Launched by the Washington Post Company, the site offers a compelling look at politics through Washington's key players and personalities. So far, it boasts 250 profiles of a range of influential politicians, including members of the new presidential administration, Pentagon officials, lawmakers, senior congressional aides and committee staff. It also includes profiles of those related to officials, such as Michele Obama and Jill Biden.

According to a news release, the site eventually will be expanded to include state officials and experts at think tanks and interest groups. Conspicuously missing are profiles of the recently departed political crowd, including Bush and Cheney.

The profiles are richly detailed and well-written, each providing in-depth information on policy experience and life story, starting with a blunt "Why He/She Matters" section. The reader can quickly branch out for additional information via links to the individual's key political associates, related news stories and a voluminous number of footnoted resources used to write the profile.

A discussion feature lets readers leave comments, but a quick check of some of the better-known names, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel, revealed no scuttlebutt as of yet.

Another feature, which did not seem to be working yet in this beta version, lets readers see who has made changes to a profile and compare versions.