Mubarak Steps Down, Ceding Power to Military  —  CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt turned over all power to the military and left the Egyptian capital for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on state television on Friday.

Crisis Flummoxes White House  —  President Mubarak's Refusal to Step Down Signals a Loss of Western Influence; Sense of ‘Disbelief’ After Speech  —  WASHINGTON—The defiant tone taken by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak—and widespread confusion about the meaning of his speech …

Utah Sen. Mike Lee says he won't back Orrin Hatch in GOP Senate primary  —  Sen. Mike Lee (R) said Friday that he wouldn't endorse fellow Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) for reelection in the 2012 GOP Senate primary.  —  Lee, a freshman senator allied with the conservative Tea Party movement …

Paul Ryan's Limited Imagination  —  Everyone knows that Ron Paul has some crank notions about monetary economics, but Paul Ryan's own crankitude on this score is badly underrated.  Will Wilkinson, for example, flags this alarming quote from Ryan's participation in a recent committee hearing with Ben Bernanke:

Republicans turn Congress into ‘clogged toilet,’ says Democratic lawmaker  —  One of the Democrats' fieriest voices on Capitol Hill accused the Republicans of turning Congress into a “clogged toilet.”  —  Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said Friday that House Republicans were blocking …

CPAC 2011: Whose Bright Idea Was it to Put Rumsfeld and Cheney in Front of Screaming Libertarians?  —  WASHINGTON — First, a word about hecklers: It's awful that they get so much attention.  A few bad apples in a room of thousands can create the impression of massive dissent, when it really isn't there.

Oprah wants ‘respect’ for Obama  —  Oprah Winfrey (left) and Barack Obama attend a campaign event in Dec. 2007.  AP Photo  —  Oprah called on President Obama's critics on Friday to “show some level of respect.”  —  “I feel that everybody has a learning curve, and I feel that the reason …

Multiculturalism has failed, says French president  —  PARIS (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday that multiculturalism had failed, joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it.  —  “My answer is clearly yes, it is a failure,” …

John Cornyn jumps into heated GOP whip race  —  Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is running for the No. 2 position in the GOP Conference, an aide told POLITICO Friday.  —  “Let there be no mistake about it: Sen. Cornyn is running for whip,” a senior aide to Cornyn said.

Relaxed, Rested, Ready  —  Strong Romney appearance at CPAC.  —  Includes glib gibes at Obama, focus on the economy, and polished/relaxed stump-speech feel.  —  Current odds that Romney leaves CPAC as the '12 frontrunner (still): 7-5.  —  Tweet  — FAN - FOLLOW - FEED … Politics

What Egyptians Really Want  —  Islamofascism: Romantics in Western media expect “democracy” to flower from the anti-Mubarak rioting in Cairo.  But polling shows Egyptians actually seek strict Islamic rule.  —  According to a major survey conducted last year by the Pew Research Center …

New mobile food rules ensnare man who pushed for changes  —  Snappy Snacks trucks struggle to pass fire department inspections.  —  In 2009 Tom Ramsey pressed the City of Austin to add teeth to the city's mobile food vending ordinance.  —  Ramsey might have seemed an unlikely advocate …

Live blog Feb 11 - Egypt protests  —  on February 10th, 2011.  —  From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria.  —  The Battle for Egypt - AJE Live Stream - Timeline - Photo Gallery - AJE Tweets - AJE Audio Blogs

From freedom agenda to freedom doctrine  —  Today, everyone and his cousin supports the “freedom agenda.”  Of course, yesterday it was just George W. Bush, Tony Blair and a band of neocons with unusual hypnotic powers who dared challenge the received wisdom of Arab exceptionalism …

The Freedom Alliance  —  Over the past few weeks, I've had a chance to interview some amazing people.  I sat down with Bill Gates, who was in Washington to try to keep the looming budget cuts from decimating the foreign aid programs.  —  I sat down with scientists and university presidents …