Late Change in Course Hobbled Rollout of Geithner's Bank Plan  —  Just days before Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner was scheduled to lay out his much-anticipated plan to deal with the toxic assets imperiling the financial system, he and his team made a sudden about-face.

Cheney pushed Bush to grant Libby pardon  —  WASHINGTON - In the waning days of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade his boss to pardon Lewis (Scooter) Libby - and was furious when President George W. Bush wouldn't budge.

Congress' Approval Rating Jumps to 31%  —  More positive ratings from Democrats largely responsible for increase  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's latest congressional job approval rating, from a Feb. 9-12 poll, shows a sharp 12 percentage-point increase from last month, rising from 19% to 31%.

President Obama's 2,000-point tumble  —  On Nov. 4, after Barack Obama clinched the White House, the market closed at 9,625.28.  —  In mid-morning trading today, the day President Obama signs his massive Generational Theft Act into law and a day before he unveils a massive new mortgage entitlement, the Dow dropped to to 7,606.53.

Bristol Palin Speaks Out  —  ABC's Teddy Davis and Sara Just report: Bristol Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, told Fox News in her first interiew since giving birth that she would like to be an advocate against teen pregnancy.  —  “Everyone should wait 10 years,” Palin said.

For Obama, it's more about showmanship than sunlight  —  After rushing Congress to act, why did he wait for days to sign the “emergency” stimulus bill?  —  Back during the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised something he called “Sunlight Before Signing.”

Justice Dept. Defends Bush Rule on Guns  —  But Interior Is Reviewing Measure, Which Allows Concealed Firearms in Parks  —  The Obama administration is legally defending a last-minute rule enacted by President George W. Bush that allows concealed firearms in national parks …

Six Keys to Turning Around the Republican Party  —  Here's how the GOP can charge into 2010 with a fired-up conservative base and appeal to a wider slice of the American public.  —  If we want to fix what ails the Republican Party, it's worth taking a few moments to diagnose what went wrong …

Police: TV station founder beheaded wife  —  From Deborah Brunswick and LaNeice Collins  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — The founder of an Islamic television station in upstate New York aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes has confessed to beheading his wife, authorities said.

EXCLUSIVE: Postmaster got $800,000 in pay, perks  —  Raise came amid calls for cuts in delivery  —  Postmaster General John E. Potter recently warned that economic times are so dire that the U.S. Postal Service may end mail delivery one day a week and freeze executive salaries.

McCain's Vote Should Trouble Obama  —  By the president's own standard of bipartisanship, he has failed.  —  “John McCain Was Right.”  —  That's one headline we ought to see when President Barack Obama puts his name to the stimulus bill in Denver later today.  But we won't.

A ‘fraud’ bigger than Madoff  —  Senior US soldiers investigated over missing Iraq reconstruction billions  —  In what could turn out to be the greatest fraud in US history, American authorities have started to investigate the alleged role of senior military officers in the misuse of $125bn …

Tennis Channel Won't Televise Dubai Event in Protest  —  The Tennis Channel will not televise the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships this week to protest the United Arab Emirates' refusal to grant an entry visa to the Israeli player Shahar Peer.  Peer was scheduled to play Anna Chakvetadze in the first round.

Japan's Finance Minister Quits After G-7 Blunder  —  TOKYO — Japan's finance minister resigned Tuesday after widespread criticism of embarrassing behavior at the weekend Group of 7 meeting in Rome.  —  The minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, raised eyebrows for his slurred speech and muddled answers …

Sure the Israeli right won?  Peace lost?  Look closer  —  To judge solely from the gloating, the right conclusively won last week's election.  Hawkish politicians were swift to crow triumph.  Hardline analysts and legions of talkbackers have positively glowed in pronouncing the end of the left …

Obama Gains Support From G.O.P. Governors  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama must wish governors could vote in Congress: While just three of the 219 Republican lawmakers backed the $787 billion economic recovery plan that he is signing into law on Tuesday, that trifling total …

Green Cities, Brown Suburbs  —  On a pleasant April day in 1844, Henry David Thoreau—the patron saint of American environmentalism—went for a walk along the Concord River in Massachusetts.  With a friend, he built a fire in a pine stump near Fair Haven Pond, apparently to cook a chowder.

A Truth Commission?  —  The Danger in Democrats' Rush to Investigate  —  A growing chorus of critics is demanding the creation of a special commission to “investigate” the Bush administration's alleged abuses of power, especially prosecution of the war on terrorism.

Some F-22 Links  —  If you're interested in a more substantive take on why Mark Bowden's F-22 advertorial in The Atlantic was silly, please read Robert Farley.  —  For a really serious look at the overall defense budget, procurement priorities, and national strategy please check out this report …

Transcript has Burris dancing around the truth  —  Here's the proof that he really is a lying little sneak  —  Sen. Roland Burris says the transcript of his Illinois House impeachment committee testimony proves he is not a lying little sneak.  —  It doesn't.  But judge for yourself.

That Will Leave A Mark  —  Sullivan laughs at a Captain Ed quote, but misses the better quote: … About those core values- how well are they holding up to the test of time?  Not very well, it seems.  A couple graphs:  —  And none of these graphs include the violence done to the budget in the last year of the Bush administration.

Coleman's complaint  —  In its ruling Friday on the standard applicable to the 4,800 rejected absentee ballots raised by the Coleman campaign in the election contest, the three-judge panel insisted on compliance with Minnesota's absentee ballot statute.  The judges' ruling is reasonable on its face.

The death of the news  —  If reporting vanishes, the world will get darker and uglier.  Subsidizing newspapers may be the only answer.  —  Journalism as we know it is in crisis.  Daily newspapers are going out of business at an unprecedented rate, and the survivors are slashing their budgets.

Calling Out Clive Crook  —  I know and truly like Clive Crook.  We were colleagues for a while when I wrote for nationaljournal.com, and the BTW and I have joined Clive and his wonderful wife for dinner a number of times.  He is smart, perceptive, funny, and a gifted writer.

Going gray's just fine, man  —  Everyone seems to have an opinion about Howard Fineman's hair lately.  —  The Newsweek reporter and MSNBC commentator has let his hair go gray, and it's all anyone can talk about.  —  Perfect strangers, we hear, go up and talk to him about it.