Palin to deliver address at gun convention  —  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will deliver a keynote address to a gun convention later this month.  —  Palin (R) will speak to the Safari International Club (SCI) in Reno, Nev. on Saturday, Jan. 29, according to the group's website.

A Tale of Two Moralities  —  On Wednesday, President Obama called on Americans to “expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.”

Sarah Palin Is Right About ‘Blood Libel’  —  Judaism rejects the idea of collective responsibility for murder.  —  The term “blood libel”—which Sarah Palin invoked this week to describe the suggestions by journalists and politicians that conservative figures like herself are responsible …

House GOP to resume health-care repeal effort, but with more civil tone  —  House Republican leaders said Thursday that they will begin their effort to repeal the new health-care law next week, a return to normal legislative business after the shootings in Arizona suspended activity on Capitol Hill.

The debt ceiling and default  —  ALMOST everyone takes it for granted that a failure to raise the debt ceiling will eventually force the United States to default on its Treasury debt.  This notion is superficially puzzling.  The question is addressed in this week's issue of The Economist.

TEAM OBAMA BEGINS PLANNING $1 BILLION REELECTION CAMPAIGN - Party members may mix across aisle for State of the Union - Au revoir, Chairman Steele — Taylor and Amy Gross have #3, a girl  —  Good Friday morning.  TOP TALKER - DNC BRAINSTORMS 2012 WITH BUNDLERS — Jeanne Cummings …

Tree of Failure  —  President Obama gave a wonderful speech in Tucson on Wednesday night.  He didn't try to explain the rampage that occurred there.  Instead, he used the occasion as a national Sabbath — as a chance to step out of the torrent of events and reflect.  He did it with an uplifting spirit.

Palin's biggest problem  —  Sarah Palin's biggest obstacle to the White House may not be her remarkable level of unpopularity with Democrats and independents.  Her more immediate problem is that she simply doesn't have much support in the vital early Republican states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Florida.

Mark Levin's $100,000 Challenge to Chris Matthews  —  Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin has put out a stunning challenge to those left-wing media personalities accusing conservative talk radio stars and Sarah Palin of encouraging murder.  —  First, he offered $100,000 to Chris Matthews …

Climate a factor in Rome's rise and fall -study  —  OSLO (Reuters) - Climate change seems a factor in the rise and fall of the Roman empire, according to a study of ancient tree growth that urges greater awareness of the risks of global warming in the 21st century.

Biden taps ex-Clinton aide as chief of staff  —  Vice President Joe Biden announced Friday that centrist Democrat Bruce Reed will be his new chief of staff.  —  Reed, a former Clinton aide and the longtime head of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), is the latest in a long line …

Drifter Naeem Ahmed accused of stalking Caroline Kennedy's 20-year-old daughter Tatiana Schlossberg  —  Tatiana Schlossberg, with mom Caroline Kennedy, has been fending off stalker Naeem Ahmed (below) for 2-1/2 years.  He even tried twice to visit her Manhattan home.

DeMint e-mail indicates he'll play major role in Texas race  —  Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) served notice Friday that he intends to play a major role in deciding who emerges from a sizable pack of GOP Senate contenders in Texas.  —  In an e-mail to supporters of his Senate Conservatives Fund …

An Open Letter to Parents Following the Tragedy in Tucson  —  Like so many Americans all across the country, Barack and I were shocked and heartbroken by the horrific act of violence committed in Arizona this past weekend.  Yesterday, we had the chance to attend a memorial service and meet …

Sen. Mike Lee Calls Child Labor Laws Unconstitutional  —  Last week, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) posted a lecture on his YouTube channel where he explains in great detail his views on the Constitution.  As part of the lecture, which is essentially a lengthy defense of his radical tenther interpretation …

Opinion: Elected Officials Flunk Constitution Quiz … When the Republican House leadership decided to start the 112th Congress with a reading of the U.S. Constitution, the decision raised complaints in some quarters that it was little more than a political stunt.

Grappling With Genosha  —  For much our conversations around the Civil War we've remained obsessed with a simple yet vexing question—How could anyone actually own another person?  As I've said before, I found almost any explanation that invokes individual evil to be unpersuasive.

Tax cuts hinder Obama's plans to overhaul tax code, reduce deficit  —  President Obama's refusal to raise taxes for the vast majority of Americans will prevent him from pursuing a broad overhaul of the tax code and is making it difficult for him to achieve his goals for reducing the budget deficit …

More banks walking away from homes, adding to housing crisis  —  Research shows 1,896 red flag homes in Chicago appear to have been abandoned during foreclosure process  —  A new type of property is adding to neighborhood blight: the bank walkaway.  —  Research to be released Thursday …

Steele's rocky tenure at RNC expected to end Friday  —  Washington (CNN) - It's anybody's guess which candidate will emerge as the next chairman of the Republican National Committee after Friday's election, but RNC watchers largely agree on one thing: the reign of Michael Steele has come to an end.