Free Republic

Every time I try to give Michael Steele the bnefit of the doubt, he opens his mouth again. "“I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation,” Steele said. “Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?”" Talking to ABC News later in the day, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee “clarified” what he meant. "“It’s not because of my race, but race is more of a factor than it ordinarily would be — just as it is for Barack Obama,”...

Hoaxes: Despite failures at Copenhagen, the fraud of the IPCC and the farce of Climate-gate, the administration wants an agency to monitor climate change. Why must we fund one-stop shopping for climate charlatans? As the climate freezes, there's no freeze on federal employment that will grow even more with the establishment of a new agency, the Climate Service office. The new agency was announced Monday by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This ministry of climate change propaganda will operate in tandem with NOAA's National Weather Service and National Ocean...

Second big snowstorm hits East Coast By Jeremy Pelofsky Jeremy Pelofsky 20 mins ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The second major snowstorm in less than a week hit the East Coast on Tuesday, with predictions of 12 inches or more stretching from Washington, D.C., to New York City, forcing schools to close and the U.S. Congress to sharply curtail legislative action. Government offices in Washington will be closed on Wednesday -- the third straight day at a cost of roughly $100 million in lost productivity per day -- and the National Weather Service predicted the U.S. capital could get upwards of...

Federal Government Operating Status in the Washington, DC, Area the following message applies only to Wednesday, February 10, 2010 Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are CLOSED. This Means . . . Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are closed. Nonemergency employees (including employees on pre-approved leave) will be granted excused absence for the number of hours they were scheduled to work. This does not apply to employees on leave without pay, leave without pay for military duty, workers' compensation, suspension, or in another nonpay status. Telework employees may be expected to work from their telework sites, as...

The heavy snow has taken a toll on some local buildings, and with more on the way the weight of winter is now its own danger. "When something collapses you never know when its going to happen," said Captain Dan Schmidt, Fairfax County (web | news) Fire and Rescue. The roof of Fairfax Fire Station 10 in Baily's Crossroads came crashing down early Monday morning. The 24 to 28 inches of snow and ice proved too much for the 12-year-old flat roof to handle

It may be freezing cold in Washington tonight, but there are plans for a hot time at the White House. With a new snowstorm moving into the D.C. metro area, the president and first lady decided to move up a major music event that was actually scheduled for tomorrow evening. They’ll take the chill off invited guests with some warm music memories from the civil rights era, served up by some of America’s greatest talent. The 2010 White House Music Series kicks off tonight with a star-studden lineup, including Yolanda Adams, Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John...

As Washington digs itself out from under the Snowpocalypse, the region braces for yet more flurries. At least 18 inches of snow lie on the ground at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and some places were blanketed under as much as three feet. More arctic blasts this week could drive 2010 into the history books as the capital's snowiest winter ever.

WASHINGTON - As the region braces for another major storm, one local government is having trouble keeping their plows on the roads, WTOP has learned. As many as 60 of the District's snow plows are not working -- bad news for thousands of residents still waiting for their streets to be cleared. According to an internal email obtained by WTOP, 25 percent of the District's snow plow fleet is down and they're having trouble getting replacement parts. D.C. is also now rationing their salt supply. The email states they'll have enough to get through the upcoming storm. DDOT has 9,000...

AccuWeather.com is now projecting that Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Wilmington (DE), Baltimore, Atlantic City and others will break their records for snowiest season in recorded history, after tomorrow's storm. Here are the stats (in inches, current/record/expected after tomorrow): Philly: 56.4 / 65.5 / 71.0 Atlantic City: 42.8 / 46.9 / 53.7 Wilmington: 53.9 / 55.9 / 67.3 Washington D.C.: 63.1 / 61.9 / 72.3 Baltimore: 60.4 / 62.5 / 74.6 Other tidbits: Only one other season has provided two storms with more than a foot of snow for Philly (and only 7 storms total!) and those were barely over a foot...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The rarely-shuttered US government closed down for a second day Tuesday, as the northeast braced for another massive snow blitz just days after a historic blizzard paralyzed the region. Schools in the Washington area were shut and thousands of homes were without power after a massive snowfall barreled across the area Friday and Saturday, leaving some areas entombed in as much as three feet (one meter) of snow. Forecasters said residents now face another wintry onslaught, with another 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of snow forecast to fall on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unlike the...

