Scott Brown to be sworn in as Massachusetts senator Thursday  —  Sen.-elect Scott Brown, the successor to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), will be sworn in to office Thursday afternoon, giving Republicans 41 seats in the upper chamber.  —  “Once we get his certificate we expect to swear …

Lincoln presses Obama on party ‘extremes’ at Q and A  —  Centrist Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) on Wednesday asked arguably the most contentious question during a discussion between Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama, hitting at conservatives and liberals.

Senators Warned of Terror Attack on U.S. by July  —  WASHINGTON — America's top intelligence official told lawmakers on Tuesday that Al Qaeda and its affiliates had made it a high priority to attempt a large-scale attack on American soil within the next six months.

Senator-elect Scott Brown seeks to be sworn in Thursday  —  Hoping to start work in Washington a week sooner than originally planned, US Senator-elect Scott Brown this afternoon asked Governor Deval Patrick and Secretary of State William Galvin to “certify without delay” the results of the Jan. 19 special election.

D-Day at CBS News  —  On the evening of Monday, Feb. 1, Katie Couric, anchor of the CBS Evening News, was wearing red.  For the next half-hour, she tore through the headlines.  There were allegations of bigotry among the federal air marshals in the U.S., an American church group accused …

Powell Favors Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'  —  Gen. Colin L. Powell, who as the nation's top military officer in the 1990s opposed allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, switched gears today and threw his support behind efforts to end the “don't ask, don't tell” law he helped shepherd in.

Countdown begins for end of Keith Olbermann's ‘Countdown’?  —  Remember Keith Olbermann?  —  He was the one-time must-see anti-Bush ranter who helped rescue MSNBC (yes, it's still on at night) from even worse oblivion years ago.  —  Well, quietly last month while no one was looking …

White House Privately Signaling Support For House Passing Senate Bill With Fix, Aides Say  —  White House aides have privately told Dem Congressional aides that the White House supports the House passing the Senate health reform bill with a reconciliation fix, something that could give a bit …

A good message is not nearly as important as a fast process  —  “Democrats were too busy dealing [on the health-care bill] to come up with a counter story,” sighs Harold Pollack.  “Not just once, in a complicated speech, but every day and in ways that connect.”

Is the Senate majority now in play?  —  The victories in Illinois by Rep. Mark Kirk (R) and state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) coupled with former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats' (R) decision to challenge Evan Bayh (D) in the fall is likely to stir chatter about the possibility that Republicans …

James O'Keefe's race problem  —  A photo of the righty stuntman at a white-nationalist confab illustrates a career marked by racial resentment  —  Many of the conservatives who gleefully promoted James O'Keefe's past political stunts are feigning shock at his arrest on charges …

Palin, Emanuel.  Pot, Kettle  —  Did she really just call for Rahm Emanuel to be fired because he allegedly used the term “f**king retarded” to refer to fellow Democrats in a private meeting?  Last summer?  Did she really?  —  I don't like the term myself.  I think it is offensive.

Warning sign in Illinois  —  I think last night's Illinois primary results indicate some difficulties ahead in the state for Democrats that have nothing to do with who the winners and losers were.  —  Based on the current numbers 885,268 voters were cast in the Democratic primary for Senate compared to 736,137 on the Republican side.

The Case Against Gays in the Military  —  Open homosexuality would threaten unit cohesion and military effectiveness.  —  As expected, President Obama pledged during his State of the Union address to “work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans …

Special Olympics: Apology not accepted [UPDATED]  —  The Special Olympics is disputing the White House claim that its chairman, Tim Shriver, accepted Rahm Emanuel's apology for calling liberals “retarded.”  —  Seeking to damp down the controversy over Rahm Emanuel's reported …

Rush Limbaugh: 'I love the women's movement — especially when walking behind it.'  —  Last week, hate radio host Rush Limbaugh judged the Miss America pageant.  Today he went on Fox and Friends and spoke to host — and former Miss America winner — Gretchen Carlson to respond to the criticism he has been receiving.

Muslim chaplain ‘smuggled’ box cutters into jail  —  A Muslim chaplain for the city Department of Correction was arrested this morning for allegedly trying to smuggle in three box-cutters to a lower Manhattan jail.  —  The imam, Imam Zul-Qarnain Shahid, has worked as a DOC jail chaplain for three years …

U.S. May Lose 824,000 Jobs as Employment Data Revised: Analysis  —  Feb. 3 (Bloomberg Multimedia) — The U.S. may lose 824,000 jobs when the government releases its annual revision to employment data on Feb. 5, showing the labor market was in worse shape during the recession than known at the time.

The Internet vs. Obama  —  Could we give Barack Obama a break?  —  Even among his supporters, opinions about his handling of health care reform range from the view that he messed up to the view that he really, really messed up.  —  True, the more charitable critics grant …

Romney To Fundraise For Thune  —  Get out the long lenses in South Dakota: Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) is making one of his first high-profile fundraising stops of the 2010 midterm cycle later this month for none other than Sen. John Thune (R-SD), chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.