National Prayer Breakfast Draws Controversy  —  For more than 50 years, the National Prayer Breakfast has served as a prime networking event in Washington, bringing together the president, members of Congress, foreign diplomats and thousands of religious, business and military leaders for scrambled eggs and supplication.

Clarence Thomas on Why He Skips the State of the Union  —  I don't go because it has become so partisan.  —  One final contribution to the post-mortem on the State of the Union address.  —  In a question-and-answer session at Stetson University College of Law in Florida this week …

Brown to take Kennedy's office  —  Sen.-elect Scott Brown will be sworn in Thursday in Washington.  —  Washington (CNN) - After Scott Brown gets sworn in Thursday afternoon, he won't just be taking Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, he will also be taking over his plush office space in the Senate Russell building.

Details surface of Scott Lee Cohen's 2005 domestric violence arrest  —  Scott Lee Cohen — a pawnbroker who shocked state Democratic leaders Tuesday night by winning the party's nomination for lieutenant governor — was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife …

Comedian Jon Stewart takes the hot seat with Bill O'Reilly  —  In a vigorous, policy-laden debate, ‘The Daily Show’ host blasts Fox's ‘panic attack’ coverage of Obama and the economy.  O'Reilly says ‘the narrative of a couple of guys’ doesn't represent the whole network.

Medicare vouchers  —  Ross Douthat surveys and evaluates the debate over Paul Ryan's “Medicare vouchers” plan.  Here Ezra interviews Ryan.  —  I am very interested in voucher plans but here is one source of my unease.  Let's say you are given a voucher for a health insurance plan …

Last night I got hit by a car and broke my knee  —  Sometime between 7 and 7:30, not long after I got home from work, I walked to the CVS on 22nd and M to get some bread, milk, and a SmartTrip card.  I was right across the street from the CVS, and I waited for the crosswalk light to tell me to go before I crossed.

Off-message, Biden recasts the Obama agenda  —  Vice President Biden is tired of seeing the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan demeaned, derided and dismissed, and he wanted to talk about it.  —  But a funny thing happened in the course of an interview at Biden's White House office on Tuesday afternoon.

Tough talk comes after Obama exits  —  Senate Democrats held back from asking President Barack Obama about healthcare reform during a carefully scripted question-and-answer session in front of television cameras.  —  With the cameras rolling, a group of senators selected in advance …

Initial Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Climbed  —  Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — More Americans unexpectedly filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, indicating companies lack confidence the economic recovery will be sustained.  —  Initial jobless applications increased …

‘Permission’ needed to kill U.S. terrorists  —  The U.S. intelligence community policy on killing American citizens who have joined al Qaeda requires first obtaining high-level government approval, a senior official disclosed to Congress on Wednesday.  —  Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair …

Details Scarce as Democrats Outline Jobs Plan  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leaders unveiled a new “jobs agenda” on Thursday morning, and said they hoped to hold a first vote on the legislation early next week.  But they offered no details, and presented only a scant outline of proposals …

Emotional Hynes ends Democratic governor campaign  —  Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes concedes to Gov. Pat Quinn at Hynes campaign headquarters in Chicago today.  (José M. Osorio/ Chicago Tribune)  —  Dan Hynes ended his Democratic governor campaign today, calling Gov. Pat Quinn and pledging his support in the fall campaign.

James O'Keefe vs. Max Blumenthal: How the Left Distorts, Invents and Lies  —  It started with a blog post at something called One People's Project, in which someone named Daryle Jenkins claimed: … The photograph that One People's Project shows as its proof (above) is cropped and just shows O'Keefe from the shoulders up.

BORN POOR?  —  SANTA FE ECONOMIST SAMUEL BOWLES SAYS YOU BETTER GET USED TO IT  —  Consider these two numbers.  Don't worry, there won't be a quiz.  —  The first number is 3,500.  —  The second is 32.  —  The first is how many jobs Santa Fe County lost in 2009, according to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.

The Hurt Locker Doesn't Get This Vet's Vote  —  Military personnel everywhere should be celebrating: the war flick The Hurt Locker has been nominated for nine Oscar's.  American's were so curious about the war and the soldiers who fight in it they bought 10 dollar movie tickets.

My secret life under 'don't ask, don't tell'  —  Editor's note: Retired Navy Capt. Joan E. Darrah served 29½ years as a naval intelligence officer and was chief of staff and deputy commander at the Office of Naval Intelligence.  She has received several awards: three Legion of Merits …

NAACP flunks GOP on civil rights  —  The NAACP is out with its annual report card, and Republicans have been awarded F's virtually across the board, thanks to their position on a variety of civil right issues, most notably their killing of the DC voting rights bill.  —  [PDF of the rankings.]

How Unions Work  —  In a valiant attempt to defuse the ideological conflicts between the reformist and traditionalist wings of the liberal education wonketariat, Matthew Yglesias argues that this disagreement is not not ideological at all.  Rather, it is an artifact of past decisions about educational structure:

Cuomo Charges BofA, Executives With Fraud  —  New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed civil securities fraud charges against former Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis and former Chief Financial Officer Joseph Price, alleging they decided not to disclose mounting losses at Merrill Lynch & Co …

Charlie Baker: Scott Brown, part deux?  —  Sen. Scott Brown's (R) special election victory last month in Massachusetts was cast by many political operatives — of both parties — as a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, the result of the confluence of factors that would be almost impossible to replicate in a future contest.

Microsoft's Creative Destruction  —  AS they marvel at Apple's new iPad tablet computer, the technorati seem to be focusing on where this leaves Amazon's popular e-book business.  But the much more important question is why Microsoft, America's most famous and prosperous technology company …