CBS News' Lara Logan Assaulted During Egypt Protests  —  CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Separated From Her Crew And Brutally Assaulted on Day Mubarak Stepped Down  —  On Friday February 11, the day Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was covering …

South Dakota Moves To Legalize Killing Abortion Providers  —  A bill under consideration in the Mount Rushmore State would make preventing harm to a fetus a “justifiable homicide” in many cases.  —  Post Comment  —  A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of …

Boehner: If Jobs Are Lost As A Result Of GOP Spending Cuts ‘So Be It’  —  If House Republicans succeed in cutting tens of billions of dollars in discretionary spending over the next six months, some of the most immediate victims will be federal employees, many of whose jobs will be slashed as their agencies pare back.

Romney and the Birthers  —  Birtherism is alive and well within the GOP ranks, and their 2012 nominee preferences tell a story about the difficulty Mitt Romney faces in trying to appeal to an electorate that's a whole lot further out there than he is.  —  Birthers make a majority among …

Chances up for federal shutdown  —  The chances of a government shutdown are on the rise.  —  With less than three weeks to strike a deal before government funding for the year is scheduled to expire, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are moving in opposite directions.

‘I lied about WMD to topple Saddam’  —  • Man codenamed Curveball ‘invented’ tales of bioweapons  —  • Iraqi told lies to try to bring down Saddam Hussein regime  —  • Fabrications used by US as justification for invasion  —  Read the full story of how the US was duped

Afghanistan: Petraeus, personalities and policy  —  Buried in the Washington Post story on Marc Grossman taking over as the new U.S. envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan are some interesting references to the possible departure of U.S. commander General David Petraeus.

How penicillin fooled us  —  Perhaps it's the mark of a good book that after you read it, you begin seeing evidence for its thesis in lots of different areas.  Since reading Tyler Cowen's “The Great Stagnation,” I've been seeing a lot of support for a claim that I'd initially resisted …

Closed captioning of: Prosecutors gear up to charge Edwards in criminal case  —  >> for two years a federal grand jury has been in fact investigating john edwards and whether he break campaign finance laws to try to cover up an affair with rielle hunter.  now the investigation reached a decisive point.

Trump's Flip-Flop on Abortion  —  Donald Trump leaves the stage after speaking at the 2011 CPAC conference.  —  Donald Trump is describing himself as pro-life as he courts Republican support for a potential presidential bid - a complete reversal of his position on abortion during a previous flirtation with a White House run.

Should Republicans Fret Over Their Presidential Field?  —  Republican insiders, reports the Washington Post's plugged-in Jennifer Rubin, are worried about the quality of their slate of presidential candidates for 2012.  Indeed, it has become the conventional wisdom to assert that the Republican field is a fairly weak one.

Obama's Media Machine: State Run Media 2.0?  —  White House Hones Online Messaging Operation Ahead of 2012 Campaign  —  As the 2012 presidential campaign kicks into gear, President Obama's White House media operation is demonstrating an unprecedented ability to broadcast its message through social media …

More Racism on the Left  —  On Friday, AlterNet—you know, the organization that “confront[s] the failures of corporate media, as well as the vitriol and disinformation of right wing media, especially ‘hate talk’ media”—published a vile attack on conservative businessman Herman Cain, who was the last speaker at CPAC:

KS GOP Rep. Connie O'Brien Says She Can Tell Who Is ‘Illegal’ Because They Have ‘The Olive Complexion’  —  One week ago, the Kansas House Federal and State Committee held a hearing about in-state tuition being granted to the children of undocumented immigrants, which has been the policy in the state since 2004.

Village onthe rocks: CW shift?  —  Village on the rocks  —  Oh my God.  I think hell froze over int he Village.  Talking to Elijah Cummings about all this slashing of discretionary spending in the President's budget, Andrea Mitchell wondered why he would want to hit the poor but not even touch entitleme —

Common Cause Asks Court About Thomas Speech  —  WASHINGTON — Discrepancies in reports about an appearance by Justice Clarence Thomas at a political retreat for wealthy conservatives three years ago have prompted new questions to the Supreme Court from a group that advocates changing campaign finance laws.

It's Time to Defund Kentucky  —  While its small-government crusaders decry Obama's budget and government spending, the Bluegrass State is thriving on D.C. welfare.  Paul Begala says it's the perfect place for a truly democratic experiment.  —  The great Mark Shields has said that most Americans …

Asteroid defense and libertarianism  —  I agree with Jonathan below that the Constitution (through the spending power) allows Congress to spend tax money to protect the Earth from an asteroid.  —  On the other hand — and at the risk of confirming Mark Kleiman in his belief that libertarians are loopy …

Rep. Harman to remain in Congress until Feb. 28  —  California Rep. Jane Harman (D) has delayed her departure from Congress until Feb. 28 at the request of Gov. Jerry Brown (D).  —  Harman said last week she would leave Congress on Tuesday to join the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

The Base and Bloggers  —  One of the most important facts about present-day American politics is that poor people have essentially no political “voice” in Washington.  They do, however, vote.  And they're also human beings with moral worth and interests who count.

Michele Bachmann swipes at Michelle Obama  —  Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann ripped Michelle Obama on Tuesday, speculating that the first lady might one day run for office, and accusing her of trying to implement a “nanny state” based on her newest push to get mothers to breastfeed their children …