WASHINGTON - As the region braces for another major storm, one local government is having trouble keeping their plows on the roads, WTOP has learned. As many as 60 of the District's snow plows are not working -- bad news for thousands of residents still waiting for their streets to be cleared.

I'm sure most of us have read by now enviro-saint RFK Jr.'s sentimental recollections of how snowy D.C. and Northern Virginny were back in his golden, Camelot childhood. How there was a ski-slope in Maclean and how a visiting delegation of Eskimos once built an igloo in the back yard of his Dad's Hickory Hill manse (still up for sale apparently). My question is: is there anyone here with meteorological knowledge who would know where to look to find temperature and precipitation figures for our little bailiwick for that era (early sixties) to compare to those of recent years?

I was not surprised that a recent Washington Post article gleefully asserted, “DC’s left leanings confirmed in poll.” I was surprised at the seeming air of objectivity that the writers attempted to project. I was skeptical of the article and its conclusions for several reasons. First, it was commissioned and paid for by the Post (not to impugn the work of SRBI, Inc of New York). Second, a poll could yield very skewed results by focusing on selected wards. Third, private polling obtained by Stand For Marriage DC shows very different results. The writers asserted that their telephone survey of...

WASHINGTON -- A second major snowstorm in less than a week was blowing Tuesday toward the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. with more flights expected to be canceled. Plows still hadn't touched some roads, utility workers were struggling to restore power and shovels were in short supply. Forecasters predicted the snow would start Tuesday afternoon and continue into Wednesday, along with wicked winds. A foot or more was forecast for Washington and as many as 18 inches for the Northeast travel hub of Philadelphia -- which could cause travel problems as far north as Boston. Some areas are already under...

As Washington digs itself out from under the Snowpocalypse, the region braces for yet more flurries. At least 18 inches of snow lie on the ground at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and some places were blanketed under as much as three feet. More arctic blasts this week could drive 2010 into the history books as the capital's snowiest winter ever. The news must send chills up the spines of global warming adherents, for whom this winter has been marked by discontent. Several of the movement's high priests have been exposed as charlatans. The famed "hockey stick" chart - cited...

Lincoln’s first political party dissolved, and so could today’s RepublicansScott Brown’s improbable win in the Massachusetts Senate election is the latest and most dramatic evidence of the Republicans’ greatly improved electoral outlook. As polls have shown dissatisfaction with President Obama rising and Democratic leads in congressional generic-ballot polls shrinking or gone, GOP operatives have started 2010 with visions of 1994 dancing in their heads. But a closer look at the data rings alarm bells. Recent polls also show that voters’ ratings of the Republican party and Republican members of Congress have barely budged and remain sharply negative: Greater support for...

Federal Government Operating Status in the Washington, DC, Area the following message applies only to Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are CLOSED. This Means . . . Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are closed. Nonemergency employees (including employees on pre-approved leave) will be granted excused absence for the number of hours they were scheduled to work. This does not apply to employees on leave without pay, leave without pay for military duty, workers' compensation, suspension, or in another nonpay status. Telework employees may be expected to work from their telework sites, as...

Weather closes government offices a second day Photo 8:11pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal government agencies in the capital region will remain closed for a second day on Tuesday as residents brace for another blizzard while trying to clean up from a weekend storm that paralyzed the area with two feet of snow. Another big winter storm was expected to hit the U.S. mid-Atlantic from about noon/1700 GMT on Tuesday and last through Wednesday, the National Weather Service forecast on Monday. Projected snowfall ranged from 10 to 20 inches, it said. The potentially crippling new storm was expected to hit...

