Bill Clinton's Old Politics  —  I write this more out of sadness than anger.  Bill Clinton's ill-tempered and ill-founded attacks on Barack Obama are doing no credit to the former President, his legacy, or his wife's campaign.  Nor are they helping the Democratic party.

Kucinich drops presidential bid  —  Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich is dropping out of the Democratic race for president.  —  Kucinich will make the announcement Friday at a news conference in Cleveland.  In an exclusive interview with Plain Dealer editors and reporters, Kucinich said he will explain his “transition” tomorrow.

Poll: Romney slightly ahead in Florida  —  TALLAHASSEE — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a slight edge in Florida over his closest GOP rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, with just five days to go before Tuesday's presidential primary, according to a poll released today.

Tentative Deal Reached on Stimulus Plan  —  WASHINGTON — House leaders and the White House on Thursday announced a tentative agreement on an economic stimulus package of roughly $150 billion that would pay stipends of $300 to $1,200 per family, and more for families with children …

Gibson Defends His Mockery Of Ledger's Death: ‘No Point In Passing Up A Good Joke’  —  On his radio show yesterday, Fox News host John Gibson responded to ThinkProgress' criticism of his comments mocking the death of Heath Ledger, saying that it was just “a little Brokeback Mountain joke” …

Jay Rockefeller's unintentionally revealing comments  —  As the Senate takes up “debate” today over granting the President new warrantless eavesdropping powers and granting immunity to lawbreaking telecoms, the individual who joined forces with Dick Cheney to get this ball rolling …

Bill backlash?  —  There's a fair amount of chatter today about whether Bill Clinton has gone too far, whether he'll trigger “backlash."  —  It's a plausible story, and the media is clearly sick of him.  But here's my question: Has anyone met an uncommitted voter, or one likely to support Hillary, who expresses this view?

Interrogator: Invasion Surprised Saddam  —  Tells 60 Minutes Former Dictator Bragged About Eluding Capture  —  (CBS) Saddam Hussein initially didn't think the U.S. would invade Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction, so he kept the fact that he had none a secret to prevent an Iranian invasion he believed could happen.

The Dems just gave away your stimulus check  —  According to AP, congressional leaders have reached a deal on those economic stimulus checks.  And rather than being geared towards helping the economy, they're apparently geared towards redistributing wealth (that would be our wealth) to the poor.

‘Internal and External Threats’  —  But it also includes a provision that promises to maintain the stability of Iraq's government from “internal and external threats."  This sentence is raising alarms for some U.S. lawmakers.  —  Any such agreement would be considered a treaty by many legal experts.

Bill Gates Issues Call For Kinder Capitalism  —  Famously Competitive, Billionaire Now Urges Business to Aid the Poor  —  Free enterprise has been good to Bill Gates.  But today, the Microsoft Corp. chairman will call for a revision of capitalism.  —  In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos …