George W. Obama?  —  Washington has spent the past couple of weeks debating whether Barack Obama's ambitious agenda and political strategy are more comparable to those of Franklin Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan.  Oddly, hardly anyone is talking about the ways in which Obama is beginning to resemble the man who just vacated the White House.

Obama Channels Cheney  —  Obama adopts Bush view on the powers of the presidency.  —  The Obama Administration this week released its predecessor's post-9/11 legal memoranda in the name of “transparency,” producing another round of feel-good Bush criticism.

Chas Freeman and 9/11  —  How important has resentment of Israel been to Al Qaeda's terrorism?  Here is one side of the argument, by an American who knows Saudi Arabia well: … And here is the opposing view, by an American who knows the Kingdom equally well: … So now you've heard two sides of the debate.

‘Mafia Cops’ Get Life, and Their Pensions  —  A side door swung open, and the two retired police detectives, dressed in shapeless prison scrubs, walked into the courtroom.  They looked as if they had been shipwrecked.  —  Nearly three years ago, the two men, Stephen Caracappa and Louis J. Eppolito …

Obama's economic saviour savaged as Keating lets rip  —  When Barack Obama announced his champion to rescue the world from economic ruin, it was the first time most Americans had ever heard the name Tim Geithner.  —  The initial impression was good.  The stockmarket surged and the pundits swooned.

Lost in Translation: A U.S. Gift to Russia  —  GENEVA — The United States and Russia tried to mend their frayed relationship by having their top diplomats sit down to dinner here on Friday.  Before the appetizer was served, the diplomatic first date had gotten off to an awkward start because of a gag gift gone awry.

Meltdown  —  This is the private switching system, utilized by the Federal Reserve, that performs electronic financial transfers.  —  This is the vault that holds sixty billion of the taxpayers' dollars, which moved to an account owned by American International Group (AIG).

Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG Aid  —  The beneficiaries of the government's bailout of American International Group Inc. include at least two dozen U.S. and foreign financial institutions that have been paid roughly $50 billion since the Federal Reserve first extended aid to the insurance giant.

Shoe reportedly thrown at Iranian president Ahmadinejad  —  Protest allegedly happened as president waved to crowds from an open-top car in the Iranian city of Urumiye  —  When the Iraqi journalist, Muntazar al-Zaidi, hurled his shoes at the then-US president, George Bush, in December …

Senate puts off vote on $410 billion spending bill  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate has put off until next week a final vote on a $410 billion catchall spending bill.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he is one vote short of the 60 needed to advance the measure.

Obama is in trouble  —  Did you feel it?  The political ground shifting beneath President Barack Obama since his speech last week to Congress?  It's been downhill since and I'm not referring mainly to the Dow Jones record-setting dive.  The pivot point of the shift was the speech …

For McCain, a Dual Role, Center Stage  —  WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain is rewriting the part of presidential loser.  —  Unwilling to vanish into retirement like Bob Dole, or retreat into academia like Al Gore, or even quietly convalesce like John Kerry, Mr. McCain has quickly reclaimed …