When it comes to "the progressive, activist social agenda being pursued by the D.C. Council," District residents are on board -- at least in the majority-white areas, according to a Washington Post poll conducted last month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Another big winter storm was forecast on Monday for the U.S. mid-Atlantic still struggling to dig out from a blizzard that dumped two feet (half a meter) of snow and closed the federal government. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Washington, D.C., beginning at noon/1700 GMT on Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday, with projected snow totals of 10 to 20 inches. The potentially crippling new storm was expected to hit other big cities along the East Coast, like Baltimore and Philadelphia, that are still digging out and extend into New Jersey and New...

Is a wounded Barack Obama withdrawing from the world? Europeans could be excused for speculating as much. The White House announced last week that the president would not attend a U.S.-European Union summit planned for Madrid in May, forcing its cancellation. The spurned host, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, also failed to get a meeting with either Obama or Vice President Biden during a two-day visit to Washington. Zapatero claimed he had "no problem" with the rebuff. But that was not the reaction back home. "Obama Turns His Back on Europe," said Spain's El Pais. "Obama's No-Show Disappoints...

A WINTER STORM WARNING has been issued starting at noon tomorrow and extending into Wednesday for most of the ABC 7 viewing area including the District, Montgomery, Prince Georges, Frederick, Calvert, Charles, Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Prince William and Loudoun Counties. A WINTER STORM WATCH has been issued for St Marys, Orange, Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties. This storm has the potential to drop upwards of a foot of snow across the area with lesser amounts of snow are anticipated for Central Virginia with a mix with rain possible in Southern Maryland keeping accumulations down.

Issued by The National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington, MD 3:04 pm EST, Mon., Feb. 8, 2010 ... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS... 10 TO 20 INCHES. * TIMING... MID-AFTERNOON TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. * TEMPERATURES... TEMPERATURES NEAR FREEZING AT THE ONSET TUESDAY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S TUESDAY NIGHT AND...

I love the gun control industry. They’re more predictable that a politician lying. (Speaking of which, I’m enjoying the sweet sound of silence now that John Edwards has mysteriously shut-up) Whenever laws are loosened, the gun control industry predicts bloodshed in the streets. ... Yet in 2008, when the Supreme Court told the District of Columbia that their handgun ban was history, the gun control industry resurrected the same claims concerning carnage. ... Crime statistics are in for 2009, the first full year in which D.C. citizens have been allowed to keep handguns at home, the overall violent crime rate...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Residents of the US east coast began digging out from under a thick blanket of snow Sunday after a record-breaking blizzard paralyzed Washington and the region, snapping power to 350,000 residents and killing two people. The monster storm stretched more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from eastern Indiana across into New Jersey and then down as far south as North Carolina, affecting tens of millions of Americans. With winds gusting at almost 60 miles (90 kilometers) an hour, meteorologists said they had recorded snowfall as high as 38 inches (96 centimeters) near Baltimore, Maryland -- a record....

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who flies around on private planes so as to tell larger numbers of people how they must live their lives in order to save the planet, wrote a column last year on the lack of winter weather in Washington, D.C. "In Virginia, the weather also has changed dramatically. Recently arrived residents in the northern suburbs, accustomed to today's anemic winters, might find it astonishing to learn that there were once ski runs on Ballantrae Hill in McLean, with a rope tow and local ski club. Snow is so scarce today that most Virginia children probably...

The so-called "birther" movement apparently is alive and well at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville. While the bulk of the three-day affair has been spent on strategizing for the 2010 elections and figuring out how to grow the conservative activist base, convention-goers shifted their attention from tax-and-spending complaints to President Obama's citizenship during a rousing speech after dinner Friday night by WorldNetDaily.com founder Joseph Farah. Farah, a conservative newsman whose raison d'etre of late has been to challenge Obama's eligibility to be president, used the bulk of his remarks to hit that point -- and got quite a...

