Obama’s State of the Union slips from last year

The State of the Union may be strong, but the viewership for president Obama’s first official address slipped from last year’s comparable telecast.

Obama’s State of the Union Address was witnessed by 48 million viewers across 11 networks

Read more: THR

White House orders Justice Department to look for other places to hold 9/11 terror trial

The White House ordered the Justice Department on Thursday night to consider other places to try the 9/11 terror suspects after a wave of opposition to holding the trial in lower Manhattan.

The dramatic turnabout came hours after Mayor Bloomberg said he would “prefer that they did it elsewhere” and then spoke to Attorney General Eric Holder

Read more: NY Post

EXCLUSIVE – Taliban commanders in talks with U.N. envoy

LONDON (Reuters) – Members of the Taliban’s leadership council have met secretly with the United Nations representative for Afghanistan to discuss the possibility of laying down their arms, a U.N. official said on Thursday

Read more: Reuters

Brown warns GOP, don’t bully me

U.S. Sen.-elect Scott Brown vowed today not to toe the Republican Party line – saying he’d publicly shame the GOP if they try to bully him.

“I’m going to be my own person,” Brown told the Herald in his State House office today.

Read more: Boston Herald

Obama “forgets” to honor Fort Hood Hero at State of the Union

Though she was sitting by Michelle, and Obama alluded to Michelle twice, he failed to recognize the Ft. Hood Shooter.

Looking back, here is a piece from Washington saying that Obama would honor the Ft. Hood shooter at the State of the Union Speech:

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From NCNews 

WASHINGTON – During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama will honor Sgt. Kim Munley, the woman credited with ending the deadly Fort Hood shooting. Munley was shot several times in the exchange of gunfire and is still recovering from her injuries

Pelosi Pushes $300 Billion ‘Fix’ to Senate Health Care Bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing a $300 billion “fix” to the Senate health care bill, saying that her chamber could approve the Senate’s package if those changes are made first

Read more: FOX News

SEIU President Calls Senators ‘Terrorists’ for Opposing the Card Check Bill

(CNSNews.com) – Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, took a swipe at Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) Tuesday, calling the senators “terrorists” for their opposition to the card-check bill, which Democrats call the Employee Free Choice Act

Read more: CNS News

Gays Applaud Obama for Pledge to Repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

Ban on Gays in Military Unpopular; Lawmakers Signal a Possible Fight

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Jan. 28, 2009

Gay rights groups lauded President Obama for pledging Wednesday night to work this year to repeal the ban on gay people from openly serving in the armed forces, ratcheting down their criticism of the president for not working quickly enough to overturn the policy

Read more: ABC News

Justice Alito’s Reaction

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The law that Congress enacted in the populist days of the early 20th century prohibited direct corporate contributions to political campaigns. That law was not at issue in the Citizens United case, and is still on the books. Rather, the court struck down a more complicated statute that barred corporations and unions from spending money directly from their treasuries — as opposed to their political action committees — on television advertising to urge a vote for or against a federal candidate in the period immediately before the election.

Read more: NY Times

Sen. Russ Feingold: Samuel Alito behavior ‘inappropriate’

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) sharply criticized Samuel Alito’s reaction to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, calling the conservative Supreme Court justice’s behavior “inappropriate.”

Read more:  Politico