Obama meets with liberal columnists  —  Obama held a meeting with several columnists and liberal commentators this morning, following up on last night's dinner with conservative writers, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting.  —  The group included the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne …

Cheney Tells Jim Lehrer Tonight: No Torture, Few Mistakes, Economy Not Our Fault  —  NEW YORK In an exit interview with PBS's Jim Lehrer on the NewsHour airing tonight, Vice President Cheney repeats claims that Saddam Hussein worked with al-Qaeda.  Asked if he made any mistakes in his eight years as V.P. …

Geithner's Hearing Is Postponed  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee for a second time postponed a hearing for Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner following revelations about his failure to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes while working for the International Monetary Fund, among other tax infractions.

U.S. military report warns ‘sudden collapse’ of Mexico is possible  —  President-elect Barack Obama listens as Mexico's President Felipe Calderon makes a statement to reporters in Washington, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009.  Mexico is one of two countries that “bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse …

WARREN COUNTY, N.J. NEWS  —  Real-time news for Belvidere, Phillipsburg and more  —  Boy named Adolf Hitler, his sisters removed from parents' home by New Jersey authorities … State authorities have removed Adolf Hilter Campbell and his two sisters from their parents' home in Holland Township …

The Surpassing Significance of Herring  —  By way of full disclosure, I was one of the defendant's lawyers in the Herring case, though my involvement in it was very limited.  I am not an expert on the Fourth Amendment, but my preliminary reaction is that we will at some point soon regard …

Kennedy Fades As New Yorkers Back Cuomo For Senate, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; More Voters Don't Think Kennedy Is Qualified  —  New York State voters have cooled on Caroline Kennedy and more voters now prefer State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 31 - 24 percent for Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat …

Why Israel Can't Make Peace With Hamas  —  IN the summer of 2006, at a moment when Hezbollah rockets were falling virtually without pause on northern Israel, Nizar Rayyan, husband of four, father of 12, scholar of Islam and unblushing executioner, confessed to me one of his frustrations.

Friedman to Palestinians: Suck on This  —  America's leading foreign affairs columnist once again endorses collective punishment of Arabs.  I wish he would stick to climate change: … This in much the same way that Osama bin Laden sought to “educate” American civilians about the price …

Bush Presidency Closes With 34% Approval, 61% Disapproval  —  Three-quarters of Republicans approve of Bush, up slightly from recent months  — USA - Democrats - Government and Politics - Independents - Presidential Job Approval - Republicans - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America

It's an injustice to NOT marry girls aged 10, says Saudi cleric … Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric has told followers it is permissible for ten-year-old girls to marry and anyone who think they are too young are doing the youngsters ‘an injustice’.  —  Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh …

Afghan Schoolgirls Undeterred by Attack  —  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — One morning two months ago, Shamsia Husseini and her sister were walking through the muddy streets to the local girls school when a man pulled alongside them on a motorcycle and posed what seemed like an ordinary question.

GOP could win 3 key Senate seats  —  Despite the shock of three recent Senate retirements in battleground states, Republicans find themselves unusually well-positioned to weather the loss and compete for those open seats in 2010 — a stark contrast from the dismal early recruiting environment in 2008.

The House Republicans Propose A Stimulus Alternative  —  There is no pride of authorship, President-elect Barack Obama said last week.  His economic team is open to and all ideas, regardless of progenitor.  —  So — the Republican Study Committee in the House has come out with an all-tax, no spending variant.

BART officer arrested on murder warrant in NY Day shooting  —  (01-14) 00:13 PST Oakland — The BART police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform and then refused to explain his actions to investigators was arrested Tuesday in Nevada on suspicion of murder, authorities said.

Senate takes oath as Blagojevich impeachment jurors  —  SPRINGFIELD—The Illinois Senate took an oath today to be sworn in as jurors in the historic impeachment trial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, hours after he made his first Capitol appearance since his arrest last month on federal corruption charges.

Coburn Sings ‘Rocket Man’ for Nelson  —  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) followed through on his bet with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) over college football's national title game by singing Elton John's “Rocket Man” before some of Nelson and Coburn's staff on Wednesday.

Joe the Plumber—Out of His Depth  —  Previously in this space I remarked that PJTV's sending Joe The Plumber to Israel felt like a shark-jumping publicity stunt and it was a risk that could put PJTV's credibility at risk.  —  After watching a few reports , I felt Joe was fine, when he related things as the average Joe that he is.

Current, Future Justice Officials Clash Over OLC Proposal  —  In a revealing conflict of views between outgoing and incoming Justice Department officials, Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently told Congress that a proposal that was conceived by Prof. Dawn Johnsen to require expanded reporting …

Carnahan is early front runner in Missouri  —  Democrat Robin Carnahan would be the early favorite for Missouri's open Senate seat if she decides to enter the field, Public Policy Polling's newest survey finds.  —  Carnahan leads three potential Republican opponents in hypothetical contests.

Inauguration declared ‘emergency’  —  Unprecedented action helps D.C. cover costs  —  Dan Leaderman and Jon Ward THE WASHINGTON TIMES  —  President Bush on Tuesday declared the District a federal emergency area, clearing the way for the city to receive federal money to help cover …

4G war, conflicts of interest loom behind possible DTV delay  —  Last week, President-elect Barack Obama's call for a delay in the Digital TV transition, long scheduled for February, sent tech and telecom firms into a tizzy.  Both Verizon and the Consumer Electronics Association have been pushing …