February 3, 2010 4:00 A.M. Professor of ContemptThe legacy of Howard Zinn.   With Howard Zinn, contemporary American academia found its court historian. Zinn, who died January 27 at 87, was like a gigantic echo chamber, accurately reproducing — and actively reinforcing — every left-wing cliché with which the academy has abetted its sense of election these past several decades. “You see how smart he is,� saith the tribe, “he thinks exactly as we do.� Zinn’s biography tells us that he was the author of “more than 20 books.� But only one matters: A People’s History of the United States. Published...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Presidential quips about Washington's supposed lack of winter toughness have disappeared as snow accumulations mounted. Barack Obama had been in office for about a week in 2009 when he expressed disbelief that many schools had canceled classes one day because of ice. "As my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never canceled," he said then. "We're going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness." Well, here comes more than a little ice: an estimated 20 to 30 inches of snow in Washington.

Week 251, February 5, 2010 - Ignoring weather warnings to stay off the roads at all costs, the DC chapter recorded its 251st consecutive Friday night at Walter Reed. FRONT GATE NOTES The following report is from Trooprally’s notes and the great photos were taken on site by Mrs Trooprally. As you look at the photos, remember this was only the beginning of the” great 2010 blizzard”. Trooprally wrote: “We arrived about 6:40, shoveled and salted a small clear area where we were going to stand and we were on our posts before 7. Even the salted areas eventually got...

WASHINGTON – Mid-Atlantic residents were buried Saturday from a likely record-setting blizzard the president jokingly dubbed "Snowmageddon," and those brave enough tried to clear a path through the wet, heavy mounds of thigh-high snow. The snow was falling too quickly in the nation's capital for crews to keep up, and officials begged residents to stay home and out of the way so that roads might be cleared in time for everyone to return to work Monday. The usually traffic-snarled roads were mostly barren, and Washington's familiar sites and monuments were covered with nearly 2 feet of snow.

The usually unavoidable-for-comment, if-it’s-Sunday-here-is-my-press-release senior senator from New York is being a little tetchy about going on the record. Senator Charles E. Schumer has had a not-so-hot run recently. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg accused him of failing to deliver enough federal health care dollars for New York, and the city’s titans of finance at a recent closed-door meeting accused him of being insufficiently pro-Wall Street; one indignant fellow stood up and demanded his donation back. Some Democrats whisper that he plays the too-aggressive kingmaker, shoving aside challengers to Kirsten E. Gillibrand, the appointed junior senator. And a recent Marist College...

WASHINGTON – A blizzard battered the Mid-Atlantic region Saturday, with emergency crews struggling to keep pace with the heavy, wet snow that has piled up on roadways, toppled trees and left thousands without electricity. Officials urged people to huddle at home and out of the way of emergency crews. Forecasters said the storm could be the biggest for the nation's capital in modern history. A record 2 1/2 feet or more was predicted for Washington. As of early Saturday, 10 inches of snow was reported at the White House, while parts of Maryland and West Virginia were buried under more...

4 products issued by NWS for: Washington DC Blizzard Warning URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1044 PM EST FRI FEB 5 2010 DCZ001-MDZ007-011-013-014-018-061130- /O.CON.KLWX.BZ.W.0001.000000T0000Z-100207T0300Z/ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-HARFORD-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-PRINCE GEORGES- ANNE ARUNDEL-CALVERT- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WASHINGTON...BALTIMORE...ANNAPOLIS 1044 PM EST FRI FEB 5 2010 ...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST SATURDAY... A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST SATURDAY. * PRECIPITATION TYPE...HEAVY SNOW...ACCOMPANIED OCCASIONALLY BY THUNDER OVERNIGHT. * ACCUMULATIONS...WIDESPREAD STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 20 TO 30 INCHES...WITH SOME LOCATIONS IN EXCESS OF 30 INCHES. * TIMING...SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A stung U.S. Sen. Scott Brown lashed out at U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy today for insulting his landmark win by calling his candidacy “a joke.” Brown said Kennedy’s remarks are “mean spirited,” especially coming on the day he was celebrating being sworn into office. “I was elected and the votes are certified and I’m here to do my job. It’s unfortunate that he would use mean-spirited comments like that at a time when we’re just trying to solve the problems of the Commonwealth,” Brown said today on his first full day on the job.

