‘Have You No Sense of Decency?’  The Wm.  Cronon Story  —  BEIJING, China.  I don't mean to keep butting in and have just a minute to type this out, but I think it's important to direct attention to a new abuse of power underway in Wisconsin.  —  William Cronon (right), whom I know very slightly …

Huckabee Has Slight Edge, Palin Down, in GOP '12 Preferences  —  Romney, Palin would tie if Huckabee does not run  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mike Huckabee tops a large list of potential GOP presidential candidates in current support for the party's 2012 nomination, with 19% of Republicans saying they are most likely to back him.

Senator Grassley says it's too early to make a presidential pick  —  Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says it's still too early for him to pick a favorite among the many possible presidential candidates making the rounds in Iowa.  Grassley, a Republican, says he first needs to know where the candidates stand …

G.E.'s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether  —  General Electric, the nation's largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.  —  The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.  —  Its American tax bill?

Japan Encourages a Wider Evacuation From Reactor Area  —  TOKYO — Japanese officials began encouraging people to evacuate a larger swath of territory around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Friday as new signs emerged that parts of the crippled facility are so damaged and contaminated …

Lamestream Media: Reload or White Flag?  —  “Let's keep pivoting around media bias, and not get distracted with the vulgar personal shots.  Call out lies and set the record straight, but always keep the ball moving.  No one ever won a game only playing defense.”

CBO: Taxing mileage a ‘practical option’ for revenue enhancement  —  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs …

Does Pawlenty Have a Sharia Problem?  —  Pawlenty's effort to expand Muslim homeownership could hurt him in the GOP primary.  —  Abid Lakhani wanted to buy a home.  —  Unfortunately, as an observant Muslim, his options were limited.  Many Muslims hold that the paying or charging of interest …

Election looms as government falls  —  Beginning of Story Content  —  It's official — the government has fallen from power, clearing the way for a spring election.  —  The opposition Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois came together Friday afternoon in a historic vote …

Connie Mack will NOT run for U.S. Senate  —  U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV won't run for U.S. Senate.  —  “I've got two small children and it's hard enough to get to spend a lot of good quality time now.  I have a wife.  They are all very important to me and at the end of the day family has to be number one …

The professor's war … President Obama is proud of how he put together the Libyan operation.  A model of international cooperation.  All the necessary paperwork.  Arab League backing.  A Security Council resolution.  (Everything but a resolution from the Congress of the United States …

The Austerity Delusion  —  Portugal's government has just fallen in a dispute over austerity proposals.  Irish bond yields have topped 10 percent for the first time.  And the British government has just marked its economic forecast down and its deficit forecast up.  —  What do these events have in common?

Woops, Newt Did It Again: Trying To Defend Libya Flip-Flop, Gingrich Reverses Himself On Air Power  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on Fox News last night to “attempt[] to clarify [his] stance on Libya,” as Fox itself put it, but only ran into more trouble.

Number of black D.C. residents plummets as majority status slips away  —  Graphic: View how demographics in your neighborhood have changed over time.  —  The number of African Americans residing in the District plummeted by more than 11 percent during the past decade, with blacks on the verge …

Against The F-Word  —  During a debate over neoconservatism, Damon Linker insists that the ideology isn't fascistic: … Agreed (but one needs to recall Leo Strauss's early love affair with Mussolini and his contempt for what he saw as decadent liberal democracy).

Allies Are Split on Goal and Exit Strategy in Libya  —  WASHINGTON — Having largely succeeded in stopping a rout of Libya's rebels, the inchoate coalition attacking Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's forces remains divided over the ultimate goal — and exit strategy — of what officials acknowledged Thursday …

The Speech Obama Hasn't Given  —  What are we doing in Libya?  Americans deserve an explanation.  —  It all seems rather mad, doesn't it?  The decision to become involved militarily in the Libyan civil war couldn't take place within a less hospitable context.

Lautenberg: Republicans “don't deserve the freedoms that are in the Constitution!”  —  Actually, it's difficult to hear Senator Frank Lautenberg's patronizing follow-up, because the right-to-life counterprotestors taping his remarks reacted vocally to the idea that an elected official …

Armey: Daniels should run for White House  —  (CNN) - Dick Armey wants Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to run for president.  —  The chairman of FreedomWorks, a national organization that provides much of the organization behind the tea party movement, tells CNN that “Mitch is exactly the kind …

Arizona Sheriff Arpaio and Steven Seagal send in the tanks to bust up chickens  —  America has gone crazy!  Well, Arizona certainly leads the way to bizzaro land with the actions of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  And is there such a thing as Action Star Steven Seagal anymore?

Ford Stops Making Black Vehicles (Briefly)  —  Natural disasters in Japan have lessened the supply of pigments necessary to make black paint.  —  WSJ ("Reverse Model T: Some Fords Won't Be Painted Black"): … The DC area will be particularly hard hit, as being in a large …

Former Congressman Ron Klein won't challenge Allen West in next year's election  —  Former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, won't attempt to regain the congressional seat next year that he lost in the 2010 election to Republican Allen West.  —  “I'm not planning on running in [20]12,” …

Islamist Group Is Rising Force in a New Egypt  —  CAIRO — In post-revolutionary Egypt, where hope and confusion collide in the daily struggle to build a new nation, religion has emerged as a powerful political force, following an uprising that was based on secular ideals.