The President Ties His Own Hands on Terror  —  The point of interrogation is intelligence, not confession.  —  The Obama administration has declassified and released opinions of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) given in 2005 and earlier that analyze the legality …

Tedisco asks to be declared winner  —  COLUMBIA COUNTY — 20th Congressional District candidate Republican Jim Tedisco submitted a petition to the Dutchess County Supreme Court Thursday asking the judge to declare him the winner of the extremely close special election race …

LGF on Glenn Beck  —  I still don't have a working cable TV connection in my new top-secret underground facility, so I missed Glenn Beck's show today (I wouldn't have been watching anyway, to be honest), but I understand from several lizardoid reports that Beck had some things to say about me.

Green Shoots and Glimmers  —  Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, sees “green shoots.”  President Obama sees “glimmers of hope.”  And the stock market has been on a tear.  —  So is it time to sound the all clear?  Here are four reasons to be cautious about the economic outlook.

Control of Cybersecurity Becomes Divisive Issue  —  WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency has been campaigning to lead the government's rapidly growing cybersecurity programs, raising privacy and civil liberties concerns among some officials who fear that the move could give the spy agency …

New gun law aimed at asserting sovereignty  —  Gov. Brian Schweitzer has signed into law a bill that aims to exempt Montana-made guns from federal regulation, adding firepower to a battery of legislative efforts to assert states' rights across the nation.  —  “It's a gun bill …

We Are Now Indonesia  —  Greenwald points to this nugget: … And this is, in fact, the Bush-Cheney position.  Because America did these things, they are not torture.  This is also, by the way, the position of the news reporters and editors at the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Authorities Investigate Payments by Rattner  —  Steven Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's auto task force, was one of the executives involved with payments under scrutiny in a probe of an alleged kickback scheme at New York state's pension fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Veterans a Focus of FBI Extremist Probe  —  WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and “militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups,” including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan …

Blind Amputee Has to Fight AIG for New Plastic Leg, Wheelchair  —  While Executives Get Bonuses, John Woodson Gets “Cheapest They Could Get Away With”  —  An Oklahoma man who lost an eye and a leg in Iraq says the giant insurance company AIG refused to provide him a new plastic leg and fought …

Ex-McCain aide to call for gay marriage support  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Steve Schmidt, a key architect of John McCain's presidential campaign, is making his first public return to Washington a bold one.  —  Schmidt will use a speech Friday to Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights group …

Sarkozy snipes at ‘dim’ Spanish PM and ‘weak’ Barack Obama  —  The US President is weak, the Spanish leader is dim, the German Chancellor is clinging on to France's coat-tails and the head of the European Commission is irrelevant.  —  That, at any rate, is the world according to President Sarkozy …

Barack Obama's ‘New Foundation’ - a Sting in Four Parts  —  Franklin Roosevelt gave us the New Deal.  John Kennedy gave us the New Frontier.  In a major domestic policy address at Georgetown University this week, Barack Obama promised — eight times — a “New Foundation.”

Moran Campaign Contributors Have Business Before Brother  —  More than a dozen defense contractors with business before U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), a member of the powerful House Appropriations defense subcommittee, have donated thousands of dollars to Moran's younger brother Brian, a candidate for governor of Virginia.

Dean, Emanuel bury the hatchet  —  The feud between Howard Dean and Rahm Emanuel appears to be over.  —  Dean told The Hill that he recently had lunch with the White House chief of staff, signaling a thaw in their once icy relationship.  —  Dean, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee …

Banks Rush to Repay U.S. Funds, but Cling To Other Lifelines  —  J.P. Morgan Says Aid Is a ‘Scarlet Letter’  —  Six months after Washington rescued Wall Street, exasperated banks insist they want to leave the lifeboat.  —  Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of J.P. Morgan Chase …

Some foreclosed homes too damaged to sell  —  CNN Special Investigations Unit  —  NASHUA, New Hampshire (CNN) — The economy in southern New Hampshire is not by any means among the worst in the nation.  Still, according to city records, there are 29 foreclosed homes on the books in Nashua — many of which are in deplorable condition.

U.S. pledges $1 billion ‘down payment’ to Pakistan  —  Despite stark disagreements about benchmarks for an aid package proposed by President Obama, the U.S. pledged a billion dollars to Pakistan at an international donors conference in Tokyo on Friday — a “down payment” for billions more to be sought in Congress.

Only 5 state residents donated to Dodd  —  WASHINGTON — Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd appears to have looked everywhere but his home state to fuel what pundits anticipate will be one of the most hotly contested races in the nation in 2010.  —  The five-term incumbent reported raising just $4,250 …