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 …

Ross Douthat's New Perch  —  It's one step back for the Atlantic, but an order of magnitude forward for the country: my colleagues and I learned today that senior editor Ross Douthat will, in short order, become an opinion columnist for the New York Times.  —  Ross is a late-twenties-year …

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 …

Bristol Palin & Fiancé Split  —  Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin  —  Bristol Palin and her fiancé Levi Johnston have broken up, two sources tell PEOPLE.  —  The split happened “a few weeks ago,” according to a source close to the couple, but it's unclear what precipitated it.

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 …

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: 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.

Second stimulus?  Never heard of it!  —  Nancy Pelosi said this week that she's keeping the door open for a second stimulus bill.  —  She may be the only one.  —  As the nation continues to shed jobs, an increasing number of economists are saying Congress will need to pump more money into the economy this year.

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.

A Dereliction Of Journalistic Duty  —  If a revolution happens and no reporters cover it, will it make a sound?  That's a good question because an anti-tax revolution as American as they come is under way, and the country's top newsmen could care less.  —  Anti-tax protests have been sprouting …

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 …

LIBERAL HACKERS AT IT AGAIN  —  At the end of January, a hacker broke into Senator Norm Coleman's web site and gained access to information there about donors to the Coleman campaign.  Coleman's staff had a forensic analysis performed and were assured that the donor information had not been downloaded.

Cities' Plans to Swap Cash for Stimulus Are Stopped  —  LOS ANGELES — Suppose the federal government gave you and your neighbor $500 each to buy a new bike, but what you really wanted was a $250 shopping spree for running gear instead.  So you offered to sell your $500 federal check …