* Maverick straight talker Chuck Hagel won't be a complete mirror image of Joe Lieberman until he's lost a Presidential election. [WP]

* Scooter Libby's personal hell is spending eternity trapped in 2003. [NYT]

* Military now kills Iranian agents captured in Iraq, no more "Ludovico technique." [WP]

* John Warner copied Joe Biden's homework, plans to turn in his "resolution of opposition, opposition." [WP]

* How are lawsuits against the NSA's warrantless spying program going? Sorry, that's classified. [WP, NYT]

* Strategic energy independence or an ash choked planet: choose one. [WSJ]

* Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she, er, the court misses the benefits of two women on the bench. This is code for "enjoy your abortions while you can!" [USAT]

* Subliminal messages hidden in SOTU, like the speech itself, contain "nothing, nothing at all. " [LAT]