The soft-on-terrorism charge is unfair to Obama. But it is gaining traction because of two glaring mistakes. I have instructed my subordinates that suspected Al Qaeda terrorists captured anywhere in the world should be interrogated extensively -- with safeguards against abuse -- before any Miranda warnings or access to lawyers. This approach is legal and it may save lives. Although the specific evidence obtained might in some cases be inadmissible in court, the suspects will be prosecuted based on other evidence once interrogation is completed. This is a major departure from the established policy of all past administrations, of the...

The Federal Government will be open in the morning operating under an unscheduled leave policy with a planned 4 hour early dismissal. Employees reporting for work should be dismissed by their agencies 4 hours earlier than their normal departure time from work. OPM is continuing to closely monitor developing weather conditions should there be a need to reassess the Government's operating status.

South Carolina has enacted a law that charges a five-dollar registration fee for persons planning to overthrow the US government. Terrorists who endeavor to overthrow the US government have to register with South Carolina's office of the Secretary of State declaring their intentions, the name of any organization they work for, and all the members of that organization. Should they fail to do so, they could face a $25,000 fine, and up to 10 years in prison. The "Subversive Activities Registration Act," which was passed a year ago, and has now actually gone into effect, orders that"every member of a...

...RECORD SNOWFALL FORECAST IN THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON DC REGION... ...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS DEVELOPING TONIGHT... GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH VISIBILITIES FREQUENTLY FALLING BELOW ONE-QUARTER MILE DUE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT TO PRODUCE NEAR-BLIZZARD AND EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. TRAVEL IS HIGHLY DISCOURAGED TONIGHT AND WILL BE VERY DANGEROUS. LOOKING BACK AT THE BIGGEST STORM OF RECORD FOR WASHINGTON DC... THE JANUARY 1922 KNICKERBOCKER STORM...28.0 INCHES OF SNOW WAS PRODUCED FROM 3.02 INCHES OF LIQUID WATER. CURRENT FORECASTS FOR THIS EVENT HAVE TOTAL LIQUID FALLING FROM THIS STORM APPROACHING 3...

Twenty-three public high schools, colleges and universities across Minnesota are receiving grants for projects designed to cut their carbon footprints. About $200,000 in grants from the Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon Project will be split among the various projects. The projects range from installing energy efficient lighting or renewable solar thermal systems to increasing recycling and composting. Funding for the grants is from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admistration (NOAA) Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco has released the following statement: An epic snowstorm has the mid-Atlantic region in its cross hairs. At this time, personal safety must be first and foremost. National Weather Service forecasters have been tracking this storm for the past week and now that the storm is here it must be taken very seriously. Chris Strong, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Sterling, Va. just emailed CWG and other media outlets the following note: Our media partners, If you would, please ensure these points get some...

WASHINGTON – Shoppers jammed aisles and emptied stores of milk, bread and shovels Friday as a massive snowstorm blew into the Mid-Atlantic. Forecasters predicted a record 30 inches or more for the nation's capital, and authorities already were blaming the storm for the deaths of father-son Samaritans in Virginia. The region's second snow storm in less than two months could be "extremely dangerous," and heavy, wet snow and strong winds threatened to knock out power, the National Weather Service said. Flakes started falling around noon in Washington, where the federal government sent workers home early. The storm's wide swath and...

