Maurice Clemmons, man wanted for questioning, has troubling criminal history  —  Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old Tacoma man being sought for questioning in the killing this morning of four Lakewood police officers, has a long criminal record punctuated by violence, erratic behavior and concerns about his mental health.

Obama's Speech on Afghanistan to Envision Exit  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to lay out a timeframe for ultimately winding down the American involvement in the war in Afghanistan when he announces his decision this week to send more forces, senior administration officials said Sunday.

Palin particularly popular among fans of Limbaugh and Beck  —  Sarah Palin may or may not run for president in 2012, but she is already the overwhelming favorite in the Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck primaries.  —  In a new Washington Post poll, Palin beats other GOP leaders on two questions …

Dems seek deal as Sen. debate begins  —  TAGS: - Senate, - Health Care Reform, - Mitch McConnell, - Harry Reid, - Chuck Schumer, - Evan Bayh, - Olympia Snowe, - Joe Lieberman, - Blanche Lincoln, - Ben Nelson.  Tom Coburn  —  After months of buildup, the historic debate on health care reform opens …

Americans Still Leaning Against Healthcare Legislation  —  Majority disapprove of Obama's handling of the issue  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans currently tilt against Congress' passing healthcare legislation, with 49% saying they would advise their member to vote against a bill …

7 stories Obama doesn't want told  —  Presidential politics is about storytelling.  Presented with a vivid storyline, voters naturally tend to fit every new event or piece of information into a picture that is already neatly framed in their minds.  —  No one understands this better …

The Jobs Imperative  —  If you're looking for a job right now, your prospects are terrible.  There are six times as many Americans seeking work as there are job openings, and the average duration of unemployment — the time the average job-seeker has spent looking for work — is more than six months, the highest level since the 1930s.

In Elections, Honduras Defeats Chávez  —  The tiny country beats back the colonial aspirations of its neighbors.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Unless something monumental happens in the Western Hemisphere in the next 31 days, the big regional story for 2009 will be how tiny Honduras managed …

Done at Last: Ten Final Thoughts on Palin and “Going Rogue”  —  This was a bad and unhelpful book.  —  It was not bad because it was simple.  Goldwater (or his ghost) used fewer pages in Conscience of a Conservative and said more.  It was not bad because it was autobiographical.

The face of rotted Washington  —  Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh — who was one of the most vocal cheerleaders for the invasion of Iraq, talks excitedly about punishing, and even bombing, Iran, and is now demanding full-scale escalation in Afghanistan — was on Fox News yesterday and highlighted …

Swiss Ban Building of Minarets on Mosques  —  GENEVA — In a vote that displayed a widespread anxiety about Islam and undermined the country's reputation for religious tolerance, the Swiss on Sunday overwhelmingly imposed a national ban on the construction of minarets, the prayer towers of mosques …

500,000 Iranian Centrifuges  —  Tehran ups the ante again as diplomacy goes nowhere.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Mohamed ElBaradei caps his contentious and ultimately failed 12-year stint as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency today, having spent many years enabling Iran's nuclear bids …

An Empire at Risk  —  We won the cold war and weathered 9/11.  But now economic weakness is endangering our global power. … From the magazine issue dated Dec 7, 2009  —  Call it the fractal geometry of fiscal crisis.  If you fly across the Atlantic on a clear day …