Steele backs off abortion remarks  —  RNC Chairman Michael Steele said today that despite telling an interviewer he supports “individual choice” and state-level decisions on abortion, he in fact opposes abortion and supports a Constitutional ban.  —  Steele said in a statement through an RNC spokesman:

Blame the ‘Lobby’  —  FORMER ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. looked like a poor choice to chair the Obama administration's National Intelligence Council.  A former envoy to Saudi Arabia and China, he suffered from an extreme case of clientitis on both accounts.

Obama's honeymoon bliss fading  —  President Obama's honeymoon is beginning to fade.  —  Members of Congress and old political hands say he needs to show substantial progress reviving the economy soon.  —  Some Democrats have started to worry that voters don't and won't understand …

Obama Makes Use of Signing Statements  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama signed a $410 billion spending bill Wednesday that includes thousands of pet projects inserted by lawmakers, even as he unveiled new rules to restrict such so-called earmarks.  —  At the same time …

Young Miss Palin  —  A mere ten weeks or so after the birth of their baby, Bristol Palin and her co-parent, Levi Johnston, have split up.  There will be no marriage.  According to the AP, and Mr. Johnston, it was a mutual decision.  The same article manages to note that Bristol is devastated.

Iraqi jailed for Bush shoe attack  —  An Iraqi journalist hailed as a hero in the Arab world for throwing his shoes at former US President George W Bush has been jailed for three years.  —  Muntadar al-Zaidi had pleaded not guilty as his trial resumed in Baghdad, telling the judge: “My reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi.”

RPT-FEATURE-Corporate oil booms in low-tax Switzerland  —  * Companies seek Swiss domiciles despite tax row  —  * U.S. political climate may be helping  —  * Appeal as corporate location may outlast offshore dispute  —  The tidy towns and mountain vistas of Switzerland are an unlikely setting for an oil boom.

Pelosi Travel Abuse?  Case Not Proved  —  Watchdog Group Criticizes House Speaker for Travel Perks, but Records Don't Agree  —  The treasure trove of documents obtained by Judicial Watch from the Department of Defense regarding Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's use of military aircraft …

Times Hires New Conservative Columnist  —  The New York Times has hired Ross G. Douthat, a 29-year-old conservative writer and editor at The Atlantic, as an Op-Ed columnist, nearly two months after ending the year-long run of another conservative columnist, William Kristol, officials at the paper said Wednesday.

Hersh: ‘Executive assassination ring’ reported directly to Cheney  —  Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he told an audience at the University of Minnesota that the military was running an “executive assassination ring” throughout the Bush years …

Obama: Troop move to Mexican border under consideration  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama weighed in Wednesday on the escalating drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that he was looking at possibly deploying National Guard troops to contain the violence but ruled out any immediate military move.

Kerry: Climate change delay is ‘suicide pact’  —  A leading US senator warned on Wednesday that deferring potentially costly actions to combat climate change because of the global economic slump amounted to “a mutual suicide pact.”  —  “Climate change is not governed by a recession …