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.

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.

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 …

Ignore the party, Rush, Newt and Cheney are the muscle  —  Right now there are two RNCs here in Washington, side by side.  The contrast is instructive.  —  One, the Republican National Committee, is a clueless self-parody.  The other, the (R)ush-(N)ewt-(C)heney tag team …

Poll: Favorable opinions of Cheney rise  —  CNN Deputy Political Director  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — As Dick Cheney prepares to give a major speech on the battle against terrorism, a new national poll suggests that favorable opinions of the former vice president are on the rise.

Republicans to seek Pelosi investigation: source  — Republicans to seek Pelosi investigation: source  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will call Thursday for a formal probe into Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's charges that the CIA misled her on alleged torture, an official said.

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 …

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.

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.

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.”

Obama's civil liberties speech  —  Obama's speech this morning, like most Obama speeches, made pretty points in rhetorically effective ways about the Constitution, our values, transparency, oversight, the state secrets privilege, and the rule of law.  But his actions, in many critical cases, have repeatedly run afoul of those words.

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.

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 …