Emanuel: Rush is the GOP's brain  —  White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel charged Sunday that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party.”  —  Emanuel, speaking in deliberately soothing tones, told anchor Bob Schieffer on CBS's …

CPAC: White kids on dope  —  Ah, to be an anthropologist at CPAC, where the kids was smokin' th' political crack.  From the WaPo: … Verily, that's the way to bring the party back: blame the media.  I talked to a conservative the other day who assured me that Obama's success is entirely …

Red Eye Reams Olbermann, Garafalo for Racist Comments!  —  Great thanks to MikeC for the tip, and to Andy Levy for his dryly devastating final comments.  It all happened on Friday night's Red Eye and we have the video for your viewing pleasure:

Gates and Mullen disagree on Iran  —  Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff aren't on the same page regarding Iran's nuclear capabilities.  —  Iran may have enough nuclear material to make a bomb, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told CNN's State of the Union Sunday morning.

Obama may use 50-vote tactic on energy, healthcare  —  President Obama's budget director said the White House would consider using a Senate procedural tactic so that only 50 votes would be rquired to pass major healthcare and energy reforms.  —  Peter Orszag, the director of the Office …

Gates: Obama is ‘more analytical’ than Bush.  —  Today, on NBC's Meet the Press, host David Gregory asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to compare the “styles” and “temperaments” of Presidents Bush and Obama.  Gates said Obama is “somewhat more analytical” than Bush …

Under Weight of Its Mistakes, Newspaper Industry Staggers  —  Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper recalls getting “a feeling in the pit of my stomach” when he learned that the Rocky Mountain News was shutting down.  —  “Even when they were uncovering corruption in the city …

Brown woos Obama on global deal  —  GORDON BROWN hopes to forge a partnership with President Barack Obama in Washington this week, to call for a “global new deal” to lift the world out of recession.  —  As he prepares for his first White House visit since the president's inauguration …

‘Fair and Balanced’ Fox News allows only Republicans to debate Obama's budget.  —  This morning on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace welcomed Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to discuss President Obama's budget plan — with not a single congressional Democrat or White House representative present to defend it.

Buildings sprang up as donations rained down on Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion  —  The man who is President Obama's newly minted urban czar pocketed thousands of dollars in campaign cash from city developers whose projects he approved or funded with taxpayers' money, a Daily News probe found.

The Budget and Charitable Donations  —  Is our budget proposal uncharitable?  —  Over the past 24 hours since we debuted the President's FY 2010 Budget, some non-profits have argued that the Administration's plan to limit the amount that high-income families (those with income …

Obama shoots hoops ... at Department of the Interior  —  (CNN) — President Obama and long-time friend Marty Nesbitt shot hoops Saturday at a basketball court inside the U.S. Department of the Interior.  —  Press aide Ben Finkenbinder, who left the game drenched in sweat, teamed up with Obama on the court.

Dean Baker and Friends: Schooling Capitol Hill on Social Security  —  Dean Baker and some other fine folks made a trip to Capitol Hill last week to do a little fact-based pushback on Social Security and other programs.  [UPDATE: Selise has the C-Span links.]