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.

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  —  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.

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.

House Approves Spending Cuts in Largely Symbolic Vote … In a highly partisan vote, the House passed 256 to 165 a nonbinding measure to block additional government spending and reduce the federal budget to pre-stimulus 2008 levels.  —  The bill also would give Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) …

McConnell: Sure I'll Work With Obama, As Long As He ‘Is Willing To Do What I And My Members Would Do Anyway’  —  Despite spending the past two years reflexively obstructing President Obama's agenda, in the wake last November's elections, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) …

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 …

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 …

“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 …

Breaking the News  —  The basic phenomenon is nothing new, but the only thing preventing me from saying that the ratio of articles about Rahm Emannuel's mayoral bid to information about Emannuel's views on urban policy is almost infinite is my strong suspicion that the denominator is actually zero.

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 …

Post-State of Union Obama Approval Uptick Would Be Atypical  —  Approval rating for Obama in past week was highest since May  —  PRINCETON, NJ — U.S. presidents rarely see a spike in public support after their delivery of State of the Union addresses.  Since 1978, Gallup has measured …

'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.

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 …