Why on Earth Are Democrats Legitimizing and Empowering Rush Limbaugh?  —  I don't buy into this ‘brilliant’ strategy of elevating Rush Limbaugh in the hopes that it will tarnish Republicans.  —  Focus relentlessly on the disastrous Bush presidency to tarnish Republicans, yes.

A Moderate Manifesto  —  You wouldn't know it some days, but there are moderates in this country — moderate conservatives, moderate liberals, just plain moderates.  We sympathize with a lot of the things that President Obama is trying to do.  We like his investments in education and energy innovation.

Wealthy Idiots Meet Idiot Reporter  —  I've seen a lot of dumb news reports in my life, but I'm not sure anything can quite match this one from ABC News.  The premise of the report is this: Barack Obama plans to raise taxes on people who make more than $250,000, so the reporter has gone …

Bullish Obama Suggests Nation Should Buy!  Buy!  —  President Obama told Americans to take a look at investing in the stock market this afternoon, a remarkable utterance for an American president, especially as the Dow Jones Industrial Average proceeds on its course Southward.

Extraordinary Measures  —  A new memo shows just how far the Bush administration considered going in fighting the war on terror.  —  In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Justice Department secretly gave the green light for the U.S. military to attack apartment buildings and office complexes inside …

MTSU POLL: One In Six Tennesseans Admit To Telling Racist Jokes About The President  —  The newest poll on state and national issues in Tennessee is out from our friends over at Middle Tennessee State University complete with charts and graphs.  Some of the more interesting findings below.

Zombie financial ideas  —  Calculated Risk looks at the latest plan floated by the Treasury — to make low-interest, non-recourse loans to private investors who buy bad assets — and immediately gets it: this is a plan to drive up the prices of toxic assets by creating a lot of moral hazard.

Emblems to Stamp Projects Funded by the Stimulus Package  —  ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports:  —  Put a stamp on it — that's what the White House says.  —  President Obama announced today that his administration will begin stamping an emblem on projects funded by the economic stimulus package …

Hoyer says Congress, not the President, will decide on earmarks  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md, insisted Tuesday that Congress, not President Obama, would decide whether to put more limits on earmarks in upcoming spending bills.

Coleman camp asks that election result be ‘set aside’  —  Request was made as Franken's lawyers prepare to make their case.  —  For more than a month, Norm Coleman stressed flaws in Minnesota's election system.  —  And on Monday, Coleman lawyer Jim Langdon wrote the three-judge panel …

The Kindle 2 Review  —  Amazon's new Kindle 2 is more of an incremental improvement than a massive upgrade.  As a previous Kindle 1 owner, the new features and display improvements (and the fact that I read so much) make it worth the price, but if you already have a Kindle 1 your mileage may vary.

Cafferty: My crush on Michelle Obama  —  Editor's note: Jack Cafferty is the author of a new book, “Now or Never: Getting Down to the Business of Saving Our American Dream,” to be published in March.  He provides commentary on CNN's “The Situation Room” daily from 4 to 7 p.m. ET.

You're in the high rent district  —  Approximately 2% of the American households make more than $250,000 a year and (you may find this hard to believe) a very high percentage of these high-earning go-getting producers spend their days commenting over at Michelle Malkin's place …

The Case for Saving A.I.G., by A.I.G.  —  Inside the corridors of power in Washington, a 21-page document has been getting a lot of attention.  It is marked confidential and titled “A.I.G.: Is the Risk Systemic?”  —  The report, prepared for regulators by the American International Group …

Blacks, whites hear Obama differently  —  On his pre-inaugural visit to Ben's Chili Bowl, a landmark for Washington's African-American community, President Barack Obama was asked by a cashier if he wanted his change back.  —  “Nah, we straight,” Obama replied.  —  The phrase was so subtle some listeners missed it.

A U.N. resolution seeks to criminalize opinions that differ with the Islamic faith.  —  The Muslim religion makes unusually large claims for itself.  All religions do this, of course, in that they claim to know and to be able to interpret the wishes of a supreme being.

Smear Itself  —  The paranoia of Stephen Walt rears its ugly head once again.  —  Ever since he co-authored the wildly hyperbolic tome The Israel Lobby, Stephen Walt has been on his best behavior.  He has authored a lot of staid hard-realist commentary about foreign policy and kept his fulminations about …

Gov. Paterson's Approval Rating Plunges Lowest Gubernatorial Rating in Marist Poll History  —  This Marist Poll reports:  —  · Freefall!  Governor Paterson's Approval Rating Plummets 20 Percentage Points...Lands at 26%: New Yorkers are sending a strong message to Governor David Paterson, “Shape Up!”