BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL  —  Before banning ‘crosshairs,’ CNN used it to refer to Palin, Bachmann  —  CNN's John King is attracting a lot of notice — and some ridicule — in the blogosphere for his on-air apology after a guest used the word “crosshairs” during a report on Chicago politics Tuesday.

Why Did Lieberman Off Himself?  —  The retirement of Joe Lieberman is the culmination of a series of domestic repercussions of the Iraq war.  The war estranged Lieberman from his party base, which gave rise to a liberal primary challenge in 2006.  National Democrats supported Lieberman …

VIDEO: House Republicans Explain Why They Won't Give Up Their Own Government-Sponsored Health Care  —  With the Republican legislative agenda increasingly focused on repealing health care reform, many observers are beginning to question whether GOPers in Congress will personally abide …

Video Captured ‘Calculated’ Gunman in Tucson  —  TUCSON — The chief investigator for the sheriff's department here has for the first time publicly described the brief and gory video clip from a store security camera that shows a gunman not only shooting Representative Gabrielle Giffords …

New Ala. gov: Just Christians are his family  —  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley told a church crowd just moments into his new administration that those who have not accepted Jesus as their savior are not his brothers and sisters, shocking some critics who questioned Tuesday whether he can be fair to non-Christians.

Sheila Jackson Lee Says Repealing ObamaCare Violates Constitution  —  Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, said on Tuesday afternoon that repealing the national health care law would violate the Constitution.  —  Arguing that the Commerce Clause provides the constitutional basis for ObamaCare …

FBI: Spokane bomb is ‘domestic terrorism’  —  In an interview on msnbc cable's “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Spokesman-Review reporter Thomas Clouse said confidential sources told him that the device was equipped with a remote control detonator and contained shrapnel.

Muslim groups nervous about King hearings  —  American Muslim leaders, who have struggled to present a clear public voice or organize politically in the decade since Sept. 11, are increasingly apprehensive about the direction Rep. Pete King will take when he convenes hearings next month on the threat posed by radical Islam in America.

Steele: “I Know How Caesar Felt”  —  This past weekend, RNC Chairman Michael Steele lost his bid for reelection.  Sitting down with FrumForum as he ponders his next move, perhaps the thing that gets the garrulous Steele most quiet is a mention of his successor, Wisconsin State Republican Chair Reince Priebus.

Clinton says she won't commit to serving second term at State  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday she hasn't committed to serving a second term in the Obama administration and is looking forward to an eventual return to private life.  —  “That's not something …

Parenting by Gays More Common in the South, Census Shows  —  JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Being gay in this Southern city was once a lonely existence.  Most people kept their sexuality to themselves, and they were reminded of the dangers of being openly gay when a gay church was bombed in the 1980s.

The new Clintonian Obama is playing offense, and building momentum  —  Three months after an electoral “shellacking” that threatened to derail his agenda and his reelection, Obama is on a roll.  —  President Obama — the centrist, Clintonian version — is rolling.

Exclusive: Gabrielle Giffords' Husband Mark Kelly Says She Feared She Would Be Shot  —  Giffords' Husband Tells Diane Sawyer Representative Job Is ‘Risky’ and Not Sure Wife Should Stay in Congress  —  For 20 crushing minutes, Mark Kelly thought that his wife Gabrielle Giffords had died.

Ron Charles reviews ‘O: A Presidential Novel’  —  By Anonymous.  —  Simon & Schuster.  353 pp.  $25.99  —  Like the people who end up running for president, this anonymous novel about Barack Obama's reelection campaign isn't as good as you hoped or as bad as you feared.

In Wreckage of Lost Jobs, Lost Power  —  Alone among the world's economic powers, the United States is suffering through a deep jobs slump that can't be explained by the rest of the economy's performance.  —  The gross domestic product here — the total value of all goods and services …

Clinton could cost Emanuel black votes in Chicago, Dem claims  —  President Bill Clinton's rally for Rahm Emanuel could cost the mayoral candidate black votes, according to Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.).  —  Davis, who dropped out of the race for mayor and endorsed former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun …

With Some Dems Nervous About Any Changes, Senate Rules Reform to Be Tweaked  —  Sen. Jeff Merkley acknowledged that one component of the consensus plan on Senate rules reform put together by him, Tom Udall and Tom Harkin would probably get tweaked, and that the biggest concern …

'Wear the hijab or I'll kill you, cousin told girl': Muslim tells of terrifying phone threats  —  A man threatened to kill his cousin and harm her family after she decided to stop wearing the traditional Muslim headscarf, a court has heard.  —  Mohamed Al-Hakim, 29, allegedly phoned Alya Al-Safar …