House GOP member to Rush: Back off  —  Rush Limbaugh may command a large following, but his caustic comments Monday about the GOP's congressional leadership have at least one Republican House member defending his colleagues and offering an unusually candid critique of the talk radio powerhouse and his fellow commentators.

PALIN'S GOT PAC AND VIP STATUS  —  ASK not what Sarah Palin can do for your country, ask only what you can do for Sarah Palin.  And the answer is, pay attention.  Trust me, Alaska's governor is moving faster than those glaciers.  —  Traveling with one of her ladies-in-waiting and invited by a rich GOPnik …

Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill  —  Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Guess Who's Not Going Away?  —  Fully intent on pursuing national office in 2012, Sarah Palin has launched SarahPAC, to dole out money to Republican candidates.  Upcoming appearances include the RNC and C-PAC.  She's hired Washington power broker Robert Barnett to work a book deal …

‘Che’ spurs debate, Del Toro walkout  —  UPDATED:  —  A controversial new biopic about Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara is awakening old passions and provoking vigorous defenses and denunciations of the iconic revolutionary and - in the case of an interview with The Washington Times - a dramatic walkout.

conservatism v2.0: replacing Kristol at the New York Times  —  Bill Kristol's year-long stint as columnist at the New York Times has ended.  His last column, entitled “Will Obama Save Liberalism?”, begins with the line: … In so doing, Kristol ties himself to conservatism's swan song …

Social Network of US Counterinsurgency Policy Authors  —  [Update: this work has come to the attention of the COIN community, in particular the folks at Abu Muqawama who were kind enough to mention me in a blog post.  Aside from the fact that the opening graphic contains not one but two typos …

Hisham Melhem On His Big Scoop, and Big Changes Coming  —  My brother Hisham Melhem of al-Arabiya television scored an important interview with Barack Obama yesterday, so I called him to say Mazel Tov and to ask him if he thinks the interview signals a shift in rhetoric or a shift in substance.

Clinton says world “exhaling” with Obama at top  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested on Tuesday the world was breathing a sigh of relief that President Barack Obama had replaced George W. Bush and was working to fix the damage he had caused.

Don't call us dogs, say Slumdog protesters in cinema rampage  —  Armed police guard picturehouses after India's poor claim that hit film title violates their human rights  —  Armed police guarded cinemas in eastern India today after slum dwellers ransacked a picture house showing Slumdog Millionaire …

Tales From The Inside: What Obama Told Republicans  —  President Barack Obama went to Capitol Hill today to push Republicans to back his $825 billion stimulus plan.  While they probably won't, he won points for reaching out to the minority, making good on campaign promises.

New Bill Asks For Cameraphones To Go Clickety Clack  —  Smile, say cheese and hold that pose till you hear the ‘click’.  A new bill introduced in the Congress by New York Republican Rep. Peter King requires mobile phones with digital cameras “to make a sound” when a photograph is taken.

US official: Intelligence director resigns  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell resigned his post effective Tuesday.  —  Spokesman Ross Feinstein said Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, Jr. is temporarily serving as acting national intelligence director.

Hope, Change, and the Egg of Power  —  Yes, it's true.  Barack Obama has an ‘Egg of Power’ in the Oval Office.  —  jcm ::  7 seconds ago

Swedish city cancels Holocaust event  —  A northern Swedish city has decided to cancel a planned Holocaust Memorial Day torchlight procession due to the recent IDF offensive in Gaza, it was reported Tuesday.  —  The official reason given for the decision, made by the municipal board …

High-Flying Citigroup Grounds Plans for $50M Jet  —  Obama Aide Called Citigroup to Complain About Jet  —  The high-flying execs at Citigroup caved under pressure from President Obama and decided today to abandon plans for a luxurious new $50 million corporate jet from France.

Specter: Psych!  I'll Back Holder  —  It may be time to coin the phrase “pulling a Specter,” because Sen. Arlen Specter (PA), the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, just did it again.  After making a huge fuss questioning the independence of Eric Holder, Specter just caved …

WON'T GO THERE  —  From WaPo ...  The gist of the rest of the article is that the Obama folks aren't going to go clearly in any of the widely discussed options, but rather mix and match.  But these two points, tucked in at the end of the article, tell us the key points.

INSIDE OBAMA'S MEETING WITH HOUSE GOP  —  From NBC's Mike Viqueira  —  This is a sort of a live blog from a member and aide inside the room with President Obama, via e-mail:  —  Obama speaking now.... Talking about how bad the economy is and that it is deteriorating rapidly

GOP-ers Swoon Over Obama Despite Differences  —  President Obama won praise from some of the House's most conservative lawmakers as “engaging” and “respectful” during his meeting with congressional Republicans Tuesday.  —  Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) said that Obama was sincere and “impressive” …

Carbon tax is a poison pill  —  There's a reason Republicans are stumping for a carbon tax, and it ain't to reduce emissions  —  This may piss off some people I respect a great deal.  Nonetheless, after hearing it in several off-the-record conversations in D.C. last week, I believe it's something that needs to be said publicly:

10 Reasons to Whack Obama's Stimulus Plan  —  Some people are going to oppose President Obama's ginormous stimulus package just because they're on a different political team.  But when you look at the economic evidence, it sure seems like an economic recovery package that's heavy …