The Intel Czar Stumbles: Outcry in Congress derails Dennis Blair's choice for top post (Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, Mar 10, 2009, Newsweek) The resignation of Freeman represents another serious "vetting" embarrassment for the White House and a personal blow to Dennis Blair, President Obama's...

Obama Ponders Outreach to Elements of the Taliban (HELENE COOPER and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, 3/07/09, NY Times) President Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would rea...

Treasury island: Geithner's lost crew (JEANNE CUMMINGS & LISA LERER, 3/6/09, Politico) If President Barack Obama wants to boost confidence in his economic recovery plan, he’s going to have to assure the markets that there isn’t just one guy working on it. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner ...

Today is going to be a pretty great day … this afternoon, David and I are planning to see Watchmen (since I opted out of seeing it at midnight last night) in the middle of day to avoid the crush of movie-goers who will be showing up at around the 7 o’clock hour … but that ain’...

A consistent media meme since Election Day has been that Barack Obama was inheriting a recession that some believe began as far back as December 2007. Since then, despite various rescue plans from his Administration, and the passage of a $787 billion stimulus package, the stock market has continued ...

Sara Nelson recently got laid off as the editor of Publishers Weekly, so she's blogging about her "Reinvention." So far she's decided she does not want to be reinvented as Graydon Carter. For now, I take my cues from two guys I know (yes, they're guys, but I think their experience is relevant). In t...

Boy, this is hilarious to me. How did I miss it!? Order yours here . --SUGAR...

Obama's Straw Men: Why does he routinely ascribe to opponents views they don't espouse? (KARL ROVE, 2/26/09, WSJ) Mr. Obama also said that America's economic difficulties resulted when "regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market." Who gutted which regul...

Republicans Smell Weakness In Obama: How did the president's address look from the other side of the aisle? According to insiders, the GOP wasn't fazed one bit. Some Republicans are eager for battle, and some even feel sorry for Obama. (John Batchelor, 02/25/09, Daily Beast) Here’s how it looked f...

Who are considered the best and worst Presidents of all time? Some of the results might be a surprise, and some no surprise. The Times Online asked 8 of its international and political commentators to take on this task. "The Collins English Dictionary definition of great reads thus: relatively large...