Freeman speaks out on his exit  —  Retired Amb.  Chas Freeman, who said today that he no longer accepts an offer to chair the National Intelligence Council, has just sent this message: … More to come.

Heads should roll  —  President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him — and resurrecting a deflated GOP!  Plus: Lay off Rush!  And a Brazilian diva, up close and electric  —  View a slide show of Daniela Mercury at the 2009 carnival in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.  —  Free Barack!

No quit: the campaign to boost Bush  —  The defense never rests.  When President Barack Obama released his own policy this week on former President George W. Bush's practice of attaching controversial signing statements to legislation, a reporter quickly got a tip from a Bush loyalist …

A Turning Tide?  —  Obama still has the approval of the people, but the establishment is beginning to mumble that the president may not have what it takes.  —  Surfer that he is, President Obama should know a riptide when he's in one.  The center usually is the safest, most productive place in politics …

ZOMBIE LIES THAT WILL NOT DIE.  —  We're not even going to talk about the tendentious Matrix analogy laced into this column Amity Shlaes wrote for Bloomberg.  Not.  Even.  Going.  To.  Talk.  About.  It.  I already read the thing for you.  I refuse to relive it.

Judicial Watch Uncovers Documents Detailing Pelosi's Repeated Requests for Military Travel  —  House Speaker Issued Unprecedented Demands for Military Aircraft and Wasted Taxpayer Resources with Last Minute Cancellations  —  Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates …

Putting Obama on the Couch  —  “So, like, do you think Obama is just mean or something?”  That is how a twentysomething television booker recently responded to my critique to her of the president's stimulus package and banking bailout plans.  Actually, I think Team Obama is filled with dedicated …

What the Huck?  Chuck Norris' roundhouse kick to the gut of American democracy  —  That was fast.  It was just one year ago that right-wing martial arts guru Chuck Norris was a sought-after “get” for the GOP presidential candidates like Mike Huckabee, who paraded the star of “Walker …

Inside Murtha's ‘earmark factory’  —  Over the course of the past decade, Rep. John P. Murtha has earmarked millions of dollars for the Electro-Optics Center at Penn State University — money that has, in turn, gone to clients of the PMA Group, the Murtha-linked lobbying shop that was raided …

IN MEMORIAM, 5 YEARS AFTER  —  Eva Belén Abad Quijada, Spain, 30 years old  —  Óscar Abril Alegre, Spain, 19 years old  —  Liliana Guillermina Acero Ushiña, Ecuador, 26 years old  —  Florencio Aguado Rojano, Spain, 60 years old  —  Juan Alberto Alonso Rodríguez, Spain, 38 years old

S.C. Guv to Obama: Thanks, But No Thanks  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis reports:  —  South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) has completed his review of the recently enacted stimulus package and will be sending President Obama a letter in the next few days asking for permission to apply a quarter …