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- Maine became the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage today, and is the first to do so without having the legislation be a reaction to a court ruling. If this trend continues, will we see an attempt to use the "culture wars" as an election-year cudgel, or is national security bogeyman-ism going to be the preferred card the GOP recycles next year? Predictions/bets may be logged in the comments section.
- Meet Arlen Specter, junior senator of Pennsylvania, who gets to fill out the rest of his term with less committee seniority than any Democrat elected to the Senate last year except maybe Al Franken. Specter's feelings may have been hurt by Harry Reid, but he remains upbeat about his prospects for the 112th Congress: "Some members of the caucus have raised concerns about my seniority, so the caucus will vote on my seniority at the same time subcommittee chairmanships are confirmed after the 2010 election. I am confident my seniority will be maintained under the arrangement I worked out with Senator Reid."
- For now, we'll just have to take Jeff Sessions at his word that he doesn't intend to filibuster President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, even though we can't expect other members of the GOP caucus to be so principled. Meanwhile, Marc Ambinder games out the very real possibility of nominating an openly gay justice while Sen. John Thune indulges in a bit of naked gay-bashing.
- A Justice Department inquiry has determined that while the authors of the torture memos exercised a "lapse of judgment" in arguing for the legality of "enhanced interrogation" techniques, it has not recommended prosecutions, only professional disciplinary action, such as disbarment. I'd still rather see Jay Bybee impeached and removed from the bench, but we'll have to take what we can get.
- The Washington Times dishes on chessmaster RNC Chair Michael Steele: "Capitulating to critics on the Republican National Committee, embattled Republican Party Chairman Michael S. Steele has signed a secret pact agreeing to controls and restraints on how he spends hundreds of millions of dollars in party funds and contracts." Phase One complete, baby. Phase One complete.
- Remainders: Some PACs are spending money from beyond the grave; George Will keeps lying to his readers/can't be bothered to hire a research assistant; Limbaugh tells millionaires he doesn't think we're in a recession; Antonin Scalia gets a taste of his own medicine; No. 3 in the GOP House Mike Pence is astonishingly dense; Jon Chait (re)introduces us to a real piece of work, corporate tax lobbyist Kenneth Kies; and corn ethanol tax subsidies could be on the chopping block.
--Mori Dinauer