Okay, so I just got back from the store...DC is close to a full-blown panic about the storm heading our way. There's an interesting race-to-the-bottom dynamic that overtakes DC when it snows. People hie to the supermarket as if a billion Chinese zombies with frickn' lasers strapped to their heads are about to invade from outer space and nobody knows the correct translation of "Klaatu burada nikto." When I lived in Adam's Morgan (the most New York City-ish DC neighborhood) I was amazed at how people would buy not just canned goods and, say, chili-fixings, but gallons and gallons of...

The Daily Caller Struck Down: Feds Refuse to Explain How Agent Injured Daily Caller Writer By Tucker Carlson and Jon Ward - The Daily Caller 02/04/10 at 5:49 pm The State Department has refused to answer basic questions about an accident that took place in Washington on Wednesday night, in which a U.S. Diplomatic Security Service vehicle struck Daily Caller employee Sean Medlock as he was crossing the street. An agent in the vehicle, Mike McGuinn, did not identify himself to Medlock at the scene, or apologize for running him down. Indeed, Washington, D.C., police drove to a local emergency...

As a former Special Olympian, Jim, in this RVO blog posting, YOU NAILED IT.This is just too much and hard to take seriously, except … well I do, and tells much about the left and their supposed sensitivity to “diversity”. Jus to recap: In August WH Chef Rahm Emanuel meets with Democrats. During that meeting Rahm drops the “R” word.

Michael S. Steele has maneuvered through a minefield of internal discontent, emerging from a critical party gathering with his authority intact.... High-profile Republican gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey and a victory in the recent special Senate election in Massachusetts have helped quiet grumbling within the RNC over Mr. Steele, whose position and authority seemed shaky just a few months ago. A feared open revolt against the former Maryland lieutenant governor fizzled at the 168-member RNC's winter gathering in Honolulu over the weekend, despite lingering questions... In the view of RNC General Counsel Reince Priebus, who is also Wisconsin...

Brown arriving in Senate a week early; Dems scramble By: Susan Ferrechio Chief Congressional CorrespondentFebruary 4, 2010 With Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts headed to Washington to be sworn in Thursday -- a week earlier than expected -- Democrats were scrambling to push through union-friendly nominees for key posts in the Obama administration.Brown asked Massachusetts election officials to certify his win immediately and now he is expected to be sworn in during an afternoon ceremony. He will become the chamber's 41st Republican, which will give the party enough votes to block controversial nominees like Craig Becker, President Obama's pick...

In expansive remarks at a law school in Florida, Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday vigorously defended the Supreme Court’s recent campaign finance decision. And Justice Thomas explained that he did not attend State of the Union addresses — he missed the dust-up when President Obama used the occasion last week to criticize the court’s decision — because the gatherings had turned so partisan. Justice Thomas responded to several questions from students at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla., concerning the campaign finance case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. By a 5-to-4 vote, with Justice Thomas in the...

Albany Bureau Chief ALBANY - Attorney General Andrew Cuomo shouldn't fear a racial backlash in a Democratic primary against Gov. Paterson, according to a new poll released Wednesday. In fact, the Quinnipiac University poll found Cuomo has higher approval ratings than Paterson among African-Americans, 78% to 60%. Yet black voters still say they prefer Paterson, 42% to 34%. A whopping 80% of voters, including 73% of African-Americans, disagree that a primary would be racially divisive despite such warnings from Rep. Charles Rangel and Paterson's father, Basil. Overall, Cuomo leads Paterson 55% to 23% in a potential Democratic primary matchup, down...

The police officer duo credited with stopping last year's shooting rampage at Fort Hood will be guests of the first lady during Wednesday's State of the Union speech. Sgts. Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd will watch President Barack Obama's address with Michelle Obama in a gallery overlooking the House floor. On Nov. 5, the officers, who were civilian members of the Fort Hood police force, opened fire on Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people in the worst mass murder on a U.S. military base. Munley was wounded in the incident at the Texas base....