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The Jindal Phenomenon — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — selected to deliver the Republicans' Fat Tuesday response to President Obama — might also be voted the man least likely to let the good times roll. Slight, earnest, deeply religious and supremely wonkish, Jindal resembles neither …
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First Draft, The Huffington Post, Political Machine, Conventional Folly, Hullabaloo, The Mahablog, Balloon Juice and pandagon.net
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Jindal's Response... Awful. He walked out like an earnest dork and has a weird inflection, trying to sound upbeat and sunny when it's clearly not his natural metier. It sounds false, and he looks false. — I don't care how much of a star Jindal is, America doesn't elect somewhat-off dorks as president.

Jindal's response: Panned, seared — Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) hoped to step into the national spotlight Tuesday night to sound a hopeful yet defiant note in countering President Barack Obama as the GOP's fresh and exciting face. — Instead, he got panned.
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MSNBC, Washington Post, PoliticalBase.com Blog, The Caucus, Washington Monthly, USA Today, The Note and Blogs and Stories

Fox Panel's Verdict On Jindal's Speech: ‘Childish,’ …
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The Moderate Voice, MyDD, Open Left, The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, Media Matters for America, HorsesAss.Org, TalkLeft, Matthew Yglesias, The Democratic Daily, Democratic Strategist, The Corner, Gawker, DownWithTyranny!, The Huffington Post, The Campaign Spot, The Raw Story, Outside The Beltway and The Washington Independent


Full text of Gov. Bobby Jindal's Republican response
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Washington Monthly, The Swamp, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Ross Douthat, The Moderate Voice, Kansas City Star, Media Matters for America, Lawyers, Guns and Money, CNN, Associated Press, Sadly, No!, PoliBlog, KIKO'S HOUSE, Hot Air, The Washington Independent, FiveThirtyEight.com and Michelle Malkin

Kenneth Jindal — Close your eyes and think of Kenneth from 30 Rock.
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FiveThirtyEight.com, Indecision, Towleroad, Writes Like She Talks and Talking Points Memo


The Age Of Obama — WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 24: U.S. President Barack Obama addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress February 24, 2009 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. — And so it begins. The contrast between Barack Obama last night and George W Bush was striking.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, The Opinionator, Matthew Yglesias, The New Republic and Right Wing News
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Michelle Obama: White House Dog Coming Soon! — Michelle and Barack Obama with daughters Malia, left, and Sasha — The whole world, it seems, wants to know: What kind of dog are the Obamas getting and, for goodness sake, when? — Speaking to PEOPLE at the White House recently …
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Obama Family Picks Their Dog Breed, But Clash on Name — The Obamas are getting their new dog in a matter of weeks. And they have come to some important decisions. — First off, the breed. — First Lady Michelle Obama told People Magazine that the the family wants to find a rescue Portuguese Water dog.

Poll: Positive Reception For Obama Address — UPDATED WITH FINAL RESULTS CBS News and Knowledge Networks held a nationally representative poll of 534 people who watched President Obama give his address to Congress to gauge their reaction in the minutes after the president's speech.
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Byrd: Obama in power grab — Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the longest serving Democratic senator, is criticizing President Obama's appointment of White House “czars” to oversee federal policy, saying these executive positions amount to a power grab by the executive branch.

United Pilot Insults Sully — I just flew on United Airlines Flight 918 from Dulles to Heathrow. Once we reached cruising altitude, the pilot interrupted the display of airspeed, altitude, and temperature on the backs of the seat in front of passengers. What I expected to be the usual welcome …
Discussion:
Political Byline

America invented everything — Two of Obama's claims from the SOTU: … and … After a period of prolonged study and meditation (ie, I consulted Wikipedia for 45 minutes after the speech), I have concluded that these claims are questionable at best and false at worst.
Discussion:
Fausta's Blog

Group of Rich Americans Sues UBS to Keep Names Secret in Tax Case — UBS was sued on Tuesday in a Swiss federal court by wealthy American clients seeking to prevent the disclosure of their identities as part of a tax-evasion investigation by the United States Justice Department.


