What we're seeing in Massachusetts  —  Because of the heavy interest we'll try to get our Massachusetts numbers out over the weekend.  But because we've already conducted most of the interviews for it here are some of the major storylines we're seeing:  —At this point a plurality …

Rudy Giuliani Wrong in Saying ‘No Domestic Attacks Under Bush’  —  President Obama yesterday took personal responsibility for failures in the Christmas day terror plot, but Rudy Giuliani still isn't convinced.  —  I spoke to the former mayor of New York City this morning on GMA …

Steele comments have GOP aides pleading, ‘Get him to stop’  —  Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, under fire this week for a string of controversial statements he has made while promoting his new book, has so angered the party's congressional leaders that their aides …

Gruber responds: ‘Completely consistent’  —  One of the key voices for Congressional health care legislation, MIT economist Jon Gruber, is taking fire from the precincts of the left that oppose the Senate plan over the fact that he is on contract with Department of Health and Human Services.

Carville: Airport scanners can ‘measure my penis’  —  The debate over full body security scans just got a lot more graphic, thanks to Democratic political strategist and frequent flyer James Carville.  —  Speaking on The Tony Kornheiser Show Friday, Carville laid out, or unzipped, his vision for airport security.

On the December Jobs Numbers  —  Today's employment report, though a setback from November, is consistent with the gradual labor market stabilization we have been seeing over the last several months.  —  Payroll employment declined 85,000 in December.  To put this number in perspective …

British woman ‘arrested in Dubai after being raped’  —  A 23-year-old British woman on holiday in Dubai told police she had been raped, only to be arrested herself for having illegal sexual intercourse.  —  The woman, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, was celebrating her engagement …

Memo to Palin: Get Over Yourself  —  Okay, now that I have ensured that I will receive lots of hateful comments.... Sarah Palin's decision not to attend CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference) is ridiculously petty.  I will grant that CPAC should not have let the Birchers be minor sponsors.

The Risk of Catastrophic Victory  —  Obama is in the midst of one.  Can the GOP avert one of their own?  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Passage of the health-care bill will be, for the administration, a catastrophic victory.  If it is voted through in time for the State of the Union Address …

Craig James eyeing politics, not ruling out U.S. Senate run  —  DALLAS Former SMU football star and ESPN Analyst Craig James has made news recently regarding his role with his son and former Texas Tech Football Coach Mike Leach.  But James could be making news this year in politics, too.

Walk Away From Your Mortgage!  —  John Courson, president and C.E.O. of the Mortgage Bankers Association, recently told The Wall Street Journal that homeowners who default on their mortgages should think about the “message” they will send to “their family and their kids and their friends.”

Why Heads Should Roll  —  How courageous is Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, the father of terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab?  If, as it is argued, the Islamic world sees the War on Terror as a War on Islam, it must have been quite intimidating to walk into the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria.

Health Care and Wages  —  Proponents of the health insurance “excise tax” say that if we moved to equalize the tax treatment of compensation received in the form of subsidized health insurance and compensation received in the form of cash money, that people would wind up with less-generous insurance plans and more money.

Gingrich to save America  —  Well, at least that's the title of the forthcoming book from the ever-modest former speaker, due out this spring.  —  Says the publisher, Regnery:  —  In “To Save America,” Gingrich argues that a decade of dishonesty from our leaders of both parties has created …

Looking for Corruption in All the Wrong Places  —  The failings of the New York Times ethics cops.  —  For the shallowest view of what corrupts journalists, I refer you to New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt's most recent column, in which he explains why the paper has banished three of its freelancers.

White House: ‘Lost’ Fans Won't Be Marooned  —  Fans clamoring for an unimpeded opening to the new season of “Lost” can ease off.  President Barack Obama's State of the Union address does not appear to be destined for Feb. 2.  —  White House spokesman Robert Gibbs would not say when the …

Republican Lugar Says Cheney's Criticism of Obama Is ‘Unfair’  —  Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) — Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, defended President Barack Obama's handling of recent terrorism threats, taking issue with former Vice President Dick Cheney's criticism.

White House: Geithner ‘not involved’ in latest AIG flap  —  The White House claimed Friday that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner did not play a role in alleged improper actions government officials took in the bailout of insurance giant American Insurance Group.

Democrats Trapped In A Vicious Circle  —  FROM RETIREMENTS TO PARTY DEFECTIONS, THE BAD NEWS FOR 2010 KEEPS COMING.  —  In the world of economics, a virtuous circle is created when a series of positive events triggers a self-perpetuating pattern of other good occurrences — a positive feedback loop, in other words.