This week former Vice President Dick Cheney and President Barack Obama went head to head, toe to toe, and back to back. It was the ultimate battle, at least in the coverage. PEJ's Mark Jurkowitz explains why the media love a showdown like this one.

It's no secret that politicians try to shape our understanding of major issues by controlling the words we use to debate them. Exhibit A: the Obama Administration's recent attempts to retool the way we talk about environmental policy. Green is out, clean is in. And don't ...

The Obama Administration announced this week that it would not release photos documenting the abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, fearing that doing so would jeopardize the safety of U.S. troops. Jane Mayer, New Yorker writer and author of The Dark Side, says the ...

Some president's first 100 days are rockier then others. President Clinton's for instance were marked by controversy. Dee Dee Myers was the first press secretary at the Clinton White House. She says she felt a little envious as she watched the Obama transition.

While some in the media wondered if Obama flip-flopped when it comes to prosecuting Bush Administration officials who authorized torture, the White House tried to get its media message straight ... all without actually using the T-word. Columbia University law professor and Harper's Magazine ...

Last week, the Obama Administration invoked the state secrets privilege for the third time in as many months when arguing that Jewel v. NSA should be dismissed. How does this square with his much-touted promise of openness and transparency? We asked Marc Ambinder, associate editor of ...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a.k.a. the Stimulus bill, passed last month in a firestorm of debate, but how many people have actually sat down to read the whole thing? The New Yorker's Steve Coll is doing just that, and blogging along the way.

Last time the Obama Administration pitched its plan for economic recovery, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was ridiculed for his lack of details and shaky performance. This week, Geithner was mostly hidden from the cameras and Obama did the selling. Political reporter Peter Nicholas says ...

Rush Limbaugh's keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in DC last weekend received much media attention and left pundits wondering if he's the de facto leader of the republican party? A question the White House was more than happy to discuss. But ...

During his campaign, President Obama criticized the Bush Administration's profligate use of the State Secrets Privilege. But this week, lawyers for the Obama administration invoked that rule in an ongoing trial. Slate's Dahlia Lithwick has some possible explanations for the shift.

When President Obama won his fight on Thursday to keep his beloved Blackberry, White House communications leapt headlong into the 21st century. But technology and open-government expert Ari Schwartz says that with technological progress comes great responsibility.

The inaugural address is one of the first tests of the incoming president; a rhetorical declaration that is supposed to speak to the moment, address a world audience, inspire with eloquence and stand the test of time. Harvard historian and New Yorker contributor Jill Lepore explains the stakes for President ...

It’s that time of year again, the season of the presidential pardon. Much used and little understood it’s the one truly discretionary power of the president. Pardon historian P.S. Ruckman explains why the get-out-of-jail-free card is a constant subject of fascination and frustration for the public and the ...

Robert Gibbs, tapped by President-elect Obama as the new press secretary, will guide the administration's relationship with the media. But New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich says Gibbs' combative style may be a surprise to those expecting the transparency and openness promised during the election.

On Thursday, 20 or so fundraisers, grassroots organizers and political strategists met in Virginia to discuss the future of the conservative movement, soon to be in exile from the federal government. Ross Douthat, senior editor at The Atlantic and author of Grand New Party, says a ...

Open government advocates are expressing concern that Vice President Dick Cheney may take official documents with him when he leaves office. Chief Counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Anne Weismann, explains the stakes if the written record of the Cheney years is lost ...

With many reporters skipping White House press briefings in these waning days of the Bush administration, journalists from some very obscure news outlets are moving up to the front row. The Washington Post's Dana Milbank thinks that's as it should be.

This week House Republicans staged a walk-out to express their outrage at House Democrats for finding the Bush Administration's Harriet Miers and Josh Bolton in contempt of Congress. Bob weighs in as the parties accuse each other of orchestrating media stunts.

Tucked away into President Bush's 2009 budget was language that eliminates the FOIA ombudsman. The newly-created position was at the heart of legislation that Bush recently signed into law, and was intended to expedite government's response to Freedom of Information Act requests. Cox Newspapers' Rebecca Carr explains that ...

This week’s debate on wiretapping legislation centered on whether to grant immunity to the phone companies who face lawsuits from angry privacy groups. Jonathan Turley, professor at George Washington University Law School, says the phone companies shouldn’t be let off the hook.