The Reconstructionist  —  Michael Steele, the embattled new head of the Republican Party, on whether he'd be in this job if he were white, why he left the seminary for the GOP, and where his diminished party goes from here  —  I met Michael Steele in his office at the RNC several weeks into his new job …

Blame the ‘Lobby’  —  FORMER ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. looked like a poor choice to chair the Obama administration's National Intelligence Council.  A former envoy to Saudi Arabia and China, he suffered from an extreme case of clientitis on both accounts.

Obama Makes Use of Signing Statements  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama signed a $410 billion spending bill Wednesday that includes thousands of pet projects inserted by lawmakers, even as he unveiled new rules to restrict such so-called earmarks.  —  At the same time …

Alaska Gov. Palin's daughter, fiance break up  —  WASILLA, Alaska — Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin, the teenage daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin, have broken off their engagement, he said Wednesday, about 2 1/2 months after the couple had a baby.  —  Johnston, 19, told The Associated Press …

Obama's honeymoon bliss fading  —  President Obama's honeymoon is beginning to fade.  —  Members of Congress and old political hands say he needs to show substantial progress reviving the economy soon.  —  Some Democrats have started to worry that voters don't and won't understand …

Obama, Geithner Get Low Grades From Economists  —  U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to revive the economy from participants in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.  —  The economists' assessment stands …

Iraqi jailed for Bush shoe attack  —  An Iraqi journalist hailed as a hero in the Arab world for throwing his shoes at former US President George W Bush has been jailed for three years.  —  Muntadar al-Zaidi had pleaded not guilty as his trial resumed in Baghdad, telling the judge: “My reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi.”

Times Hires New Conservative Columnist  —  The New York Times has hired Ross G. Douthat, a 29-year-old conservative writer and editor at The Atlantic, as an Op-Ed columnist, nearly two months after ending the year-long run of another conservative columnist, William Kristol, officials at the paper said Wednesday.

Obama: Troop move to Mexican border under consideration  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama weighed in Wednesday on the escalating drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that he was looking at possibly deploying National Guard troops to contain the violence but ruled out any immediate military move.

Hersh: ‘Executive assassination ring’ reported directly to Cheney  —  Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he told an audience at the University of Minnesota that the military was running an “executive assassination ring” throughout the Bush years …

Pelosi Travel Abuse?  Case Not Proved  —  Watchdog Group Criticizes House Speaker for Travel Perks, but Records Don't Agree  —  The treasure trove of documents obtained by Judicial Watch from the Department of Defense regarding Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's use of military aircraft …

Obama's $80 Billion Exaggeration  —  Last week, President Barack Obama convened a health-care summit in Washington to identify programs that would improve quality and restrain burgeoning costs.  He stated that all his policies would be based on rigorous scientific evidence of benefit.

Gingrich visits new hospital in West Bloomfield  —  WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — Former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich arrived to tour the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital at 3 p.m. today — a facility he heard about in a speech two years ago and wanted to visit after meeting …