, keep two rifles under their bed to protect their upstate home.

Former astronaut speaks out on global warming  —  SANTA FE, N.M. - Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and once served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate, doesn't believe that humans are causing global warming.  —  “I don't think the human effect is significant compared …

The Eye of the Storm  —  CHICAGO — Barack Obama senses that he's in the middle of a hurricane whose gale-force winds could blow history his way.  —  He doesn't mind acknowledging that he is learning as he goes, and he is not bitter about how little help he is getting from Republicans.

PARTISANSHIP, BY THE BYE  —  Throughout the fortnight-long Battle of the Stimulus Package—the Capitol Hill confrontation that culminates this week in a signing ceremony for a historically unprecedented piece of legislation that will inject more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars' worth …

Obama Won't End the Culture Wars  —  Will Barack Obama end the culture wars?  He couldn't if he wanted.  In America, the culture war will never die, only wax and wane across multiple battlefields.  When you live in a large, diverse, pluralistic democracy, it comes with the territory.

Gay snipers stalk WV  —  The same-sex marriage wars, though largely absent from the presidential campaign, remain hot in the states, as this new video from the group wv4marriage.com shows.  —  The narrator warns that same-sex marriage in West Virginia is “a closer reality than you may think” …