A befriended California journalist recently had a conversation with a politician during which she had the audacity to call the politician… a politician. Tremendously insulted the brave soul answered: “Please let me correct you, we’re not politicans – we’re elected officials.”

And that was your quote of the day.

The results of the special election in the NY-20 district (New York) are in: undecided. According to the last reports, Democrat Scott Murphy leads by 65 votes – this while more than 150.000 New Yorkers voted.

Although still a close race with a small advantage for Murphy, there is some good news for Republican candidate Jim Tedisco: approximately 10.000 absentee and military votes haven’t been counted yet.Since most members of the military are Republicans, Tedisco could very well pull this one off.| MORE ›

If Governor Sarah Palin wants to be a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, she will have to create a vast national network of grassroots. She has to create grassroots organizations everywhere, brush up her image, and court Republican politicians so that they throw their weight behind her during a national campaign.

Palin is aware of the above, or so you’d think. Think again:

Sarah Palin is out and Newt Gingrich is in.| MORE ›

The Haaretz conducted a poll of Israeli voters, and the outcome is surprising:

The Knesset approved Benjamin Netanyahu’s return as prime minister last night amid allegations that his new government is bloated, convoluted and unprepared to deal with Israel’s many problems.| MORE ›

Writing for Commentary Abe Greenwald says that Europe has turned against Barack Obama. There are several for this development, the most important one being:

For starters, America cannot afford to casually “end” a war it is winning.  Obama’s anti-Iraq War agenda has evaporated. European publics are disappointed, but their leaders will let it slide so long as they don’t have to send troops. This is why Afghanistan is a problem.| MORE ›

Doctors at Houston’s Texas Medical Center recently pioneered a new experimental treatment for stroke victims in which the patient’s own adult stem cells are harvested and injected into the bloodstream. 

Dr. Sean Savitz, a neurology professor and the study’s lead investigator, hopes to show that the stem cells will take it from there, migrating to the brain and reducing inflammation while increasing blood vessel growth to counteract the reduction in blood flow to the brain caused by strokes.| MORE ›

Nate Silver’s picture is worth at least a thousand words when it comes to communicating how long GM’s financial troubles have been brewing.  Silver also gets the reason behind the company’s demise right: the costs of GM’s retiree pension and health care programs.| MORE ›

The Obama administration is living up to its promise to talk to Iran rather than to isolate it from the international community:

In a cautious first step toward unlocking 30 years of tense relations, senior U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke had a brief but cordial meeting with Iran’s deputy foreign minister Tuesday at an international conference on Afghanistan.| MORE ›

The Associated Press reports that the Vatican has announced it has ordered an investigation the of the Legionaries of Christ religious order. This order is highly influential and religiously consider, but was dealt a massive blow recently after it admitted that its founder had fathered a child and molested seminarians.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the No. 2 man in the Vatican, said church leaders will visit and evaluate all seminaries, schools and other institutions run by the Legion worldwide.| MORE ›