Obama Open to Prosecutions in Interrogation Abuses  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday left open the door to creating a bipartisan commission that would investigate the Bush administration's use of harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects, and he did not rule out taking action …

Is Cheney Panicking?  —  The one thing you saw most plainly in the Plame affair is how obsessed Dick Cheney is with public image, the chattering classes and spinning stories that might reflect poorly on him.  The act is the elder statesman, authoritatively reviewing the world scene …

America's Newest Profession: Bloggers for Hire  —  In America today, there are almost as many people making their living as bloggers as there are lawyers.  Already more Americans are making their primary income from posting their opinions than Americans working as computer programmers, firefighters or even bartenders.

The OLC “torture memos”: thoughts from a dissenter  —  I first gained access to the OLC memos and learned details about CIA's program for high-value detainees shortly after the set of opinions were issued in May 2005.  I did so as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's policy representative …

Obama's Outrageous Sin Against Our Kids  —  As I watch Washington politics I am not easily given to rage.  —  Washington politics is a game and selfishness, out-sized egos and corruption are predictable.  —  But over the last week I find myself in a fury.

EXCLUSIVE: Senator's husband's firm cashes in on crisis  —  Feinstein sought $25 billion for agency that awarded contract to spouse  —  On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency …

GWS  —  I am not angry Mr. York.  I am afraid.  Afraid of the hatred for this President generated by the likes of FOX news and this newspaper.  I know that MSNBC is in the bed with the Democrats, but FOX is married to the Republicans.  Promoting this tea party is a prime example.

Why GOP is devouring one book  —  There aren't any sex scenes or vampires, and it won't help you lose weight.  —  But House Republicans are tearing through the pages of Amity Shlaes' “The Forgotten Man” like soccer moms before book club night.  —  Shlaes' 2007 take on the Great Depression questions …

Crimes suspected in 20 bailout cases — for starters  —  The special inspector general says TARP is ‘inherently vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse.’ The risk grows as the plan becomes more complex, he says.  —  Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles — In the first major disclosure …

Health-Care Dialogue Alarms Obama's Allies  —  As Congress returns to begin an intense debate over reshaping the nation's $2.2 trillion health-care system, prominent left-leaning organizations and liberal House members are issuing a warning to their Democratic allies: Don't cave on us.

McCain facing 2010 primary  —  Social conservatives tolerated John McCain as the party's nominee, but never trusted him, and he now appears to be facing a serious primary from the right in Arizona next year.  —  Chris Simcox, the founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and a prominent figure …

The Pulitzer-winning investigation that dare not be uttered on TV  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  The New York Times' David Barstow won a richly deserved Pulitzer Prize yesterday for two articles that, despite being featured as major news stories on the front page of The Paper of Record …

The Republicans' Paranoid Style  —  In 1964, historian Richard Hofstadter described “the paranoid style” as a periodic recurrence in American national life, characterized by “the use of paranoid modes of expressions by more or less normal people . . . heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy.”

Computer Spies Breach Fighter-Jet Project  —  WASHINGTON — Computer spies have broken into the Pentagon's $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project — the Defense Department's costliest weapons program ever — according to current and former government officials familiar with the attacks.

Dem Rep Harman Did Urge Times Not To Publish Wiretapping Expose!  —  Whoa.  Dem Rep Jane Harman did in fact urge The New York Times not to publish its big expose of Bush-era warrantless wiretapping, apparently before the 2004 election, potentially changing the election's outcome and the course of history …

Big-Spending Conservative  —  We've all heard liberal speeches on the economy.  The central concern is inequality.  Power and wealth tend to concentrate at the top of society, so government must stand as a countervailing power.  It must defend the people against the powerful to ensure fairness and opportunity for all.

National service bill to get Obama's signature  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - People who want to give back to their communities through service will get more opportunities to do so under a bill being signed Tuesday by President Barack Obama.

FBI's newest ‘Most Wanted’ terrorist is American  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, an accused domestic terrorist is being added to the FBI's list of “Most Wanted” terror suspects.  —  Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 31-year-old computer specialist from Berkeley, Calif. …

Our Selective Moral Outrage  —  Why does Israel face more opprobrium than Russia?  —  Few places on earth have been as systematically brutalized over the past decade as Chechnya.  So you might have thought that the Russian government's decision last week to declare an end to its …

Ranking Senate partisans  —  Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are the easiest senators to work with, while Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) are the most partisan members of the upper chamber, according to a survey conducted by The Hill.

Criminalizing Conservatism  —  Many liberals don't just want to defeat conservatives at the polls, they want to send them to jail.  Toward that end, they have sometimes tried to criminalize what are essentially policy differences.  President Obama hinted at another step in that direction …

Feinstein to Obama: Torture prosecutions should still be on the table.  —  In recent days, President Obama has reiterated his pledge to oppose prosecutions of individuals responsible for torture under the Bush administration.  However, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein …

One Small Observation on the Jane Harman Case  —  Congresswoman Jane Harman is in a pickle this week after Jeff Stein at CQ reported that an NSA wiretap caught her wheeling and dealing with a suspected Israeli agent (for more on this complicated matter, see Laura Rozen's invaluable blog).

Pakistan Taleban expand control  —  Taleban militants operating in Pakistan's Swat region who agreed a peace deal with the government have expanded operations into nearby Buner.  —  Dozens of militants have been streaming into bordering Buner to take over mosques and government offices.