DIVERSE REACTIONS TO LIMBAUGH  —  As news broke Wednesday night of radio show host Rush Limbaugh's hospital visit due to chest pains, many of his political counterparts on the left put down their ideological swords and wished him well on Twitter.  —  “All best wishes to Mr. Limbaugh tonight …

58% Favor Waterboarding of Plane Terrorist To Get Information  —  Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.

The Politics of Incompetence  —  On December 26, two days after Nigerian Omar Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to use underwear packed with plastic explosives to blow up the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight he was on, and as it became clear internally that the Administration had suffered perhaps …

Is This Really an Intelligence Failure?  Real Talk on Abdulmutallab  —  In an appearance on “Democracy Now!” yesterday morning to discuss Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, I made the point that Abdulmutallab's ability to board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 demonstrates a policy failure more than an intelligence failure.

US releases ‘dangerous’ Iranian proxy behind the murder of US troops  —  Qais and Laith Qazali.  —  The US has released the leader of an Iranian-backed Shia terror group behind the kidnapping and murder of five US soldiers in Karbala in January 2007.  —  Qais Qazali, the leader …

A Thing of Beauty  —  This Chris Matthews quote is a Palinesque work of art: … Yes, Gerald.  I hope you and your loved ones have a Happy New Year, even though we live under the grave threat of KUNG FU FIGHTING TERRORISTS!

TSA subpoenas bloggers, demands names of sources  —  Buzz up!  —  WASHINGTON - As the government reviews how an alleged terrorist was able to bring a bomb onto a U.S.-bound plane and try to blow it up on Christmas Day, the Transportation Security Administration is going after bloggers …

Dem recruits continue to head for exits  —  Democrats have lost yet another touted recruit, this time in Kansas.  —  State Sen. Laura Kelly (D) just announced her withdrawal from the race to face Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.).  She becomes the fifth formidable recruit to bow out in recent weeks.

The Obama Disconnect: What Happens When Myth Meets Reality  —  “Collectively all of you, most of you whom are, I'm not sure, of drinking age, you've created the best political organization in America, and probably the best political organization that we've seen in the last 30, 40 years.

'Sent from the candidate's BlackBerry.' Really?  —  (CNN) - A mass e-mail was sent on Tuesday from Carly Fiorina's senatorial campaign, appearing to not only come from the candidate herself, but from her personal BlackBerry.  —  While most campaigns send e-mails appearing to be written from the candidate …

Rocket Launcher Found In Apartment  —  No Charges Filed  —  HOUSTON — Police went to a southwest Houston apartment to break up a disturbance but ended up finding something else, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.  —  A woman called police on Monday and said a man was forcing his way into her apartment in the 5300 block of Elm Street.

A Cold-Blooded Foreign Policy  —  No despot fears the president, and no demonstrator in Tehran expects him to ride to the rescue.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  With year one drawing to a close, the truth of the Obama presidency is laid bare: retrenchment abroad, and redistribution and the intrusive regulatory state at home.

The End Of TheConservatives.Com: Wash Times Cancels Site  —  TheConservatives.com, the Washington Times Web project that was billed as an ambitious “multiplatform” venture to allow “the Joe the Plumbers of the world to speak up to major thinkers, like Newt Gingrich,” has gone silent.

God Damn The Naughts  —  We watched the sun drop on the last day of the 1990s and the Second Millennium, myself, a Boston Herald photog and assorted others, looking west from among the old Jewish tombstones on the Mount of Olives.  A choir of Carmelite nuns emerged by the gates of Gethsemane …