Congratulations to Michael Steele, who finally beat out that actual Confederate slaveowning plantation owner to become the first African-American President of the United States! Maybe we should celebrate with something fun, like a national WAR WITH IRAN, hmm? Well, even though we were *praying* for the old white guy — a member of a whites-only country club! — to come from behind and “steele” the black person’s victory at the last minute, we are “steele” satisfied with Michael “Steele.” Let’s “steele” away to our Wonkette Time Machine and revisit a hilarious chapter in state political history: Michael “Steele’s” brief and mostly unsuccessful political career in the important state of Maryland! MORE »

* Only 1.4m of the 8m low-income Americans eligible for special Medicare benefits have made shift to new plan; “the government is on track to spend about $250 for each person it enrolls.” [WP]
* Bush presses for energy innovation: “We have a chance to transform the way we power our economy, and the way we lead our lives.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
* Some State Department officials complain that a recent reorganization was politically motivated and “reduced the influence of employees who were viewed by some political appointees as disloyal to the administration’s policies.” [WP]
* Sen. Specter (R-Pa.) hopes to propose limits on NSA eavesdropping within the next few weeks. [WT]

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* Reliable Source: Laura and Barbara Bush travel to Rome to visit with the Pope and Silvio Berlusconi before attending the Olympics; Jenna is staying home to teach. . . Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich booed at basketball game. . . Reese Witherspoon stops by Burger King near the White House. [WP]
* Under the Dome: Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) is popular among “jocks-turned-GOP pols”. . . Tony Blair blames troubles on “The West Wing.” [The Hill]
* Inside the Beltway: King Abdullah II “likes to walk around” the Georgetown Safeway. [WT]
* Rush & Molloy: McCain flack complains director of “Why We Fight” documentary “intentionally twisted” the senator’s quotes about Cheney. . . McCain and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) lunch and laugh with Richard Gere. [NYDN]
* Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Bill Weld lunches with John Ashcroft. . . Nora Ephron: “[Chris Matthews] is a perfect example - although obviously exaggerated - of what happens to men in the presence of Senator McCain. They lose their minds. They suck up. They turn absolutely giddy. They ask questions they don’t care about the answers to. It’s Valentine’s Day.” [NYDN]