Bunning poised to retire  —  Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, the most endangered Republican up for reelection in 2010, appears headed for retirement after giving his leading GOP rival the blessing to prepare to run for his seat next year.  —  Bunning's retirement would be a huge victory …

Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild  —  Genetic data indicate this outbreak won't be as deadly as that of 1918, or even the average winter.  —  As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked …

A Chrysler Creditor Finds Himself Torn  —  Geoffrey Gwin is wrestling with the knowledge that the retirement plans of some 80,000 Americans may rest in his hands.  —  “I am in turmoil,” says Mr. Gwin, principal of the Group G Capital Partners LLC hedge funds in New York.

Our Obligation to Investigate  —  In President Obama's inaugural address, he declared that “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.  Our founding fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man …

Obama and Churchill  —  Obama followed Bush last night in using Winston Churchill as his example of a war president:  —  “I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens …

Changing Views on Gay Marriage, Gun Control, Immigration and Legalizing Marijuana  —  ABC News-Washington Post Poll: 49 Percent Support Gay Marriage, New High  —  Support for gay marriage, legalizing illegal immigrants and decriminalizing marijuana all are at new highs.

Senate Rejects Bankruptcy Bailout for Troubled Homeowners  —  ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports from Capitol Hill: On the same day that the White House announced that overextended Chrysler would go into a “quick” bankruptcy — its loans rewritten by a judge to emerge for life another day …

New GOP ad: Do you feel safer?  —  House Republicans are using images of the Pentagon burning on 9/11 and President Obama's “bow” to the Saudi leader in a video that accuses the president of making America less safe in his first 100 days.  —  But the new video has already created blowback …

Palin and the bear  —  Coming soon to a cable TV station near you: TLC just released a YouTube video of a recent interview with Sarah Palin that has an unfortunate image of the Governor relaxing on a bear rug in her office.  Seriously:  —  I've defended Sarah Palin after recent media criticism.

Condi Rice Pulls A Nixon: When the President Does It, That Means It is Not Illegal  —  Condoleezza Rice was recently speaking at Stanford when students asked her an excellent question on waterboarding and torture.  They have her answer on tape and it isn't pretty.  Condi Rice absolutely pulls a Nixon.

Administration Aide Suspected of Contracting Swine Flu  —  Man May Have Passed Virus to Family Members in Anne Arundel County  —  An Energy Department employee who was part of the advance team for President Obama's recent trip to Mexico is suspected of having contracted the swine flu virus …

Win By Losing?  —  Via Ed Kilgore, Ed Rogers from the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations makes the point that it's basically never good to lose a Senator: … I do think it's always worth considering an alternative.  I think it's very possible that Democrats could “gain so much power” …

The Threat Of Christianism  —  “There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs.  There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being.  But like any powerful weapon …

Elizabeth Edwards write about husband's affair in book … Campaign cad John Edwards' cheating ways made his wife, Elizabeth, sick to her stomach - literally.  —  After the former presidential hopeful confessed his betrayal, Elizabeth Edwards writes in her new book, “I cried and screamed, I went to the bathroom and threw up.”

Fox Cancels Beltway Boys  —  It's the end of the road for The Beltway Boys, Fox News Channel's Saturday evening political chat with newsmen Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke.  Whispers hears that the show has run its course.  No replacement has been named.  —  Theirs was a fun mix …

Anita Dunn Heads to the White House  —  Anita Dunn, a Democratic media consultant and senior adviser to President Barack Obama during the fall campaign, has been named the interim communications director at the White House, according to several sources familiar with the decision.

Top Conservatives On Twitter FAIL  —  Ok, quick twitter post and then back to...serious...business.  Several weeks ago, those of us who (for reasons unclear) communicate with friends, colleagues, and complete strangers on Twitter, began scratching our heads when we noticed various conservatives …

Dartmouth's Speech Codes: FIRE Responds to Challenge  —  Yesterday, in his blog entry discussing the difficult road facing petition candidates for governing board positions at Harvard University and Dartmouth College—and the substantial hostility they face if elected—Kyle provided …

Report: Justice Dept. Official Violated Ethics Rules in Grant-Making  —  Bush Administration Appointee Awarded Sole Source Contracts to Ideologically Favored Companies, Individuals  —  A former Justice Department grant-making administrator violated federal ethics and procurement rules …

ARE SODA TAXES...POPULAR?  —  Till now, I've been of the opinion that arguing in favor of raising revenue by taxing unwanted behaviors is little more than a quixotic argument.  Good for a blog post, maybe, but nothing beyond that.  Then I heard that the prospect of sin taxes was actually emerging …