Governor Signs LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom  —  AUGUSTA - Governor John E. Baldacci today signed into law LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom.  —  “I have followed closely the debate on this issue.

Meltdown: Specter stands alone  —  Arlen Specter infuriated Senate Republicans when he bolted from their party last week.  Now he's alienated just about everybody in the Senate Democratic caucus, too.  —  Since declaring himself a Democrat last Tuesday, Specter has defied Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

A Complicated Question  —  I had dinner once with John and Elizabeth Edwards, when he first burst onto the national scene.  —  Looking across the booth at her grinning, boyish husband, she told me that it was irritating to be married to someone so comely who looked so much younger.

White House Cheat Sheet: Republican Recruiting Recovering  —  (Photo - Toni L. Sandys/ The Washington Post)  —  Republicans, out of power in Washington and struggling badly to find new leaders to match President Obama at the national level, are on the verge of a series of recruiting successes …

The GOP's new point man  —  By elevating Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to their top spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republicans have selected their chief inquisitor for President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee: a Southern, white conservative man who has drawn fire for racially insensitive comments in the past.

EXCLUSIVE: Secret U.S.-Israel nuclear accord in jeopardy  —  President Obama's efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel's nuclear weapons from international scrutiny, former and current U.S. and Israeli officials and nuclear specialists say.

Tortured Logic  —  Hit me Bybee, one more time.  —  Remember the Rule of Law?  In the late 1990s, it was all the rage in conservative circles.  Having maneuvered Bill Clinton into a position where he could either lie under oath or suffer massive personal and political embarrassment …

The Confederate Legacy  —  Ed Kilgore has a very interesting post on a new trend sweeping conservative politics in Dixie—"sovereignty resolutions" that appear to assert states' rights to unilaterally invalidate federal action, a doctrine last seen in the hands of John C. Calhoun, the great antebellum theorist of white supremacy.

Say Cheese: Obama Lunch Turns Juicy Eat-and-Greet  —  Their standing weekly lunch is served by butlers on the finest china in a private White House dining room.  President Obama and Vice President Biden sit at opposite ends of a polished mahogany table, a golden chandelier hanging overhead …

Foxx sends note of apology to gay man's mother  —  Congresswoman had faced anger for calling hate-crime label in 1998 killing ‘a hoax’  —  Virginia Foxx has said that “hoax” was a poor word to use in hate-crime debate.  Gay-rights leaders say that the problem goes beyond word choice.

U.S.-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Consultations II  —  Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari  —  Benjamin Franklin Room  —  Washington, DC  —  SECRETARY CLINTON: Good morning, and welcome to the State Department.  This is what's called the Benjamin Franklin Room …

Chrysler + FIAT = Chooch!  —  Dan Gross, in a defense of the Chrysler deal's treatment of bondholders, writes … But Gross argues it's permissable in this case, if I understand him, because thanks to government bailout money the complaining “secured” lenders are doing better than they would have anyway.

Elena Kagan, Radical?  —  Earlier this week, President Obama called Republican Senator Orrin Hatch to discuss the vacancy on the Court left by Justice Souter.  According to Hatch's office, the president “assured Hatch...that he would appoint a pragmatist, not a radical, to this important position.”

Old duds, Michelle still fab  —  Now that's how to dress in New York during a recession.  —  For her first visit here as First Lady, Michelle Obama recycled a wardrobe staple.  She shopped her closet and picked a Tracy Feith dress that she's worn before for a meet-and-greet at the U.S. mission to the UN Tuesday afternoon.

EXCLUSIVE: Steele yields powers to foes in RNC  —  Accepts limits on spending  —  Capitulating to critics on the Republican National Committee, embattled Republican Party Chairman Michael S. Steele has signed a secret pact agreeing to controls and restraints on how he spends hundreds …

College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader  —  COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — A group of college students said they are lucky to be alive and they're thanking the quick-thinking of one of their own.  Police said a fellow student shot and killed one of two masked me who burst into an apartment.

White House puts UAW ahead of property rights  —  Last Friday, the day after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, I drove past the company's headquarters on Interstate 75 in Auburn Hills, Mich.  —  As I glanced at the pentagram logo I felt myself tearing up a little bit.

A Justice Who Is Gay  —  Two of the most qualified center-left jurists in the country are gay, and they've got friends in high places.  —  Channeling our inner Joy Behars: “Who cares?”  —  Sexual orientation won't matter to President Obama — this I do believe, based on several years of reporting on the guy.

Corzine Allies Plan Attack in G.O.P. Primary  —  Allies of New Jersey's Democratic governor, Jon S. Corzine, are so worried about his re-election prospects that they are going to start spending and advertising heavily — in the Republican primary.  —  Mr. Corzine's allies plan to attack …

Obama tones down National Prayer Day observance  —  (CNN) — For the past eight years, the White House recognized the National Day of Prayer with a service in the East Room, but this year, President Obama decided against holding a public ceremony.  —  “Prayer is something that the president does everyday …