Limbaugh Responds to Obama  —  According to an account in the New York Post, President Barack Obama yesterday told Republican leaders, “You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.”  With George W. Bush now off the stage, it may be that Obama and some of his fellow Democrats view Limbaugh …

MS. KENNEDY REGRETS  —  She's unable to be in the Senate today.  —  Last Tuesday, Caroline Kennedy attended the Presidential Inauguration.  The sun was shining on the Capitol, the sky was blue, the Marine Band was playing.  Barack Obama, for whom she had campaigned ardently for nearly a year …

Obama's Partisan, Profane Confidant Reins It In  —  WASHINGTON — Early this month, Barack Obama was meeting with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other lawmakers when Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, began nervously cracking a knuckle.  —  Mr. Obama then turned to complain to Mr. Emanuel about his noisy habit.

Obama Starts With 68% Job Approval  —  One of the better initial ratings of post-World War II presidents  — USA - Gallup Daily - Government and Politics - Leadership - Presidential Job Approval - Americas - Northern America  —  PRINCETON, NJ — In the first Gallup Poll job approval rating …

Michelle Obama: ‘Inappropriate’ to use daughters to sell dolls  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - They've been in the White House less than a week, but the first daughters have already been co-opted by marketers — and Michelle Obama isn't happy about it.  —  Ty, the toy company responsible …

Two ex-Guantanamo inmates appear in Al-Qaeda video  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) — Two men released from the US “war on terror” prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have appeared in a video posted on a jihadist website, the SITE monitoring service reported.  —  One of the two former inmates …

Disgraced pastor faces more gay sex accusations  —  DENVER - Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard's former church disclosed Friday that the gay sex scandal that caused his downfall extends to a young male church volunteer who reported having a sexual relationship with Haggard …

President Obama delivers Your Weekly Address  —  In his first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama discusses how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.  —  “This is not just a short-term program to boost employment,” he said.

There's no new motor to drive the economy  —  Forget all the talk of post-recession rebuilding.  We were living beyond our means and must now reduce our expectations  —  There's a piece of fashionable political nonsense you should be vaccinated against before the virus hits us …

Obama Plans Fast Action to Tighten Financial Rules  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to move quickly to tighten the nation's financial regulatory system.  —  Officials say they will make wide-ranging changes, including stricter federal rules for hedge funds …

Obama raises heart rates, lowers expectations  —  His boring inaugural doesn't diminish his hotness in the eyes of his usual acolytes.  —  Recommend  —  How dazzling is President Obama?  So dazzling that he didn't merely give a dazzling inaugural speech.  Any old timeserving hack could do that.

Gaia Re Gaia  —  Proto-warmalist James Lovelock, originator of the “Gaia” theory of self-regulating planet spoiled by evil humans, is interviewed by a chick named “Gaia.”  Gaia the resource user wants to know what can be done to save both Gaias, the planet one and herself, the rather hot in an earthy kind of way if airheaded human one.

House Stimulus Bill (FULL TEXT)  —  The 647-page House stimulus package scored the coveted designation of H.R. 1, which the Speaker reserves for her highest legislative or symbolic priority.  The bill is a combination of legislation that moved this week through the Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Appropriations Committees.

Obama breaks from Bush, avoids divisive stands  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Barack Obama opened his presidency by breaking sharply from George W. Bush's unpopular administration, but he mostly avoided divisive partisan and ideological stands.

Reagan wouldn't recognize this GOP  —  The Gipper may be the patron saint of Limbaugh and Coulter, but he'd be amazed at what's been done in his name.  —  In my mind's eye, I can see Ronald Reagan, wearing wings and a Stetson, perched on a cloud and watching all the goings-on down here in his old earthly home.

Elections are test for al-Maliki, Iraq  —  BAGHDAD - Iraqis vote Saturday in the first nationwide election in three years, choosing provincial leaders in what amounts to a test of Iraq's stability as the U.S. plans to remove its troops.  —  In contrast to Iraq's three previous ballots since …