memeorandum: Obama's Backing Raises Hopes for Climate Pact (Elisabeth Rosenthal/New York Times)

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 …

Discussion: Liberal Values, Clips & Comment, The New Republic and The Moderate Voice

Andrew Breitbart / Washington Times:

Rush to judgment: A media hopelessly divided — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — The mood at the Omni Shoreham Hotel late Saturday afternoon was off the electrical meter when Rush Limbaugh took center stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). — Hundreds of revelers packed …

Discussion: Hot Air and Balloon Juice

Mike Allen / The Politico:

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 …

Discussion: George's Bottom Line, Salon, TIME.com, TaylorMarsh.com, The Huffington Post, Sound Politics, AMERICAblog News and Hot Air

Joel Achenbach / Washington Post:
The Conservatives' ‘Cleansing’ Moment

Discussion: MSNBC, The Caucus, The Note, abu muqawama, Newshoggers.com, The Moderate Voice and The Politico

New York Times:

U.S. Is Said to Offer $30 Billion More to Help A.I.G. — The federal government agreed Sunday night to provide an additional $30 billion in taxpayer money to the American International Group and loosen the terms of its huge loan to the insurer, which is preparing to report a $62 billion loss on Monday …

Discussion: Corrente and Truthdig

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Revamps Bailout of AIG — Taxpayers Exposed to Greater Risk in New Plan; $30 Billion More From TARP Funds — The federal government is overhauling its $150 billion bailout of American International Group Inc. in a bid to bolster the battered insurer, but its plan will expose U.S. taxpayers to more financial risk.

Discussion: Cafe Talk Aggregator and The Baseline Scenario

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Culture of conspiracy: The Birthers — Bill Clinton had the Vince Foster “murder.” George W. Bush had 9/11 Truth. And the new administration has brought with it a new culture of conspiracy: The Birthers. — Out of the gaze of the mainstream and even the conservative media …

Discussion: The RBC, Balloon Juice, Ben Smith's Blogs, Little Green Footballs and 24Ahead

John / Power Line:

VOTERS SKEPTICAL OF DEMS' LEFTWARD LURCH — Inside the Beltway and the media bubble, Barack Obama is still the man of the hour. On CNN, his speeches are even compared to sex. (Someone needs to have a talk with that commentator. I don't think he's doing it right.)

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Tapscott's Copy Desk:

Limbaugh, Tea Party Protests show Obama's Star Trek shield has big cracks — Two extraordinarily important political developments took place this week right under the noses of the Obama-worshippers in the Mainstream Media and, as so often happens with the real news, most of them barely knew about it, if at all.

Discussion: Instapundit, Riehl World View, Scott's Slant on Politics, BitsBlog, Moe Lane and Right Wing News

Gordon Brown / Times of London:

The special relationship is going global — Historians will look back and say this was no ordinary time but a defining moment: an unprecedented period of global change, and a time when one chapter ended and another began. — The scale and the speed of the global banking crisis has at times …

Discussion: TIME.com and Don Surber

Jonathan Oliver / Times of London:
Brown woos Obama on global deal

Discussion: Fox News and Gateway Pundit

Jim Snyder / The Hill:

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 …

Discussion: New York Times, About.com US Politics, Betsy's Page, Liberty Street, American Power, DownWithTyranny! and Booman Tribune

NY Daily News:

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.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Don Surber, Spin Cycle, Weekly Standard and The Repurblican

Marc Fisher / Washington Post:

Bloggers Can't Fill the Gap Left by Shrinking Press Corps — Packs of lobbyists fill two rooms outside the House and Senate chambers in Richmond every afternoon, watching the proceedings on big video screens, zapping legislators with e-mails the instant the lobbyists sense that one of their bills might be in trouble.

Discussion: BuzzMachine

CBS News:

Bobby Jindal: The GOP's Rising Star? — Morley Safer Profiles Louisiana's Gov., Who Some Think May Run For The White House One Day — Page 1 of 4 — (CBS) If you watched the Republican response to President Obama's address to Congress last Tuesday, you saw a rather awkward young man taking …

Discussion: Clips & Comment

CNN:

2 NFL players among boaters missing in Florida — CLEARWATER, Florida (CNN) — Two NFL players were among four boaters missing Sunday off Florida's Gulf Coast, an agent for one of the players said. — Ron Del Duca, agent for Corey Smith, told CNN that Smith and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys

Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:

In Obama, Labor Finds the Support It Expected — John J. Sweeney, the nation's top union official, often complains that he was invited just once to the White House during George W. Bush's eight years in office — and even that was at the Vatican's behest during a visit by Pope Benedict.

Discussion: MyDD

The Huffington Post:

Exclusive: Dean Talks About Not Getting HHS And Post-DNC Plans — Having been bypassed for a cabinet post after leaving the DNC, former Gov. Howard Dean has chosen to pursue a multi-faceted career in health care advocacy, progressive political strategy, speeches, education and energy, and even election monitoring.

Discussion: The Politico

Kevin Sack / New York Times:

For Obama Pick, 2nd Chance for Progress on Health — TOPEKA, Kan. — In Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is known as a Democrat who can deal with Republicans, a necessity in a state where the opposition party dominates both houses of the Legislature. — But on matters of health policy …

Discussion: Corrente

Johnny Dollar / Olbermann Watch:

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:

Discussion: GayPatriot, American Power, Macsmind, RedState and Political Machine

Jen DiMascio / The Politico:

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.

Discussion: TaylorMarsh.com and The Swamp

Steven R. Hurst / Associated Press: Mullen: Iran has fissile materials for bomb