Obama Orders Treasury Chief to Try to Block A.I.G. Bonuses  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama vowed to try to stop the faltering insurance giant American International Group from paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives, as the administration scrambled to avert …

Obama's Approval Rating Slips Amid Division Over Economic Proposals  —  GOP Congressional Leaders' Ratings Hit New Low - 28%  —  President Barack Obama's approval rating has slipped, as a growing number of Americans see him listening more to his party's liberals than to its moderates …

Gridiron singed by Obama no-show  —  No offense intended, says the Obama White House.  —  None taken, say the esteemed leaders of the Gridiron Club.  —  Still, in Washington, a slap does not have to be officially labeled as such for its sound to echo — and its sting to be felt.

Fox News Edits Clip To Suggest That Biden Recently Declared ‘Fundamentals Of The Economy Are Strong’  —  This afternoon, Fox News's Martha MacCallum introduced a segment highlighting Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Christina Romer's claim yesterday that the “fundamentals of the economy are sound.”

Obama to Appear on ‘Tonight Show’  —  Barack Obama appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in 2007 when he was running for president.  —  President Obama will be making a guest appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Thursday, a White House official said …

Why the GOP Can't Win With Minorities  —  Today conservatism is stigmatized in our culture as an antiminority political philosophy.  In certain quarters, conservatism is simply racism by another name.  And minorities who openly identify themselves as conservatives are still novelties, fish out of water.

What's the matter with Jim Cramer?  —  I've seen a number of people making some variant of the claim that Jon Stewart is the only one brave enough to stand up to the financial journalists who helped get us into this mess.  —  This is purest poppycock.  Jim Cramer had no influence …

Dramatic Advances Sweep Iraq, Boosting Support for Democracy  —  ABC News/BBC/NHK National Survey of Iraq  —  Dramatic advances in public attitudes are sweeping Iraq, with declining violence, rising economic well-being and improved services lifting optimism, fueling confidence in public institutions …

Rendell: I've Tried To Get Specter To Switch — And So Has Joe Biden  —  Ed Rendell told RNN-TV, a regional cable news channel in the Northeast, that he has in fact tried to talk GOP Senator Arlen Specter into switching to the Democrats — oh, and so have some other important people, who Rendell probably shouldn't have mentioned.

Fox calls CNN ‘Communist News Network,’ then messes up  —  In the war between Fox News and the facts, the facts are always handicapped.  —  On Fox & Friends Monday, host Steve Doocy took time to note that a former CNN employee, Mauricio Funes, has been elected President of El Salvador.

Steele's Tour-De-Force: Compares Obama To Nixon, Declares “Ultimate Political Armageddon,” Backs Challenges Against Republicans  —  Read More: Michael Steele, Radio Host, Steele Amragedon, Steele Bill Bennett, Steele Global Warming, Steele Greenland, Steele Nixon, Steele Obama Nixon.

Seattle P-I to publish last edition Tuesday  —  The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will roll off the presses for the last time Tuesday.  —  The Hearst Corp. announced Monday that it would stop publishing the 146-year old newspaper, Seattle's oldest business, and cease delivery to more than 117,600 weekday readers.

U.S. Military Confirms It Shot Down Iranian Drone  —  Last month, a U.S. fighter aircraft tracked and shot down an Iranian drone.  Details — first reported by Danger Room — have been elusive, but the U.S. military has now confirmed the incident.  —  Multinational Forces Iraq spokesman …

NY-20: Democrat Scott Murphy Dodges a Few Questions  —  Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.  —  The special election to fill Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's vacant House seat in New York's 20th District is heating up.  During the past few weeks the virtually unknown Democratic candidate …

An Immigration Glitch for Gay Couples Is Unjust  —  THE UNITING American Families Act would allow gay and lesbian Americans and permanent residents to sponsor their foreign-born partners for legal residency in the United States.  The bill, introduced last month in the Senate by Patrick Leahy …

A Continent Adrift  —  I'm concerned about Europe.  Actually, I'm concerned about the whole world — there are no safe havens from the global economic storm.  But the situation in Europe worries me even more than the situation in America.  —  Just to be clear, I'm not about to rehash …

DOD Ends Sale of Expended Military Brass to Remanufacturers  —  AND SO IT BEGINS...  We all wondered when it was going to start.  —  When the new administration would make their move against us as gun owners.  Oh, everyone got upset about HR45—I'll bet I got over 100 e-mails warning …

Burr picks Obama for courtside, not dinner  —  U.S. Sen. Richard Burr wouldn't mind watching basketball with Barack Obama.  —  The Winston-Salem Republican was recently on the Charlotte sports talk show “Primetime with the Packman.”  Repeating a question from the Democratic primary last year …

Compare And Contrast  —  From the Red Cross's summary of Bush-Cheney torture techniques: … The Gestapo's list of torture techniques that fit into their “enhanced interrogation program” - a torture regime designed to avoid too-obvious or incriminating physical scars:

OUR FINAL OFFER IS THIS: NOTHING  —  Whatever else you can say about AIG CEO Edward Libby, he ain't much for irony.  In his letter to Secretary Geithner he said that AIG “cannot attract and retain the best and brightest talent ... if employees believe that their compensation is subject …

Do influential people develop more conventional opinions?  —  Following up on Robin's question I think the answer is yes, mostly.  We are talking about the time series here, as people rise in influence.  I see a few mechanisms:  —  1. People “sell out” to become more influential.