The GOP's special failure  —  All the evidence pointing to monster Republican House gains this fall—the Scott Brown upset win in Massachusetts, the scary polling numbers in once-safely Democratic districts, the ever-rising number of Democratic seats thought to be in jeopardy—was contradicted Tuesday.

Obama Turns His Back On the Press  —  At a ceremony to sign a bill promoting press freedom around the world on Monday, President Obama refused to take questions from the reporters in attendance.  “I'm not doing a press conference today,” he told Chip Reid of CBS News, “but we'll be seeing you guys during the course of the week.”

More on Rand Paul  —  So is Rand Paul, on a personal level, just a deeply unlikeable guy?  One of the weird things about his acceptance speech last night was that he held it at the local country club — to what looked uncannily like a members only crowd.  This morning he defended the venue …

Slow learners at the 9th Circuit  —  The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a stimulus package for the Supreme Court, which would rather not have one.  The 9th Circuit, often in error but never in doubt, provides the Supreme Court with steady work: Over the past half-century …

Immigrant Students Face Deporation After McCain Protest  —  Undocumented Student Activists Press Lawmakers for Action on Dream Act  —  Mohammad Abdollahi, an undocumented Iranian immigrant, takes the finger-pointing in Congress over stalled immigration legislation personally.

Dean: N.Y. Times story a ‘hatchet job’  —  Howard Dean on Wednesday took the New York Times to task for running a “hatchet job” story on Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal misstating his service in Vietnam without acknowledging that the information came from a GOP campaign.

Who woulda thunk it: Fact-checking is popular!  —  Has anyone else noticed that the Associated Press has been doing some strong fact-checking work lately, aggressively debunking all kinds of nonsense, in an authoritative way, without any of the usual he-said-she-said crap that often mars political reporting?

Rahm's Son's Bar Mitzvah Irks Some in Israel  —  Israeli Activists Say They Will ‘Blow Up,’ Figuratively, Zach Emanuel's Bar Mitzvah  —  White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's plan to take his son, Zach, to Jerusalem's famous Western Wall for his Jewish coming-of-age ritual appeared to have run into serious trouble.

Power Play Over Immigration Law  —  LA's boycott resolution sparks a threat over power the city receives from Arizona  —  An Arizona utility commissioner said he's willing to pull the plug on Los Angeles if the city goes through with a boycott of his state.

HOUSE PASSES BEER RESOLUTION  —  While most of Washington was focused on Tuesday's election results, the House was busy doing something else: Passing a resolution about beer.  —  House Resolution 1297, sponsored by Rep. Betsy Markey, supports “the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week.”

Why Are Incumbents Faltering?  Check Out The Election Night FinReg Massacre  —  Yesterday's results in the election showed what has now become conventional wisdom: an “anti-incumbent mood,” something the media will parrot from now to November.  Have they explored why?

Attorney General Tom Corbett Subpoenaes Twitter To Identify Anonymous Critics  —  Tom Corbett, current Attorney General of the state of Pennsylvania and Gubernatorial Candidate, has subpoenaed Twitter to appear as a Grand Jury witness to “testify and give evidence regarding alleged violations of the laws of Pennsylvania”.

Key senator says hold off on 'Don't Ask' repeal  —  A key U.S. senator has told the Blade that he opposes repealing “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” at this time.  —  In a brief exchange on Capitol Hill, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Tuesday he would vote against an effort next week to overturn the law.