Muslim Publics Oppose Al Qaeda's Terrorism, But Agree With Its Goal of Driving US Forces Out — Support for Including Islamist Groups in Elections — A study of public opinion in predominantly Muslim countries reveals that very large majorities continue to renounce the use of attacks …


Obama's Intelligence Choice — The president picks a China apologist and Israel basher to write his intelligence summaries. — During the presidential campaign, a constant refrain of Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates was that the Bush administration had severely politicized intelligence …
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The New Republic, Weekly Standard, The Nation, Capital J | JTA, Mondoweiss, Fox News, Watchdog Blog and Commentary

Some Dems balk at controversial budget maneuver — A growing group of Senate Democrats said they would oppose the use of budget process rules to ram climate change legislation and other hot-button items past Republican filibusters. — The group, which includes Sens. Robert Byrd (W.Va.) …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias


Wall St. drops after data, banks fall — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks added to losses on Wednesday after data showed the pace of existing home sales unexpectedly fell in January, while bank shares slid on continuing worries over the fate of the sector. — The tone was set early …


Setbacks for Coleman grow at Senate recount trial — Attorneys for Norm Coleman conferred Tuesday during the recount trial in St. Paul. Tony Trimble is at left, Ben Ginsberg is at right and Joe Friedberg has his back to the camera. — Judges allowed marks to be removed and heard other ballots were properly rejected.

“A Major Doctrinal Shift for Republicans” — Chief Political Correspondent — I just got off the phone with a very plugged-in Republican strategist who told me that Republican reaction to President Obama's speech, which the party will roll out in the next few days, will mark the beginning …


Will's “final thought” on Obama speech: “I don't know when men started to hug each other, but hug they do, and look at that”

Not a War President — What can we learn from the few sentences President Obama devoted to foreign policy in his speech to Congress tonight? — The main lesson is how very few the sentences were. Yes, this was a speech focused on the economy. But it was also Obama's first address to Congress …


The Climate Change Lobby Explosion — WILL THOUSANDS OF LOBBYISTS IMPERIL ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING? — In his address to a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama pledged nothing less than a transformation in the way America uses energy in order to “save our planet from the ravages …

Like Having Medicare? Then Taxes Must Rise — Toward the end of Monday's meetings on fiscal responsibility at the White House, Senator Kent Conrad stood up and produced a little bolt of honesty. “Revenue is the thing almost nobody wants to talk about,” said Mr. Conrad, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

VIDEO: Pols spin post-Obama speech — Following President Barack Obama's congressional address Tuesday night, politicians headed to Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol to spin reporters and generally yuk it up. — We caught up with everyone from Robert Gibbs to Sen. Frank Lautenberg …


Napolitano: DHS to miss cargo screening deadline — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told lawmakers Wednesday that the agency cannot meet its 2012 deadline for screening all cargo coming into the U.S. for radiological and nuclear materials.
Discussion:
TIME.com

Supreme Court Rules Sect Cannot Place Monument — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that a tiny religious sect could not force a Utah city to let it erect a monument to its faith in a public park. — The fact that there is already a Ten Commandments monument …
Discussion:
The Hill


Citigroup Chafes Under U.S. Overseers — In a recent phone call with a senior government official, Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Vikram Pandit revealed who's on top in the new world of American finance. — “Don't give up on us,” Mr. Pandit said, pleading with the official not to push out top management.


Corruption Touched CIA's Covert Operations — Paramilitary agents for the CIA's super-secret Special Activities Division, or SAD, perform raids, ambushes, abductions and other difficult chores overseas, including infiltrating countries to “light up” targets from the ground for air-to-ground missile strikes.

Reporter Loses Job Over Altered Video Of Fox's Gibson — A Baltimore television reporter has lost his job after acknowledging that he doctored a video to make it appear that Fox News Radio host John Gibson had made a racial slur. — In the bogus video, which was picked up across the Internet …
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Hot Air