Top Items:

Oaf of Office — IN 1969, Neil Armstrong appeared to have omitted an indefinite article as he stepped onto the moon and left earthlings puzzled over the difference between “man” and “mankind.” In 1980, Jimmy Carter, accepting his party's nomination, paid homage to a former vice president he called Hubert Horatio Hornblower.
Discussion:
Alexander Cornswalled, The Corner, normblog, Washington Wire, Althouse, Outside The Beltway and The Volokh Conspiracy
RELATED:

Obama Starts Reversing Bush Policies
Discussion:
Danger Room, Podium Pundits, The Caucus, MSNBC, The Mahablog, The Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, USA Today and Political Punch

OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION.... There was widespread agreement …
Discussion:
Gothamist


Obama Staff Arrives to White House Stuck in Dark Ages of Technology — If the Obama campaign represented a sleek, new iPhone kind of future, the first day of the Obama administration looked more like the rotary-dial past. — Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, CNN, Infinite Loop, Balloon Juice, D-Day, TPMDC, The Daily Background, Lost in Transition, Political Punch and Donklephant

Gazan doctor says death toll inflated — Physician at Gaza's Shifa Hospital tells Italian newspaper number of dead in Israeli offensive ‘stands at no more than 500 or 600, most of them youths recruited to Hamas’ ranks'. Senior Palestinian Health Ministry official denies claims …
RELATED:

Coleman takes a job — Last session's senior senator from Minnesota Norm Coleman, still battling Al Franken to be seated in the Senate, has taken a paid job as a consultant to the Republican Jewish Coalition, which harshly attacked Obama last fall, its executive director, Matt Brooks, said.
RELATED:


Kennedy Drops Bid for Clinton's Senate Seat, Citing Personal Reasons — Caroline Kennedy announced early Thursday that she was withdrawing from consideration for the vacant Senate seat in New York, startling the state's political world after weeks in which she was considered a top contender for the post.
Discussion:
The New Republic, Politicker NY, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, NY Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Think Progress, Spin Cycle, New York Post, Pajamas Media, Associated Press, The Note, Guardian, The Politico, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, MSNBC, On Deadline, Scared Monkeys, Wake up America, Taegan Goddard's …, Talking Points Memo, Wonkette, Don Surber and CNN
RELATED:

Cheney Speaks Out on Libby — Former vice president calls prosecution a “serious miscarriage of justice” and disagrees with Bush's decision. — Former Vice President Dick Cheney disagreed publicly with his boss just four times in the eight years they served together.

Wounded vets walk out during inaugural ball concert — An inaugural ball honoring U.S. military veterans ended in a kerfluffle as several veterans walked out when a musical act's attempt at humor backfired. — During the Heroes Red, White & Blue Inaugural Ball honoring the nation's veterans …


Robert Reich: Keep stimulus money away from skilled workers and “white male contractors” — I missed Clintonite moldy oldie-turned-Obama economic adviser Robert Reich's testimony a few weeks ago on how the government should spend federal stimulus money. The Berkeley professor engaged …
RELATED:


Obama Issues Directive to Shut Guantánamo — WASHINGTON — President Obama signed executive orders Thursday directing the Central Intelligence Agency to shut what remains of its network of secret prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year, government officials said.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, The New Republic, TalkLeft, PoliGazette, Reuters, Washington Times, KansasCity.com Prime Buzz, MSNBC, Political Machine, Think Progress, CNN, Wizbang, ATTACKERMAN, Stop The ACLU, theheretik.us, The Washington Independent, The Corner, The Daily Dish, American Street and The BLT

New poll on torture and investigations negates Beltway conventional wisdom — (updated below) — One of the most common and most corrosive aspects of our political discourse is the endless assertions — based on nothing — about what “Americans believe.”
Discussion:
Behind the Numbers
RELATED:

MSNBC Wants to Add a 3rd Prime-Time Show — WASHINGTON — Building on the momentum of its prime-time hours, MSNBC is developing a 10 p.m. program that would complement its left-leaning evening lineup, the cable news channel's president said this week. — A new program could increase …
Discussion:
Don Surber

The One-State Solution — THE shocking level of the last wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which ended with this weekend's cease-fire, reminds us why a final resolution to the so-called Middle East crisis is so important. It is vital not just to break this cycle of destruction and injustice …

This is Just Creepy...: Go to 3:54: “I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind.”


President Obama's first call ‘was to President Abbas’ — President Obama placed the Middle East at the forefront of his first hours in office yesterday as he sought to make good on his promise of “ushering in a new era of peace”. — In a flurry of telephone calls from the Oval Office …

Government Spending Is No Free Lunch — Now the Democrats are peddling voodoo economics. — Back in the 1980s, many commentators ridiculed as voodoo economics the extreme supply-side view that across-the-board cuts in income-tax rates might raise overall tax revenues.

Obama lobbying ban hits DC reality — When is a ban on lobbyists in an administration not a ban on lobbyists in an administration? When you need a lobbyist who knows how the Pentagon works to help run the defense establishment. — That's the situation the new Obama Administration finds itself in.

And the Nominees Are: — BEST PICTURE — * “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) — * “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) — * “Milk” (Focus Features) — * “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) — * “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) — BEST ACTOR

Clinton Confirmation: Explaining the 'No's — Hillary Rodham Clinton was confirmed as the new Secretary of State by a 94 to 2 vote today, a tally that — of course — prompts the question: Who voted “no”? — The answer: Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).


Former French President Chirac hospitalised after mauling by his clinically depressed poodle … Former French president Jacques Chirac was rushed to hospital after being mauled by his own ‘clinically depressed’ pet dog. — The 76-year-old statesman was savaged by his white Maltese dog …