How Long?  —  Jake Tapper appears to be one of the few (only?) mainstream reporters keeping current on the Chas Freeman story.  You would think it would be hard to ignore the growing tidal wave of protest and controversy.  The latest is a letter signed by the Republican members …

Beck: Stem-cell research will lead directly to the search for a new ‘master race.’  —  On his radio show today, conservative talker Glenn Beck commented on President Obama overturning the ban on federally funded stem-cell research.  Beck argued that funding stem-cell research would lead directly …

Rush whacks Newt  —  Rush Limbaugh responded to Newt Gingrich's shot at him with a broadside at the former speaker on today's show.  —  “I'm frankly getting tired of talking about Newt.  I mean, it's a pointless exercise,” Limbaugh said of Gingrich's dismissal of him on “Meet the Press.”

Don't Rely on Bush's Signing Statements, Obama Orders  —  WASHINGTON — Calling into question the legitimacy of all the signing statements that former President George W. Bush used to challenge new laws, President Obama on Monday ordered executive officials to consult with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr …

Charlie Gasparino Talks to Fallen Wall Street Titan Jimmy Cayne  —  Blogs and Stories  —  As the pundit begins a series of national debates this week, Meghan McCain says that having her as the face of the Republican Party is a recipe for disaster.  —  It is no secret that being a Republican …

Cramer Takes on the White House, Frank Rich and Jon Stewart  —  Suddenly, bloggers, opinion people, columnists and, yes, pundits who haven't paid attention to anything I have been saying or writing for the past 18 months are all over me.  Suddenly, I find myself in the center of a firestorm …

GOP Rep: “Our Goal Is To Bring Down Approval Numbers” For Dems  —  GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry, a key player in helping craft the Republican message, has offered an unusually blunt description of the Republican strategy right now.  —  McHenry's description is buried in this new article from National Journal (sub. only):

CNBC's Kernen: ‘You Might Not Have Fixed Global Warming’ After D-Day  —  ‘Oracle of Omaha’ Warren Buffett agrees, says job 1, 2 and 3 must be the ‘economic war.’  —  Business & Media Institute  —  The U.S. is at war with the failing economy, according to Warren Buffett, who told CNBC viewers that it had “fallen off a cliff.”

THE LEADER OF THE PARTY.... Last week, in response to an awkwardly-worded Rasmussen poll about Rush Limbaugh, I argued it would be more interesting to ask self-identified Republicans who they consider to be the leader of their party.  My sort-of prediction, “I suspect Sarah Palin would have done fairly well …

WHAT'S BEHIND BARACK'S BRIT SNIT  —  PRESIDENT Obama's first hosting of a foreign leader, the UK's Gordon Brown, was a diplomatic disaster.  —  Obama failed to hold a joint Rose Garden press conference, the usual protocol when a US president and a British prime minister first meet …

How I learned to stop worrying and love the f-bomb  —  Let me begin by noting that this post is not about Rush Limbaugh.  —  You're welcome.  —  Now, just to be clear, Mr Limbaugh will appear in the post — and as a character he will be prominently featured — but this post is no more about Rush than …

The 10 Major Newspapers That Will Either Fold or Go Digital Next  —  A San Francisco Chronicle newspaper vendor  —  Over the past few weeks, the U.S. newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline.  The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy, as did the Journal Register chain.

Wikipedia scrubs Obama eligibility  —  Mention of citizenship issues deleted in minutes, ‘offending’ users banned  —  Wikipedia, the online “free encyclopedia” mega-site written and edited entirely by its users, has been deleting within minutes any mention of eligibility issues surrounding …

How much of Citigroup could the FDIC actually take over?  —  FDIC chairman Sheila Bair doesn't think a full government takeover of Citigroup and other multinational financial institutions is practical or even possible.  Here are her reasons, as summarized by Pete Davis:

Detainees Say They Planned Sept. 11  —  The five detainees at Guantánamo Bay charged with planning the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have filed a document with the military commission at the United States naval base there expressing pride at their accomplishment and accepting full responsibility …

Court rules against minority districts  —  Dividing 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that federal voting rights law does not require the creation of a new legislative district when that would include a racial minority group that has less than 50 percent of the population, as a remedy when minority voters' rights have been diluted.

Specter Says Nation on ‘Brink of a Depression’  —  Specter sees ‘reasonable chance’ stimulus law can help  —  The nation is on the “brink of a depression,” but there's a “reasonable chance” that the $787 billion economic stimulus package will help ease the situation, Sen. Arlen Specter said Monday.

Obama's Budget Faces Test Among Party Barons  —  WASHINGTON — What the Democratic barons of Congress liked best about President Obama's audacious budget was his invitation to fill in the details.  They have started by erasing some of his.  —  The apparent first casualty is a big one …

Connecticut moving to regulate the Catholic Church?  —  According to the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause, the government has no business dictating to religious organizations how they should structure themselves.  In Connecticut, though, some lawmakers seem to have skipped over the Constitution.

US Recession Could Last Up to 36 Months: Roubini  —  The man who predicted the current financial crisis said the US recession could drag on for years without drastic action.  —  Among his solutions: fix the housing market by breaking “every mortgage contract.”