Judicial arrogance  —  With startling arrogance and audaciously twisted reasoning, two appellate judges ignored more than 100 years of legal precedent, invented a new definition of “residency” and ordered Rahm Emanuel off the Feb. 22 mayoral ballot.  —  With the election just four weeks away …

President Obama to Propose Partial Budget Freeze and Earmark Ban Tonight*  —  Pursuing a path of deficit reduction and government reform, President Obama will tonight in his State of the Union address call for a ban on earmarks and he will propose a five year budget freeze …

Broad Protests Across Egypt Focus Fury on Mubarak  —  CAIRO — Thousands of people calling for the end of the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak clashed with riot police in this Egyptian capital on Tuesday, on a day of some of the most serious civil unrest in recent memory here.

Sexy News Anchors Distract Male Viewers  —  New research finds when a female news anchor's sexual attractiveness is played up, male viewers retain less information.  —  SHARE AND ENJOY:  —  Scholars, critics and viewers have noted that some TV newscasts can be momentarily mistaken for Victoria's Secret specials.

“History tells us” something that history doesn't tell us, say sociologists stumbling to protect Frances Fox Piven.  —  Here's the expression of “outrage” by the officers of the American Sociological Association: … So vigorous debate about Piven's ideas is really important …

Oops!  Republican Asks Scalia About Constitutionality Of Earmarks  —  The latest in a recent string Constitution gaffes might make Republicans think twice about their earmark moratorium.  —  On Monday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) hosted a seminar for (mostly Republican) House members on the Constitution.

CNN justifies airing Bachmann speech: “Tea Party has become major force in American politics”  —  CNN, which is taking some criticism from both sides for agreeing to air Michele Bachmann's response to Obama's speech tonight, sends over a statement justifying the move:

Gingrich attacks “big city” critics of ethanol (Audio)  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich today dismissed the “big city” critics of corn-based ethanol and suggested the biofuels industry will be able to “stand on its own” without federal subsidies once all autos are “flexible-fuel” vehicles.

'98 Embassy Bomber Is Given Life Without Parole  —  Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first former Guantánamo Bay camp detainee to be tried in the civilian court system, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for his role in the 1998 bombings of two United States Embassies in East Africa.

Pelosi spurns Cantor on seating  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) invited Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to sit next to him at the State of the Union address — but the former House Speaker says she's already committed.  —  “I thank @GOPLeader for his #SOTU offer …

Not The U.N.'s Most Helpful Employee  —  It turns out that “Palestine expert” on the UN Human Rights Council, the law professor Richard Falk, is something of a 9/11 Truther (sorry, Troofer).  Here is what Falk had to say about 9/11 on his blog: … This has brought forth a strong condemnation …

Financial Meltdown Was ‘Avoidable,’ Inquiry Concludes  —  WASHINGTON — The 2008 financial crisis was an “avoidable” disaster caused by widespread failures in government regulation, corporate mismanagement and heedless risk-taking by Wall Street, according to the conclusions of a Congressional inquiry.

Various matters  —  (updated below)  —  The combination of a mild (I'm hoping) flu and the all-consuming fixation by many on Obama's speech tonight makes this a good time to raise several discrete matters worth noting:  —  (1) Last month, The New York Times' Charlie Savage reported that the DOJ …

Talent won't run for Senate in Missouri  —  Former Sen. Jim Talent is expected to announce in the coming days that he won't mount a comeback bid for Senate in Missouri, multiple Republicans tell POLITICO.  —  Talent's decision against a 2012 campaign was telegraphed in recent weeks with his lack …

Poll: Unpopularity of reform jumps 9 points  —  Public opposition to the health care reform law spiked to a record high in a new poll out today — but Americans don't necessarily want Republicans to spend time trying to dismantle it.  —  Fifty percent of Americans have unfavorable views of the law …

GOP to push for D.C. gay marriage ban  —  House conservatives say they will pursue legislation that would ban gay marriage in the nation's capital.  —  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC), told The Hill that he will push for a vote on the controversial issue in the 112th Congress.

Rep. Peter King: ‘80 Percent Of Mosques In This Country Are Controlled By Radical Imams’  —  Next month, House Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King (R-NY) will hold hearings on the domestic threat posed by Muslim Americans.  Echoing McCarthyist rhetoric of the 1950s …

Roger Ailes on Roger Ailes: The Interview Transcripts, Part 1  —  TALENT SCOUT /// “I thought Glenn at Headline News was not doing what he could do.  I thought Bill O'Reilly at Inside Edition was not doing what he could do.  I thought Sean Hannity on radio — good-looking guy, why not put him on television?

E-mails Show Bear Stearns Cheated Clients Out of Billions  —  Lawsuit alleges the bank took extreme measures to defraud investors, and now JPMorgan may be on the hook Former Bear Stearns mortgage executives who now run mortgage divisions of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America …