D.C. Council Votes to Recognize Other States' Gay Marriages  —  The D.C. Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, on the same day that Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex unions.  —  Domestic partnerships are already legal in the nation's capital …

Caller criticizes Limbaugh, Hannity, etal, on torture: “It's like you're all brainwashed”  —  LIMBAUGH: We're going to go to Chicago.  This is Charles.  Charles, thank you for waiting and for calling.  Great to have you here.  Hello.  —  CALLER: Thanks, Rush.

About Glenn Beck's Extremist Rhetoric  —  Michael A. Cohen has a piece in Politico today about the over-the-top irresponsible extremism and conspiracy theories promulgated by weeping Glenn Beck: Extremist rhetoric won't rebuild GOP. … He's right.  This turn toward the extreme right …

Washington Post reporters call out George Will for lying in Washington Post 2  — TWITTER - NEWSVINE - GOOGLE BOOKMARKS - STUMBLEUPON  —  [SEE UPDATE BELOW]  —  Today, Washington Post reporters Juliet Eilperin and Mary Beth Sheridan have a piece on the alarming decline of Arctic sea ice.

‘House’ exclusive: The shocking story behind last night's big death  —  DEFCON 1 spoiler alert!  If you haven't seen last night's House, stop reading now.  Everyone else, onward and downward!  —  Here are the six things you need to know up-front about last night's House:

Pentagon Chief: Why I Tore Up the Army's ‘Future’  —  Of all the hard choices Defense Secretary Robert Gates had to make in his radical overhaul of the Pentagon's arsenal, the toughest, he tells Danger Room, was the decision to gut Future Combat Systems, the Army's $200 billion effort to design …

Franken extends lead over Coleman  —  The Democrat made a net gain today in a count of formerly rejected absentee ballots that pushed his advantage to more than 300 votes in the U.S. Senate race.  —  Democrat Al Franken today extended his lead over Republican Norm Coleman in the U.S. Senate election …

Harvard Student Takes On Barney Frank Over Economy  —  WFXT-TV: It all started with a question: “How much responsibility, if any, do you have for the financial crisis?”  Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and a conservative Harvard law student debated over how Frank should have handled his role …

Obama's word play  —  The administration has created a lexicon that masks reality through the gauzy world of euphemism.  To the world, it's just words.  —  President Obama had a grand time in Europe.  He wowed the press, met the queen, gave some wonderful news conferences and got virtually none …

Tables Turned on Prosecution in Stevens Case  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge dismissed the ethics conviction of former Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska on Tuesday after taking the extraordinary step of naming a special prosecutor to investigate whether the government lawyers who ran the Stevens case …

CBC members praise Castro  —  Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling for an end to U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, just hours after a meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro in Havana.  —  “The fifty-year embargo just hasn't worked,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee …

Bennet talks with skeptical Democrats in Fort Collins  —  Sen. Michael Bennet met with about 100 Larimer County Democrats on Monday night at New Belgium Brewing and frequently wound up giving them answers they didn't come to hear.  —  Facing a respectful but clearly skeptical audience of party activists …

Video reveals G20 police assault on man who died  —  Exclusive footage obtained by the Guardian shows Ian Tomlinson, who died during G20 protests in London, was attacked from behind by baton-wielding police officer  —  Dramatic footage obtained by the Guardian shows that the man who died …

The End of Philosophy  —  Socrates talked.  The assumption behind his approach to philosophy, and the approaches of millions of people since, is that moral thinking is mostly a matter of reason and deliberation: Think through moral problems.  Find a just principle.  Apply it.

Minnesota's Shame  —  The wholesale disenfranchisement of absentee military voters.  —  In its recent order, the three-judge election contest court in Minnesota reiterated a common theme during the Coleman versus Franken Senate recount—notwithstanding the numerous questions raised regarding …

Right Wing Hysterical Over Obama's ‘Not At War With Islam’ Remarks: ‘We Have Nothing To Apologize For’  —  President Obama's outreach to the Muslim world has been a welcome development after eight years of President Bush's “us vs. them” approach.  “Let me say this as clearly as I can,” he told the Turkish parliament yesterday.

Howard Stern endorses Arlen Specter  —  Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Arlen Specter got some support from an unexpected source Tuesday: Radio talk show host Howard Stern.  —  During Stern's notoriously raunchy Sirius-XM satellite radio show, he offered a full-throated endorsement …