Anger Over Firm Depletes Obama's Political Capital  —  President Obama's apparent inability to block executive bonuses at insurance giant AIG has dealt a sharp blow to his young administration and is threatening to derail both public and congressional support for his ambitious political agenda.

Don't Blame Jim Cramer  —  What Jon Stewart needs is Jon Stewart.  He could use a droll comedian to temper his ferocity and correct him when he's wrong, as he was about the financial media, particularly CNBC and its excitable analyst Jim Cramer.  They didn't cover up the story of financial shenanigans.

Majority Receptive to Law Making Union Organizing Easier  —  But most Americans not closely following news about union bill in Congress  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll finds just over half of Americans, 53%, favoring a new law that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers; 39% oppose it.

Moderate Is Said to Be Pick for Court  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama is expected to name his first candidate to an appeals court seat this week, officials said, choosing David F. Hamilton, a highly regarded federal trial court judge from Indiana, for the appeals court in Chicago.

JournoList: Inside the echo chamber  —  For the past two years, several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics have talked stories and compared notes in an off-the-record online meeting space called JournoList.  —  Proof of a vast liberal media conspiracy?

Mexico to impose sanctions on US exports  —  ByAlan Beattie in Washington and Adam Thomson in Mexico City  —  A long-simmering trade dispute boiled over into sanctions on Monday after Mexico said it would raise tariffs on $2.4bn of US exports in retaliation for ending a pilot programme to allow Mexican trucks on American roads.

EXCLUSIVE: Israel's national security aide barred from U.S.  —  Former Israeli spy linked to Pentagon leak  —  Uzi Arad, who is expected to serve as national security adviser in the next Israeli government, has been barred from entering the United States for nearly two years on the grounds that he is an intelligence risk.

Ron Paul's insane cameo in the upcoming Bruno movie.  —  Note: This article contains spoilers about Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming movie, Bruno.  —  Presidential candidates will do almost anything for publicity.  But Ron Paul's appearance in Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming Bruno movie suggests …

The Commercial Republic  —  Over the centuries, the United States has been most conspicuous for one trait: manic energy.  Americans work longer hours than any other people.  We switch jobs more frequently, move more often, earn more and consume more.  —  This energy was first aroused by abundance …

Obama Team Derides Cheney's Criticisms  —  The Obama administration responded sharply yesterday to former vice president Richard B. Cheney's comments in a weekend interview that the new president “is making some choices that, in my mind, will in fact raise the risk to the American people” of another terrorist attack.

GOP says Palin will star at dinner  —  OR MAYBE NOT: She didn't know about keynoting, aide says.  —  Gov. Sarah Palin's spokesman said Monday that congressional Republicans were mistaken in announcing the governor would headline one of the biggest Republican gatherings of the year …

ZAKARIA, OBAMA, AND ‘THE ESTABLISHMENT’.... Last week, Newsweek's Howard Fineman said President Obama needs to invest more energy in impressing the Washington establishment.  This week, Fareed Zakaria, Fineman's Newsweek colleague, suggests the Washington establishment doesn't know what it's talking about.

Gates readies big cuts in weapons  —  Battle looms with Congress  —  Aides said Defense Secretary Robert Gates's decisions will be guided by what he learns while spending time with troops.  —  WASHINGTON - As the Bush administration was drawing to a close, Robert M. Gates …

A Hand in the Health Care Debate  —  The last thing the surgeon said to me before they rolled me into the operating room was, “You know, if you and Obama had your way with health care, it wouldn't be me doing this operation.  It would just be some guy.”  —  I tried to tell him …