FBI arrest four in alleged plot to bomb Bronx synagogues, shoot down plane  —  The FBI busted a homegrown terror cell late Wednesday night as the men sneaked around a Jewish temple in Riverdale planting what they thought were packages of C-4 explosives, sources told the Daily News.

Obama ‘Distracted’ by Biden's ‘Indiscipline,’ Book Asserts  —  The president is so “distracted by his vice president's indiscipline” that he has been forced to rebuke privately Vice President Biden, according to a new book by Richard Wolffe.  —  FOXNews.com

Sacramento Bee publishes vicious screed bashing taxpayers, gets caught, then scrubs with milquetoast replacement  —  Early this morning, the failing Sacramento Bee published a “vicious screed” that pilloried taxpayers for refusing to feed California's insatiable state government.

A Bill Of Federalism  —  A detailed proposal to redress the imbalance between state and federal power.  —  Lately some state legislatures have been considering so-called “sovereignty resolutions.”  Rather than pass strictly symbolic measures, however, I recommended—in an op-ed last month …

Congressman: We're going to Disney  —  Rep. Alan Grayson was standing in the middle of Disney World when it hit him: What Americans really need is a week of paid vacation.  —  So on Thursday, the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act — legislation that would be the first …

Obama's Pronunciations  —  I don't have a problem with the fact that Barack Obama says “Pah-kee-stahn” when referring to the country to the west of India.  Nor do I have a problem with the fact that Obama says “Afghanistan” in the customary American manner.

Porter Goss Won't Say Whether He And Pelosi Were Told About Use Of Torture  —  Porter Goss, the former GOP Congressman who was in the room with Nancy Pelosi during their 2002 CIA briefing on interrogations, is declining through a spokesperson to say whether the two of them were told that enhanced interrogation techniques had been used.

Obama Huddles With Human Rights Groups Before Security Speech  —  Under heavy criticism for a series of decisions on national security that resembled, for some, those of the Bush years, President Barack Obama hosted a lengthy meeting on Wednesday with the leaders of several key human rights and civil liberties groups.

Flip-Flops and Governance  —  Our president isn't quite as advertised.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Barack Obama inherited a set of national-security policies that he rejected during the campaign but now embraces as president.  This is a stunning and welcome about-face.

R.N.C. Votes Down the ‘Democrat Socialist Party’  —  The Republican National Committee backed away Wednesday from a resolution that officially called Democrats the “Democrat Socialist Party,” but instead voted to condemn Democrats for what it called a “march toward socialism.”

California, a Broke State, Reels as Voters Rebuff Leaders  —  LOS ANGELES — Direct democracy has once again upended California — enough so that the state may finally consider another way by overhauling its Constitution for the first time in 130 years.  —  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned home …

Independents Take Center Stage in Obama Era  —  Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2009  —  Centrism has emerged as a dominant factor in public opinion as the Obama era begins.  The political values and core attitudes that the Pew Research Center has monitored since 1987 show little overall ideological movement.

President Obama as Commander in Chief  —  No new president finds that every aspect of the job suits him at once; some duties are inevitably more comfortable than others.  What we have witnessed in the past few weeks is Barack Obama trying on and fitting himself to the role of commander in chief.

Trebek Makes Bush Joke as Texas Teen Wins Geography Bee  —  WASHINGTON — The nation's top geography whiz breezed through questions about mountain ranges, rivers and world capitals Wednesday, but he was stumped when National Geographic Bee host Alex Trebek asked him to name one of his weaknesses.

Pre-emption of State Laws Rolled Back  —  WASHINGTON — In a sweeping order Wednesday, President Barack Obama called for a rollback of Bush administration regulations designed to protect companies from product-liability lawsuits in state courts.  —  The memo didn't name specific industries …

Jesse Jackson Jr. Pays Campaign Funds to Chicago Alderman Wife  —  Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.'s congressional campaign organization has paid his wife at least $247,500 since 2001, including at least $95,000 after Sandra Jackson joined the Chicago City Council two years ago, according to federal election records.